Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) says Senators are working on a new bill that would allow year-round sales of E15 higher blends of ethanol motor fuel.
Agripulse reports that Senators from Midwestern farm states are now trying to find a way forward on the ethanol legislation, with some stakeholders arguing that “clean” E15 legislation, without a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) provision, is the best path forward. That approach, though, raises the question of whether such a bill would lose support from the American Petroleum Institute, which backs the changes to the RFS on the grounds that the current process for small refinery exemptions (SREs) lacks transparency and distorts the market.
The SRE issue has caused a major rift within the oil industry. Groups representing independent refiners say API, which is made up of large refinery members, is trying to consolidate the market and drive smaller energy companies out of business.
The House narrowly passed a stand-alone E15 measure last month, 218-203. The measure would revamp parts of the RFS by shrinking the number of biofuel-blending exemptions for small oil refiners.
Year-round E15 has long been sought by corn farmers and ethanol producers to expand U.S. consumption of the biofuel.Most gasoline sold in the U.S. includes about 10% ethanol as an octane booster and requirement under the RFS. Allowing blends of 15% would potentially add an additional 2.4 billion bushels of U.S. corn a year while reducing gasoline prices by as much as 30 cents a gallon, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.