Ethanol’s Biggest Problem Is PR

Business News/Analysis, Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Agency/Executive Branch, Federal Regulation, Marketing/Market Forces and Sales, Opinions, Policy, Sustainability

May 9, 2022

Print This Article Share it With Friends

(News Press Now) Normally, any move to increase the supply of renewable fuel should draw widespread praise. Even more so if this measure saves the average consumer $9 a month and reduces dependency on oil exports that finance Russia’s war of brutality in Ukraine.

But that’s not the case with ethanol, the renewable fuel that’s managed to become a punching bag of Ted Cruz, the Sierra Club and the Washington Post, which gave us the headline, “Biden gives in to the ethanol con.” That’s an impressively diverse roster of enemies.

Nevertheless, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week officially granted a waiver for the sale of 15% ethanol blends during the summer months. E-15 had been banned because of concerns about higher smog levels, but both the EPA and the U.S. Energy Department said increased ethanol usage gives consumers a break on rising prices and serves as a counterweight to Russia.

As for smog, the EPA said it expects no change in evaporative emissions because the volatility standards of E-15 are the same as the current E-10 ethanol blend. “After weighing the societal benefits and considering that no significant change in air pollution is projected to occur as a result of this action, EPA concludes that this action is in the public interest,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a letter to Minnesota’s governor. READ MORE

Comments are closed.

Advanced BioFuels USA