The clock is ticking, and time is running out for the Biden EPA to decide on a summertime E15 waiver which would allow for summer sales at the pump. A waiver is needed for sales of E15 to be allowed this summer, before a more permanent rule allowing for E15 sales goes into effect next year. The Renewable Fuels Association estimates E15 sales topped one billion gallons last year, an eight percent boost from 2022, largely due to EPA summertime waivers.
RFA Senior Vice President for Government Affairs Troy Bredenkamp says the Environmental Protection Agency must decide soon on an E15 waiver for this summer, ahead of a more permanent E15 rule going into effect next year.
He says last year’s emergency waiver was announced on April 28th. That has industry members hopeful for a similar timeline this year.
The ethanol industry is waiting for the administration to decide the final greenhouse gas modeling known as GREET. That decision will determine must-have tax breaks for sustainable aviation fuel or ‘SAF,’ which would provide a large potential new market.
SAF is a potential growth boom for the renewable fuels industry, with estimates of a 36-billion-gallon new market powering planes. That would be more than twice the current ethanol fuel use.
