New Ethanol Law Could Spark Regional Trend, Biofuels Exec Says
by Jared Strong (Iowa Capital Dispatch) A new state law that requires most of Iowa’s fuel stations to sell a gasoline blend with 15% ethanol will rapidly expand the fuel’s availability, but the law’s long-term effects might be more potent, according to the executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.
Gov. Kim Reynolds signed House File 2128, aimed at boosting the use of corn-based ethanol to fuel the state’s vehicles, into law on Tuesday. Her action capped a protracted and hard-fought legislative initiative that began last year.
The 2021 proposal would have required nearly all gasoline pumps to dispense fuels blended with ethanol — similar to Minnesota’s requirements — but it failed to generate enough support for passage. This year’s compromise bill requires at least half of gasoline pumps to dispense E15 but has exceptions for smaller fueling stations and others with outdated tanks that would be too expensive to replace. It underwent several revisions this session before the Iowa House and Senate each approved it in late April.
The new law is also expected to boost the sales of diesel blends that contain 20% biodiesel, which is often made with soybean oil.
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First, the law also requires new fuel station infrastructure — the tanks, fuel lines and pumps — to be compatible with higher blends of ethanol, which can degrade certain plastics and rubbers. That will help facilitate future increases in blend requirements, perhaps with gasoline blends of 30% or 40% ethanol, Shaw said.
Incompatible equipment was a primary roadblock for the current legislation, with some small-town fuel stations warning that earlier drafts of the bill had requirements that would have put them out of business. The final version exempted gas stations that sell fewer than 300,000 gallons per year.
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Second, Shaw (Monte Shaw, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association’s executive director) said Iowa will be an example to other states that could adopt similar ethanol requirements.
“Iowa is the tip of the spear,” he said. “We can show that it works in Iowa. We can show that consumers will respond to it in Iowa. But then we want to export these policies. Let’s face it, there’s a lot of states that burn more fuel than Iowa.”
He specifically mentioned Nebraska and Minnesota to potentially consider higher ethanol blend requirements.
But standing in the way of further E15 expansion are federal rules that prohibit the summer sales of certain E15 blends because federal regulators have considered them more likely to evaporate in warmer temperatures and pollute the air. The Biden administration lifted that restriction — which affects about two-thirds of the country — for this summer to help reduce fuel prices.
Advocates for ethanol say the fuel’s reduced tailpipe emissions compared with gasoline more than compensate for the evaporation pollution. …
Reynolds and other Midwestern governors have lobbied federal lawmakers to allow year-round E15 sales permanently. READ MORE
IRFA and IBB talk about Biofuels Access bill (Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network; includes AUDIO)
GOV. REYNOLDS PRAISES NEW BIOFUELS LAW (Brownfield Ag News)
