PHOTO: CATHRYN FARLEY COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
E15
LOOKING GOOD This Zarco 66 gas station in Lawrence, Kan., offers 90 octane E15 right next to 87 octane regular gasoline.
kets are subject to RVP seasonality. In fact, Growth Energy sees areas requiring reformulated gas as ideal starting points for E15. Reformulated gasoline is required in cities with high smog levels, such as in St. Louis, and Fort Worth—in other words, large population centers. About 30 percent of the gas sold in the U.S. is reformulated and is currently required in parts of 17 states, according to the EPA.
Minimum Purchase Rule One of the hiccups in final federal approval for commercial sale of E15 was over pumps with a single hose dispensing multiple fuels. The EPA was concerned, White
says, that a consumer purchasing E10 would get a higher percentage of ethanol due to the residual fuel left over in the hose. A lot of noise was made by the American Motorcycle Association as well as other small engine groups representing lawnmowers, chainsaws and more. RFA argued that in order for a consumer to get a higher than desired blend, a driver seeking E10 would have to fill at a single hose pump immediately after a customer that purchased E15. In addition, the E10 consumer would have to purchase only one gallon of fuel. “The odds of this happing are similar to someone winning the massive Powerball,” White said, adding that not all gas pumps have
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single hose configurations. “But EPA was not going to budge.” So, the 4-gallon minimum purchase rule was added to the RFA’s E15 retailer handbook. Basically any retailer selling E10 and E15 from a single hose was required to add an additional sticker telling consumers that if a minimum transaction wasn’t adhered to it may violate federal law. On the one hand, the agreement allowed the EPA to move forward with the first misfueling mitigation plans in June—opening the way for the commercial sale of E15. But it wasn’t a perfect fix. Next the AMA started complaining that it would soon become difficult for consumers with small engines to purchase E10. “Which is again, nearly ludicrous, because every station would have to sell E15,” he says. Another question White has is, why would consumers with small engines have to have access to E10 at every station? Diesel is an example of a fuel that consumers aren’t able to purchase at every fueling station. In the meantime, retailers who have been ready and willing to sell E15 haven’t able to because the EPA doesn’t feel this issue has been fully resolved, White says. That explains why there were several announcements of new E15 stations in the beginning, followed by silence in late fall and early win-