Rising fuel prices and uncertainty in global energy markets are renewing attention on E15 gasoline. The Renewable Fuels Association’s new voter poll shows record support for allowing the higher-ethanol fuel blend to be sold year-round. RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper aims to use the data to get year-round E15 legislation across the finish line in the Senate.
“We’ve been sharing these results, of course, with members of Congress, especially on the Senate side, to remind them that your constituents want year-round access to E15. They understand it’s a lower-cost fuel. They understand it’s going to save them some money at the pump. And I think one of the reasons we’re seeing these record levels of support and such interest in E15 right now is what’s happening in the Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz. It’s closed, and then it’s open, and then it’s closed. We got oil prices back above $80 a barrel again, and we got gas prices averaging $4 a gallon at the pump again. So I think there’s a lot of attention, a lot of focus about gas prices right now. It is certainly something that’s on voters’ minds. And when they see the potential for a lower-cost option and a way to save some money, they’re very interested in that.”
Cooper says that support isn’t limited to one political party.
“People who identify as Republicans, 73 percent of them support passage of this legislation in Congress. And guess what? On the Democratic side, 73 percent of them also support passage of that legislation. So it is not a partisan issue. And I think we saw evidence of that when the House voted on this legislation back in May. It was a bipartisan vote. We had almost as many Democrats voting in favor of passing that bill as we did Republicans, and they were from all over the country. So I think this is one of those few issues today that is not partisan and is certainly something that I think everyone can agree on, is, hey, we need to be embracing domestically produced fuels. We need to boost our energy security, and we need to give consumers lower-cost options at the pump.”
He says affordability remains one of the strongest selling points for the fuel.
“Yeah, so today about 5,000 stations are already selling E15, 5,000 gas stations. And that sounds like a lot, but then when you consider that nationwide, there are somewhere around 120,000 gas stations. It’s still a very small share of the market. But where it is being offered, we’re seeing E15 priced often 20 cents, sometimes 30 cents, sometimes 40 cents, sometimes more than that, lower than E10, which is kind of the regular gasoline that everybody’s used to. So, you know, when you can show lawmakers and certainly when you can show consumers a 25 or 30 cent per gallon savings with E15, that gets their attention. And it’s something they’re very interested in pursuing.”
Beyond potential savings at the pump, Cooper says E15 also offers environmental benefits.
“And there’s been a tremendous amount of research done on this. E15 is the most tested fuel in the history of the United States. And all that research shows that you get emissions benefits or emissions reductions when you replace E10 gasoline with E15. You’re reducing emissions of those tailpipe pollutants that lead to smog formation and cause asthma and other human health issues. And it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which, of course, is very important, especially for members of Congress on the left side of the aisle. So it is a good story. It’s a win-win. It’s lower prices for consumers. It’s cleaner air.”
Cooper also addresses one of the most common concerns surrounding E15 – its impact on fuel economy.
“We see lots of myths and misinformation out there that, well, if we use E15, you’re going to have to fill up your car more often because it has less energy density than E10. Again, this has been tested, and not by us. It’s been tested by the University of California, Riverside. It’s been tested by the automakers. It’s been tested by the Department of Energy. And they find there may be a 1 percent difference in fuel economy. So you might get 30 miles per gallon using E10. That means you’d be expected to get 29.5 miles per gallon with E15. So you’re really not giving anything up. In fact, some of the research shows that some vehicles get better fuel economy when they’re using E15. So it’s really a non-issue. But it is one of those myths that’s out there that we have to continue to push back on.”
Cooper says the message is resonating well beyond traditional ethanol-producing states. The Renewable Fuels Association has been meeting with Senate offices representing California, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, New Hampshire, the Carolinas, and Florida, for example.
“Typically what happens when you walk into those offices is they say, well, we don’t really have a dog in the fight. We don’t really have much corn production. We don’t have a lot of corn farmers in our states. We don’t have any ethanol plants. And our response to that is, but you do have drivers. And you have lots of working families that are looking for lower-cost options at the pump. This polling data bears that out. It shows that they are very interested in this issue, and they want access to this lower-cost fuel. And typically by the time we leave those offices, you know, that message has resonated. And those senators understand that, yeah, you know, you’re right. This could be an option to help voters, help consumers in my state reduce their spending at the pump.”
The RFA is urging the Senate to take up the legislation that would allow year-round nationwide sales of E15. The House has already approved the bill, and advocates are now looking for a Senate vehicle to advance it. Geoff Cooper among them, the president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association.