Growing to E15? Delays raise doubt over EPA ruling on higher ethanol fuels

Bob Beutke doesn't grow corn to make ethanol.

But if more ethanol were to be made in the next few years, Beutke wouldn't mind.

And that's why Beutke is among a number of corn growers in La Salle County and elsewhere perturbed at federal regulators for delaying a decision on a proposed new rule that would allow more of the primarily corn-based biofuel to flow into American fuel tanks.

"Very little of the actual corn I grow goes toward ethanol," said Beutke, who farms near Grand Ridge. "But the more ethanol that can get made, the better it is for all of us who grow corn."

For months, farmers and ethanol producers have waited on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue a ruling on a request from farm groups and biofuel manufacturers to increase by 50 percent the amount of ethanol blended into the fuel that fills vehicle fuel tanks across America.

Ethanol makers have for years ramped up production, fueled mainly by a federal mandate requiring the use of billions of gallons in ethanol in American gasoline fuel blends.

But now ethanol manufacturers fear a glut of ethanol might develop, as ethanol use approaches the ceiling of that mandate. And that is why farm groups and ethanol makers are pushing the EPA to create a new market for their product by issuing a mandate that fuel be blended with 15 percent ethanol, up from the current requirement of 10 percent.

The EPA had been expected to render a decision on the request concerning that fuel, known commonly as E15, in July. However, the federal agency in June said it intended to push back its decision to September.

The decision to delay has miffed supporters of the E15 rule, like Beutke and Ken Beck, a Mendota farmer who represents the region on the Illinois Corn Growers Association board.

"I'm not happy about this, because I don't know why they're dragging their feet," Beutke said. "We've given them all the evidence they need that this stuff is safe, and they just keep putting it off."

Opposition to E15 has been led by automobile makers and convenience store operators, who claim a transition to E15 will shorten vehicle life and impose expensive burdens on them to alter engines and install new fuel pumps at gas stations to accommodate higher ethanol blends.

But Beck thinks the delay is mainly due to politics, as lawmakers from traditionally strong corn producing states can make more hay of a ruling in the fall, closer to the November elections, than they could if the ruling came in July.

Beck is confident the EPA will rule in favor of the supporters of E15.

"I'd guess there would be some kind of restriction on it," Beck said. "But I think we're going to get something."


Farmers await E15 decision

Ken Beck isn’t happy the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has delayed its decision on whether to allow more ethanol into America’s fuel supply.

But the Mendota farmer and local member of the Illinois Corn Growers Association board still believes federal regulators will side with farm groups in allowing the E15 fuel blend to flow.

“The EPA has had all of the solid science given to them that we can give,” Beck said. “Now, they’re going to decide.”

Should E15 be allowed, the increase in ethanol production would be sharp, as new demand could rise by about 6.5 billion gallons, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. Presently, the U.S. produces about 10.5 billion gallons of ethanol annually, heading toward 15 billion gallons by 2015.

The possibility of such an increase has farmers dreaming of sustained high demand for corn, and thus, relative sustained high corn prices.

However, while the EPA may allow higher ethanol blends, just how far that decision might go remains unclear.

Automakers and convenience store operators, along with some environmental groups, have opposed any allowance for higher ethanol fuel blends. Automakers in particular fear higher ethanol blends will damage car engine parts, particularly in older vehicles whose engines were not designed to handle higher amounts of ethanol.

This concern has led the EPA to indicate it might allow E15 only for cars made after 2001. It also, however, might limit E15 use only to vehicles made after 2007.

While Beck said he could begrudgingly accept restricting use of E15 to cars made after 2001, the possibility of restricting it to post-2007 vehicles worries him and other supporters of E15.

“If you’re going to restrict it to 2007 and newer, what’s the point, really?” Beck said. “That accounts for so few cars on the road.”

As a compromise, large ethanol maker Archer Daniels Midland has suggested the EPA consider approving a 12 percent ethanol blend instead.

But Beck and others have wondered what the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy — the federal department conducting the tests of the higher ethanol fuel blends — would do with that request.

“If they say, ‘Sure, we’ve already done all the tests on E15, so E12 is fine,’ then great,” Beck said. “But are they going to make E12 go through all of those tests, just like E15, meaning they would basically be starting over? I don’t know.”

Whatever the EPA decides, ethanol makers and the farmers who provide the corn that feeds their fuel hope it will provide a boost. Beck and Beutke pointed out the fuel would be made in the U.S., displacing some demand for oil.

And Beck noted it could help create jobs, as ethanol makers build new plants or expand existing ones to meet renewed demand, as the U.S. builds toward its goal of 36 billion gallons of biofuels in use by 2022.

source: mywebtimes