Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack told ethanol industry advocates he is confident that E15 (gasoline blended with 15% ethanol) will be available in all 50 states by 2025 because the Biden administration understands the necessity of increasing the volume of ethanol use.
Speaking at the Renewable Fuels Association’s National Ethanol Conference in San Diego Tuesday, Vilsack also said he expected more temporary waivers would be granted to enable E15 use this summer, similar to action from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2022 and 2023.
The governors of Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin petitioned the administration in 2022 to allow year-round sales of E15. Last April, the EPA issued an emergency fuel waiver to allow E15 blends to be sold during the summer. Some in Congress have also introduced legislation calling for permanent year-round authority to use E15.
Vilsack also touted the expanded demand for E15, noting the product's current availability in 30 states compared to 23 states just three years ago. Plus, there has been a 50% increase in the number of stations selling E15.
Asked by reporters why the decision for year-round nationwide E15 access would be delayed another year, Vilsack said “it's important to have the justification for the expansion locked down solid” so the administration is in a position to “defend this as strongly as we can.”
A Trump administration action to allow year-round E15 sales was struck down in the courts in 2021.
Vilsack underscored the importance of developing new biofuel markets to help stem the loss of farms and farm families across rural America. Last week, the Census of Agriculture reported the number of farms in the U.S. fell 7% over five years to about 1.9 million in 2022, and the amount of farmland fell 2% from 900 million acres in 2017 to 880 million in 2022. Farmland accounts for 39% of all U.S. land.
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He also pointed to the consumer benefits of selling higher ethanol blends. Traveling across southern California, he noticed unleaded gas selling for about $4.99 per gallon compared to E85 selling for $2.89 per gallon. He said he took a photo to show friends in Washington about the price differential.
“You want to save consumers money, invest in biofuels. It's really, really simple,” Vilsack emphasized.
Vilsack dismissed some recent media reports which have suggested that the Biden administration was going to make it more difficult for farmers and the ethanol industry to qualify for clean energy and sustainable aviation fuel tax incentives.
“I'm working to make sure that as we create these incentives, they include room for climate-smart agricultural practices, which is going to make it easier for that which we grow and raise on our farms to be used as feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel,” Vilsack said.
The Treasury Department released guidance in December that would allow the Energy Department's GREET model to be used to calculate the carbon intensity of biofuels. Updates to that model are expected to be finalized soon.
He added that he also wanted to make it easier for the ethanol industry to be able to qualify for the various incentives.
“I'm confident that it will happen … and you’re supposed to applaud at that.”
The audience did.
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