Some Ethanol Supporters Push for E30

by Mikkel Pates (Agweek) While the mainstream ethanol advocates are pushing toward E15, some want much more. Orrie Swayze, a Wilmot, S.D., semi-farmer and former South Dakota Corn Growers Association president, says the Environmental Protection Agency shift toward E15 would be a “zero growth proposition,” and should only be a step toward a goal of E30.

Orrie Swayze, a Wilmot, S.D., semi-farmer and former South Dakota Corn Growers Association president, says the Environmental Protection Agency shift toward E15 would be a “zero growth proposition,” and should only be a step toward a goal of E30.

Swayze says the reason is clear: Gasoline use will decline as fast as the expansion from E10 to E15 would increase the market.

Now 71, Swayze became a public advocate and leader in the early 1980s. He acknowledges he’s become a gadfly or an outsider on his E30 quest, but that doesn’t stop him.

“E30 is the first real step to an open fuel standard,” Swayze says. “You’ve got to have a big vision, where ethanol can compete without any roadblocks.” He says the EPA says it’s illegal to fuel E30 into a standard vehicle, but he does it all the time.

Vehicle manufacturers have already acknowledged that E30 is a premium fuel, meaning it offers power and good fuel economy, Swayze says. E10 and E15 increase the volatility of gasoline into the environment, while E30 — ironically —- reduces volatility back to the base level of gasoline. It also adds another 3 percent octane and cools the air in a turbo-charging effect, allowing more power

“We have been fighting battles legally and against new EPA sanctions and against all types of regulatory issues in Washington, just to get from E10 to E15 at the pumps,” Broin says. “We are very excited about E30, but it’s going to take a major push from the agricultural community — farmers working with ag companies, working with the ethanol industry, working with anybody who profits from any of our industries in order to push this through.” READ MORE and MORE (Ethanol Producer Magazine)