Reported Volumes of E15, E85 Set New Records in Minnesota and Iowa in 2023

March 18, 2024

Print This Article Share it With Friends

(Renewable Fuels Association) Reported sales of both E15 and E85 hit record highs in Minnesota in 2023, according to new data released Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Commerce. Minnesota is one of only two states (Iowa being the other) that specifically track sales volumes of E15.

The volume of E15 reported hit 127.6 million gallons, up 21 percent from 2022 and more than double the amount from just five years ago. Meanwhile, E85 sales reported to the Minnesota Department of Revenue hit 16.6 million gallons, up 8 percent from 2022 and the highest on record.

“When it comes to expanding the use of ethanol, Minnesota continues to set an excellent example for the rest of the country to follow,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “Minnesota families understand the economic and environmental benefits of using higher blends like E15 and flex fuels like E85; they know that choosing these lower-cost, lower-carbon fuels supports local farmers and creates good-paying jobs across the state. Our message to other states is simple: follow the North Star State’s lead on renewable fuels.”

E85 prices averaged $2.67 per gallon, $0.73 per gallon (21 percent) below the average price of $3.40 per gallon for regular gasoline. E15 prices averaged $3.24 per gallon, representing a 5 percent discount to regular gasoline. The data show 468 retail stations in the state offer E15 and 458 stations sell E85. This means more than one out of every five retail stations in the state offer E15, E85, or both. Taking into account those stations that did not report E15 and E85 volumes to state agencies, total estimated sales were 168.5 million gallons of E15 and 19 million gallons of E85.

Cooper noted that Minnesota consumers are at risk of losing the cost savings and environmental benefits of E15 unless the Biden administration or Congress moves quickly to allow continued sales of the low-carbon blend throughout the upcoming summer. Without action from Washington, Minnesota retailers offering E15 will have to stop selling the fuel on June 1.

Starting in 2025, Minnesota is one of eight Midwest states where the year-round sales of E15 will be allowed, due to EPA’s long-delayed final approval of the petition of eight governors to allow sales of the blend year-round. READ MORE

Related articles

ANNUAL E15 SALES IN MINNESOTA HIT NEW RECORD IN 2023 (Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association)
Ethanol Blog: Minnesota Retailers Report Record Sales Volumes of E15, E85 in 2023 (DTN Progressive Farmer)
E15 Sales Set Another Record in 2023 But Are at Risk Again This Summer (Renewable Fuels Association)
E15 Sales Set 2023 Record as Summer Remains Uncertain (Energy.AgWired.com)
NEW REPORT: IOWA HIT RECORD E15 SALES IN 2023 (Iowa Renewable Fuels Association)
Reynolds: Record sales of ethanol-blended fuel shows its effectiveness (The Center Square)
Readers Write: Ethanol (Star Tribune)

Excerpt from Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association: Annual E15 sales in Minnesota reached a new milestone in 2023 with 127.56 million gallons reported sold, according to the latest data by the Minnesota Department of Commerce.

This volume represented a 21 percent increase from the previous annual record of 105.5 million gallons in 2022.

“Minnesota has consistently been a national leader in biofuel production, and the latest data from the Department of Commerce shows that we are also leading the way on biofuel consumption. The record setting sales of higher blends like E15 and E85 in 2023 are proof that when consumers go to the pump in Minnesota, they choose the lower-cost, lower-carbon fuel that supports rural communities and Minnesota’s economy,” said Brian Werner, Executive Director at the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Bio-Fuels).

The Department of Commerce reports the volume of E15 sold in December 2023 was 11.28 million gallons, 18 percent higher than the volume of E15 sold in December 2022 (9.57 million gallons).

The latest data also shows that monthly E15 sales in Minnesota surpassed 11 million gallons from June to December last year - another new record. The Department of Commerce had previously reported that E15 sales breached the 11-million-gallon barrier only once last year in August.

Data from the year-end report indicates that more than one out of every five retail stations offer higher lends of ethanol, including E15 (468 stations) and E85 (458 stations). According to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), E15 prices averaged $3.24 per gallon, representing a 5 percent discount to regular gasoline.

Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce reports E85 sales in Minnesota also hit a new record in 2023 with 16.55 million gallons, 7.6 percent higher than the 15.38 million gallons sold in 2022. The sale of higher blends of ethanol has led to Minnesota’s nation-leading ethanol consumption rate of 12.71 percent in 2022, according to the Energy Information Administration.

“When it comes to expanding the use of ethanol, Minnesota continues to set an excellent example for the rest of the country to follow. Minnesota families understand the economic and environmental benefits of using higher blends like E15 and flex fuels like E85; they know that choosing these lower-cost, lower-carbon fuels supports local farmers and creates good-paying jobs across the state. Our message to other states is simple: follow the North Star State’s lead on renewable fuels,” said Geoff Cooper, President and CEO of RFA.

The Department of Commerce estimates that sales of E15 and other mid-blends of ethanol (E50, E30 and E20) and E85 based on the total number of stations offering the aforementioned fuels in Minnesota in 2023 was at 170.15 million gallons and 19.01 million gallons respectively.

MN Bio-Fuels has long been pushing for federal regulatory action to allow the year-round sale of E15 in Minnesota. In February 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved a petition by eight midwestern governors - including Gov. Tim Walz - providing for year-round E15 in 2025. However, without additional action by the EPA, Minnesotans won’t have access to the lowest cost fuel at the pump in summer 2024. In 2023, the EPA issued a national emergency waiver to allow E15 to be sold from June 1 to Sept 15. READ MORE

Excerpt from Renewable Fuels Association: By Scott Richman, Chief Economist

U.S. sales of E15, a blend of 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline, are estimated to have hit a record 1.11 billion gallons in 2023, an increase of 8% over 2022, according to a Renewable Fuels Association analysis of data released by state agencies in Minnesota and Iowa (Exhibit 1). The increase was due to a combination of an expansion in the number of retail stations offering E15—in both states and the U.S. overall—and the savings that E15 continued to offer to consumers. In Minnesota, E15 prices were $0.16/gallon less expensive than regular unleaded gasoline (E10) at the pump, on average.

E15 sales by stations that reported to the state agencies increased 21% in Minnesota and 49% in Iowa (Exhibit 2). However, not all stations that sell E15 report their volumes. Accordingly, the RFA used supplemental information from the Minnesota Dept. of Commerce and the Iowa Dept. of Revenue to estimate total statewide sales (i.e., including those by stations that sold E15 but did not report their volumes).

There are no official statistics on U.S. E15 volumes, but national sales can be estimated using Minnesota and Iowa data, given that the two states account for nearly 30% of all U.S. stations offering E15. RFA estimates national sales by multiplying its count of U.S. E15 stations by the average estimated volume per station in the two states. More than 3,000 stations offered E15 on average over the course of 2023, compared to 2,700 in 2022.

It should be noted that the Minnesota and national estimates were affected by a change in reporting requirements in the state. A statute went into effect on July 1, 2023 requiring reporting by companies that sold “intermediate blends” (i.e., gasoline blends in which the biofuel content is greater than 10% and no more than 50% by volume) at more than ten retail locations. The result was that the number of stations reporting intermediate-blend volumes increased by 37% in the first three months after the change was implemented compared to the three prior months, but the E15 volume per reporting station fell 11%. Yet, nearly a quarter of the operating stations identified by the Dept. of Commerce as selling such blends still did not report their volumes. It can be inferred that the characteristics of the sample that reported volumes during the second half of the year differed materially from the sample in the first half, but the nature of the changes and whether the latter sample better represents the “population” of stations selling such blends are unclear.

Given this, it is worth mentioning that if the national E15 sales volume estimate were based only on per-station volumes for Iowa rather than the average of Iowa and Minnesota volumes, the U.S. total would have increased 11% in 2023.

A key reason why the average E15 volume per station has increased over the last five years is that sales have been allowed during the summer months in conventional gasoline areas. In 2019 the Environmental Protection Agency issued a rule allowing E15 to be sold year-round, whereas many retailers had previously found it difficult or impossible to offer E15 in the summertime due to an arcane and outdated regulatory requirement.* However, in 2021 the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated that rule, ruling in favor of oil refiners who argued the EPA had exceeded its authority. The decision did not affect E15 sales that summer, and for the last two summers the Biden administration has granted waivers for E15 from the regulatory requirement, which can be done when “extreme and unusual fuel or fuel additive supply circumstances exist,” such as has been the case since Russia invaded Ukraine.

However, if the administration does not take action within the next month, E15 sales will drop precipitously in most of the country this summer, as occurred in conventional gasoline areas prior to 2019. The governors of eight Midwest states petitioned the EPA in 2022 to allow them to opt out of more-lenient fuel volatility specifications that apply to E10 but not E15, and the agency finally granted the request this year but deferred implementation to 2025. The only practical solution this summer is for waivers to be issued again, which is merited by conditions in the fuel market, as reflected in a letter sent to the EPA Administrator last week by a group of biofuel and agriculture organizations. For the longer term, the best solution for both fuel supply chain participants and consumers would be a legislative fix of the outdated regulation—specifically the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act (S. 2707).

* EPA limits the volatility of gasoline during the “high ozone season” every summer (Jun. 1-Sep. 15). Prior to EPA’s 2019 rule change, the practical volatility limit for E10 sold in conventional gasoline areas was 10 pounds per square inch (psi) Reid vapor pressure (RVP), but E15 was held to a 9-psi limit. EPA’s 2019 rule effectively extended the volatility limit for E15 to 10 psi, creating regulatory parity for E15 and E10. READ MORE

Excerpt from Iowa Renewable Fuels Association: The Retailers Motor Fuel Gallons Annual Report, just released by the Iowa Department of Revenue, found E15 sales increased 47 percent year-on-year to a record 178 million gallons. The report also found a record 68 million gallons of biodiesel was blended into Iowa diesel for 2023.

For the first time, E15 sales accounted for more than 10 percent of Iowa gasoline sales in 2023, hitting 13.3 percent according to the report. Today, one in four Iowa fuel stations offers E15.

“Increased access coupled with its low price led more Iowans than ever to choose E15 at Iowa fuel stations in 2023,” said Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw. “A nearly 50 percent increase in E15 sales in one year is remarkable. We expect to keep setting records as Iowa Governor Kim Reynold’s E15 Access Standard legislation is fully implemented in 2026. When given a choice, Iowa consumers have shown they want E15 at the pump.”

For only the second time, the report found that sales of on-road B11 and higher biodiesel blends eclipsed 60 percent of the market. The average percentage of biodiesel in on-road blended gallons hit a record 14.4 percent. In off-road diesel, usually used in farm and construction equipment, the report found a 5-fold increase in B20 and higher blends.

“Setting a record blend level in 2023 sends a strong message about the staying power of biodiesel,” said Shaw. “IRFA members have worked hard to expand biodiesel use in off-road markets, so seeing progress there was very encouraging. Overall, 2023 was a great year for biofuel use in Iowa and we’re not taking our foot off the accelerator pedal.”

The Iowa Department of Revenue identified retailers for the report using information from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s motor fuel license database and from internal records. The full 2023 report can be found here.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association represents the state’s liquid renewable fuels industry and works to foster its growth. Iowa is the nation’s leader in renewable fuels production with 42 ethanol refineries capable of producing 4.7 billion gallons annually – including 34 million gallons of annual cellulosic ethanol production capacity – and 10 biodiesel facilities with the capacity to produce 416 million gallons annually. For more information, visit the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association website at: www.IowaRFA.org. READ MORE