If biofuels are related to your crop harvest, facility production, or investment portfolio, then you may not have to sweat out the summer as much. For the third straight summer, the Biden administration has authorized an emergency waiver to permit sales of E15, the 15% ethanol fuel blend.
The Environmental Protection Agency used to cite increased air pollution as a reason to restrict E15 sales from June to September. Biofuels producers have argued that E15 is beneficial, not harmful to the environment.
In February, the EPA announced that it would allow year-round sales beginning in 2025.
FLASHBACK: Michigan State University Extension released this video nine years ago to explain what E15 is. Watch that here.
Midwestern governors and members of Congress from that region didn’t want to wait until next summer. They pushed to make the change this summer instead. The politicians’ push has been persistent for several years.
“We urge swift action to help lower fuel prices across the country, restore energy independence, and increase consumer access to our nation’s homegrown biofuels,” the eight Midwestern governors wrote in a joint letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan in 2022.
RELATED: Read the letter from Midwestern governors to the Environmental Protection Agency in 2022 here.
Fast forward two years and now the governors in these eight states can oversee summer E15 sales one year sooner than originally permitted:
· Illinois
· Iowa
· Minnesota
· Missouri
· Nebraska
· Ohio
· South Dakota
· Wisconsin
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) recognized the magnitude of the E15 sales expansion.
NCGA President Harold Wolle said, “This waiver is good news for corn growers and those in rural America who will benefit economically from this decision and for consumers who will save money at the pump during a busy travel season. We are deeply appreciative of EPA Administrator Regan, President Biden and our congressional allies for all their work on this issue.”
RELATED: Iowa Renewable Fuels Executive Director Monte Shaw explained the need to expand the market for ethanol and what summer sales of E15 could mean for the industry. Watch that American Farmland Owner conversation here.
