Expanding E15 Availability Is Only a Step Toward Best Use of Biofuels

(Solutions from the Land) At long last, after years of appeals from biofuel interests, clean air advocates and rural Americans, EPA has lifted the summertime ban on the sale of 15-percent ethanol-blended gasoline (E15). The rule lifting the selective, if not scientifically questionable, prohibition is now in place, having become effective June 1.

It is a move long called for by Solutions from the Land over the past year, and for years back through SfL's clean energy platform, 25x'25.

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Pushing up a bit the amount of ethanol that can be blended into the nation's gasoline supply is not an end-all resolution to the problems made fraught by our nation's reliance on petroleum-based fuels. It's a good first step. The role that biofuels can - and should - play in America's transportation fuels is still in its relatively early stages. And policies that enable and boost that cleaner, less-expensive option must be further developed and implemented.

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Efforts at major reforms to the waiver process by EPA got bogged down - administration officials were under the June 1 deadline to get the E15 availability rule out in time for high driving season, leaving those questions still to be answered. And still more questions remain over requirements that are likely to be imposed on storage and pumping equipment.

So, while extending the availability of E15 year-round is welcome, it is merely the first step in a chain of policy improvements that must come for this nation to gain the full benefits of biofuels, including lower fuels costs and reduced emissions.

What still needs to be done is the development of more efficient engines that can operate using higher ethanol-blend fuels. In its 2019 Annual Energy Outlook issued in January, the DOE's Energy Information Administration offered projections that make clear the importance of significantly increasing ethanol blends into the nation's transportation fuel over the next several decades. With increased fuel prices and travel mileage predicted over the next few decades, a critical effort underway to bring to the market less expensive and cleaner ethanol blends must be fully supported. Research from DOE's National Labs shows that higher-octane, midlevel ethanol blends of 25 to 30 percent, paired with optimized engines, "will improve engine efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, yet cost less than today's regular gasoline."

On the road, retailers agree that cars will stop at E15 stations and add to their volume if customers see a lower price on the sign. Higher ethanol blends are unique products that will expand options - and future business - through customer loyalty, price and results. And those in the industry say that updating stations today to carry tomorrow's fuels may be easier and more affordable than ever.

It's important to remind policy makers that the EPA's move to expand E15 is not the final prize. They must be made to understand that expanded E15 sales now pave the way for selling higher-octane fuels needed for the vehicles of tomorrow. READ MORE

EPA Final Rule Details (AgNewsWire; includes AUDIO)

E15 Retailer Pleased with EPA Rule (AgNewsWire; includes AUDIO)

Update: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Expands the Sale of E-15 Gasoline (Old Cars)

Cosmo Servidio: EPA delivers on fuels promise (Trib Live)

Midlands Voices: President Trump’s EPA should support biofuels (Omaha World-Herald)

Editorial: Ethanol is a bad deal for consumers (Detroit News)

Point/Counterpoint: Should Green Critics Reassess Ethanol? (Yale Environment 360)

South Dakota politicians are psyched for year-round E15. Here's what it means for you. (Argus Leader)

Trade war and year-long E-15 sales impact farmers differently (KVRR; includes VIDEO)

EPA wants to be agriculture’s partner (Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network)

Year-Round E15: A Win for Nebraska (Frontier and Holt County Independent)

Joni Ernst: EPA fulfills President Trump's ethanol promise, moves toward transparency (Des Moines Register)