A new Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) analysis found approximately 500 million gallons of E15 were sold nationwide in 2019, setting a new record. RFA says the record proves that the Trump administration?s elimination last summer of an obsolete regulatory barrier is working. However, sales would have been even stronger if not for the RFS compliance exemptions granted by EPA to dozens of refineries.
E15 sales in Minnesota?the only state that tracks monthly purchases of higher ethanol blends?increased by nearly a third in 2019, compared to 2018. The review by RFA Chief Economist Scott Richman extrapolated the Minnesota data nationally, finding that 499 million gallons of E15?containing 75 million gallons of ethanol?were sold across the country in 2019.
Before 2019, sales of E15 had been prohibited each year during the summer months in areas where conventional gasoline is sold. In May 2019, the EPA allowed E15 to be sold year-round by extending to it the vapor-pressure waiver that was already available for E10 blends.
