Biden Administration Pushes to Extend E15 Gasoline for Summer Months

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Feeling pressure from motorists' pain at the pump, President Joe Biden said Tuesday his administration plans to allow gasoline that uses a 15% ethanol blend (E15) to be sold during the summer in an effort to reduce gasoline prices.

To make E15 available in the summer, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to issue a national emergency waiver, the Biden administration announced.

"Without this action, E15 cannot be used in most of the country from June 1st to September 15th, and the EPA plans to take final action to issue the emergency waiver closer to June 1st," the White House said. E15 currently is offered at 2,300 gas stations in the country.

Industrial Info's plant database includes profiles of 197 ethanol plants in the U.S. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Alternative Fuels Plant Database can click here for a list of plant profiles.

The EPA granted E15 a waiver for year-round use in 2019 under the Trump administration, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down the rule last year, saying the EPA had exceeded its authority. It was unclear how the Biden administration planned to clear this legal hurdle.

The White House said at current prices, E15 can save a family 10 cents per gallon of gas on average. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, in recent months, E15 has typically sold for 15 to 25 cents per gallon less than standard gasoline with 10% ethanol, and 60 to 80 cents per gallon less than gasoline with no ethanol added.

However, vehicles using E15 get less gas mileage.

Nationwide gas prices, which have leapt by more than 18% in a year's time, averaged $4.10 per gallon on Tuesday, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

In a press release, the White House said it has taken a number of steps aimed at biofuels production, including the earmarking of $700 million for biofuels producers, to be allocated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through a new biofuel producer program. The USDA also announced $100 million in new funding for grants for biofuels infrastructure such as refueling and distribution facilities.

Industrial Info is tracking several active U.S. fuel ethanol projects in the U.S.

One of the projects being followed by Industrial Info is New Energy Blue Limited Liability Company's (Leola, Pennsylvania) Mason City Advanced Ethanol Refinery in Iowa. Now in the planning phase, the project has been awaiting a final funding decision. The facility would process 275,000 tons per year of cellulosic material such as corn stalks and wheat straw into 20 million gallons per year of fuel ethanol and 95 tons per year of lignin. Subscribers can click here for the project report.

In Louisiana, Omega Energy International USA (Miami, Florida) continues planning for a 15 million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant in Saint Martinville. The plant would use sugar cane waste to make the ethanol. Construction is tentatively planned to kick off in fourth-quarter 2022. Subscribers can click here for the project report.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.