With the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) giving final approval of E15 for vehicles manufactured since 2001, some retailers see that as the beginning of a federal push to make no-ethanol gasoline extinct. And government mandates on renewal fuels will push more E15.
“These mandates are going to get larger and larger every year,” said Bill Maxwell, executive director of the Oklahoma Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association.
NACS warned in “The Future of Fuels” that national blend rates must accelerate to stay current with the Renewable Fuels Standard requirement that 36 billion gallons of biofuel—which is mostly ethanol blends—be made each year by 2022. Current blend rates of E10 won’t be enough.
“In the very near future, retailers will have to sell, and consumers will have to purchase, fuels that contain substantially more than 10% ethanol,” said the NACS report. “Given current compatibility standards and vehicle specifications, such a development will require new equipment at retail and new vehicles on the road.” (NACS: www.nacsonline.com)
