Push for E15 Fuels Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. The infrastructure for year-round E15, gasoline blended with 15% ethanol, is ready to go and would provide a cleaner burning fuel for a lower price. So, what are we waiting for?
Joe Kakesh, General Counsel at Growth Energy, says it’s been a very slow process …
KAKESH … “There’s some pretty significant headwinds on summertime use of E15 because of the way EPA regulates the fuel, but I have to say, in the summer of 2022 we had significant increases year over year, from the stations that offer E15. And that’s, I think, a direct result of increasing acceptance of the fuel type, but also the pressure imposed by increasing gas prices.”
Kakesh says the challenges are varied ...
KAKESH … “E15 has different standards in the summertime than it does for the rest of the year. And if I’m a retailer or if I’m a provider, I want certainty and stability and regularity throughout the course of the year. And having that, sort of, bump in the road each year, we have to relabel, potentially have a different fuel, that proposes a challenge.”
But it's not, Kakesh says, insurmountable …
KAKESH … “So, we’ve been working with both Congress and the agencies to make sure that that barrier gets removed. And so, that allows retailers to have a consistent fuel throughout the entire year and allows them to offer that benefit from May 30th through September 15th and the entire year long.”
Kakesh says E15 is approved for all vehicle years from 2001
or newer, which represents 98% of the vehicles on the road today.
