New bill calls for year-round E15

Dec 02, 2022

The bill has received support from multiple industries

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A piece of bipartisan senate legislation would make year-round E15 a reality.

Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2022 on Nov. 29.

Currently, under the Clean Air Act, E15 isn’t allowed to be sold in the summer because it evaporates faster in warm weather and can cause air pollution issues.

And the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must issue fuel waivers each summer to allow E15 sales.

If passed, the bill would amend that law to allow the sale of ethanol blends higher than 10 percent all year.

In April 2022, and in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EPA issued an emergency fuel waiver to allow E15 to be sold during the summer months.

Passing the consumer bill will have multiple benefits for the U.S., Senator Fischer said.

“We’ve long known that unleashing the full power of ethanol saves consumers money at the pump, supports family farmers, and boosts U.S. energy security,” she said in a statement.

Ethanol production benefits U.S. farmers.

The Renewable Fuels Association estimates ethanol production adds $4.5 billion to annual U.S. farm income.

And the USDA says ethanol production adds about 30 cents to the value of a bushel of corn.

Multiple industries support this bill.

Producer groups, equipment organizations, and representatives from the convenience store, renewable fuels and petroleum industries are on board with what the bill proposes.

“For the first time in history, ethanol producers, oil refiners, fuel retailers, equipment manufacturers, and farmers have all come together to support legislation that ensures American families can choose lower-cost, lower-carbon E15 at the pump every single day of the year without interruption,” Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, said in a statement.

Video: How sustainable is Canadian agriculture at producing cereals, pulses & oilseeds?

Canadians have continued to move further and further away from food production. We can see this in our expanding urban centers and less individuals growing the food we consume. This has led to more discussions about consuming food that is more sustainable. Not only sustainable environmentally, but also economically and socially. The Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) at the University of Saskatchewan, was tasked in 2022 with understanding agriculture’s contributions to improved sustainable outcomes. As a part of this, GIFS has examined the carbon footprint of agricultural production in Saskatchewan and Canada and compared that to other producers across the globe. Dr. Steven Webb, who is the CEO of the Global Institute for Food Security in Saskatoon SK walks through how we’re doing growing cereals, pulses and oilseeds based on the latest research.