Midwest motorists could soon pay more for fuel under an ethanol-blending policy backed by political interests in the region, according to a new study.
First discovered by traffic theme, research conducted by Baker & O’Brien Inc. for a U.S. fossil fuel refining trade group. It predicts that Midwest motorists will pay 8 cents to 12 cents more per gallon in an effort to buy more E15—a blend of 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline—to more gas stations.
The problem, according to the study, is that getting more ethanol to the stations will require new equipment for distribution, storage and production. And pump, as we outlined before. These costly retrofits have kept the E15 from going to multiple stations.
Large square baler harvesting wheat straw for cellulosic ethanol production
This debate raged as a group of Midwest governors moved to remove partial air pollution exemptions for E10 gasoline (the blend sold by default at most gas stations nationwide). . This would put E10 and E15 on the same legal footing in these states, potentially encouraging higher sales of higher ethanol blends, Transport Topics noted.
That in turn will require costly changes to infrastructure, which will likely pass on to customers in the form of higher gas prices. While rising gas prices are a credible stressor for politicians at the national level, in the Midwest they are opposed by the interests of the agricultural corridor, which represents growers. Corn is used in ethanol.
This comes as ethanol interest groups are once again petitioning the Biden administration to waive the seasonal ban on higher ethanol blends due to smog-producing pollution. Iowa lawmakers are among elected officials supporting the petition, local newspaper Announcement report.
Ethanol warning in fuel tank
that’s something the Trump administration did in 2019 and 2020, in a move aimed at garnering votes for the agriculture industry after previous moves against the industry. The Biden administration does the same in 2022.
The Biden administration seems to have choose ethanol benefits over food, but given the high inflation rate and concerns about the cost of pantry items, perhaps the administration will reconsider. Recent peer-reviewed research, which takes a more holistic view, also shows that ethanol can be worse for global warming than gasoline.
The debate over how much ethanol is blended with the national gasoline supply has also spilled over into discussions of electric vehicle sales, with corn farmers care that California’s push for EVs will reduce ethanol sales, and EV advocates say new rules expand biofuel use will delay the adoption of EV. The ethanol corridor also opposes the Biden administration’s stricter emissions standards, which could help boost electric vehicle sales. So the engine here is green – just another kind of green.
