SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A group of U.S. senators and representatives have introduced a bill that would boost sales of ethanol in that country.
The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act would extend the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) volatility waiver to gasoline with ethanol blends higher than 10 percent.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates the vapour pressure of gasoline sold at retail stations during the summer from June 1 to Sept. 15 to reduce volatile organic compound emissions that are a major contributor to smog.
That means E15, which are blends of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol, can’t be sold in about 60 percent of the country during the summer.
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The bill introduced would extend the same RVP waiver provided to E10 fuel to E15 and higher ethanol blends. That would allow E15 to be sold year-round.
Being able to sell E15 year-round is one of the policy priorities for the National Corn Growers Association.
“The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act is an important step forward in increasing consumer choice at the pump every day of the year,” NCGA president Wesley Spurlock said in a news release.
“This simple legislative fix will give consumers access to this high-performing, environmentally friendly fuel year-round.”
Two days earlier, Spurlock was telling reporters at the 2017 Commodity Classic that this was one of the policy priorities for the association.
Ethanol industry growth is credited for helping cause the 2008 spike in grain prices by creating tight supplies of corn. Corn prices peaked at US$7.65 per bushel before tumbling down because of the global economic crisis later that year.
Ethanol plants are expected to consume 35 percent of the U.S. corn crop in 2016-17. Spurlock hopes year-round sales of E15 will help boost that number in years to come, pulling corn out of its sub-$4 per bu. doldrums.
“We’re entering our fourth year of corn prices below the cost of production,” he said.
Net farm income in the U.S. is expected to fall nine percent in 2017, putting it at half of where it was in 2013.
“The challenges are real and pervasive,” said Spurlock.
The EPA has approved the use of E15 in all vehicles built since 2001. The NCGA has spent $4 million on incentive programs for high-volume, independent retailers to up-grade pumps to handle E15 blends. More than 800 retailers in 23 states now offer E15 fuel.
