The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently ended a summertime ban on gas blended with corn-made ethanol. Beginning in 2025, there will be no seasonal ban on domestically produced alternative fuel. The change comes at the request of midwestern governors who pushed to remove the ban and allow year-round sales of corn-based fuels, the majority of which come from corn grown in the region.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, ethanol is a domestically produced alternative fuel most commonly made from corn in the U.S. It is also derived from cellulosic feedstocks, such as crop residues and wood. Ethanol fuel is known to release fewer greenhouse gases (GHG) in general, but it arguably contributes to smog in the warmer summer months.
The New York Times reported that many oil producers and refineries supported the ban since ethanol cuts into the consumption of gasoline.
However, legislators across the American Heartland pushed hard for an end to the prohibition due to the region’s corn crop.
Photo Courtesy Alternative Fuels Data Center/Dean Armstrong, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
“Using higher ethanol blends in our gasoline is good for our farmers, our economy, and our national security,” Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said in a news release. “The EPA’s approval of summer sales of E15 gasoline in Minnesota and other states is a good first step to accelerate the adoption of ethanol, and I will continue working to expand the year-round use of sustainable fuels across the nation.”
The New York Times reported that Klobuchar, along with the governors of Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Kansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota, said that the summertime ban on gasoline blended with ethanol causes economic harm in their states. They each agreed that the prohibition had very little environmental benefit and the economic pluses of ending it outweighed any negative impact on air, soil, or water.
Photo Courtesy Loren King
“Overall, the emissions implications of this change are small,” Nick Conger, EPA spokesperson, told The New York Times.The end of the ban comes as similar lawmakers, including Klobuchar, have worked on a package of bipartisan bills to expand access to low-carbon renewable fuels. The bills also aim to incentivize the use of higher blends of biofuels and reduce GHG emissions, including priorities such as renewable fuel infrastructure grant programs and streamlined regulatory requirements to help fuel retailers sell higher blends of ethanol.
