EPA allows E-15 gasoline sales for third summer in a row
ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced an emergency waiver, lifting a summertime ban on the sales of gasoline blended with 15-percent ethanol. This is the third year in a row where the fuel is permitted for sales.
This decision affects eight Midwest states, including Minnesota and Iowa. Continued sales of the ethanol blend, commonly know as E-15 or Unleaded 88 at gas pumps, is intended to fight against rising gas prices.
With the U.S. banning crude oil imports from Russia due to the war in Ukraine, President Joe Biden’s administration lifted the summer E-15 ban to rely more on Iowa’s homegrown sources.
“If gasoline prices are falling, that would also generally mean that E-15 prices are falling as well,” GasBuddy Head of Petroleum Analysis Patrick De Haan said. “But on a daily basis, E-15 is almost always cheaper than regular gasoline.”
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, E-15 is usually banned in the summer in consideration of its emissions contributing to ground-level ozone. This is a health concern as it may be harmful for individuals with respiratory illnesses.
De Haan stated different gas is used for summer and winter. He explained this is due to the EPA’s Clean Air Act Amendments in 1990 which requires cleaner gas to be used in the summer.
“Generally during the warmer months when temperatures are warmer, there can be more pollution; there can be more low level ozone; there’s more people out driving. And so, the EPA regulates that cleaner gasoline must be used during the four months when there is a higher likelihood of the low level ozone and pollution.”
On the other hand, Golden Grains Energy, LLC, a Mason City ethanol plant, stated EPA’s decision benefits Iowa. Its CEO Chad Kuhlers said, “We are the largest ethanol producing state in the country. Approximately 37-percent of the corn grind in the state is going to ethanol production.”
Kuhlers shared the use of ethanol creates demand for corn. He stated the EPA’s emergency waiver is beneficial for the local economy, and the renewable fuel has about half the carbon intensity of regular gasoline.
“We want to make sure that everybody understands the environmental benefits of the use of ethanol,” Kuhlers said. “It is quite substantial, especially when you measure that carbon intensity relative to gasoline.”
De Haan shared April or May is typically the peak for gas prices, because oil refinery maintenance work is wrapping up and there is more gasoline output. He explained he expects gas prices to decline as Memorial Day approaches.
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