Year-Round E15 Sales the ‘Top Priority’ for Ethanol Industry: RFA Chief
WASHINGTON — E15 expansion has emerged as the “top priority” for the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), its chief executive officer said Monday.
“Securing the ability to sell E15 year-round remains a work in progress,” Geoff Cooper said during a keynote speech here at the Global Ethanol Summit 2025.
Moving to E15 nationwide would boost U.S. ethanol demand by roughly 6 billion gal and increase corn demand for farmers by more than 2 billion bu, according to Cooper.
“But we need legislation from Congress and we are working hard to secure that,” he said. “We continue to push as hard as possible for passage of legislation that allows nationwide, year-round E15, and we are hopeful that gets done before the end of the year.”
Pointing to other reasons for optimism, Cooper said his organization was “pleased to see” the EPA propose the highest-ever biofuels blending mandates for 2026 and 2027, adding that RFA is “anxiously awaiting finalization of those volumes.”
Carbon capture/utilization and storage (CCUS) also offers “enormous promise” for the industry, Cooper said.
“CCUS significantly reduces the carbon intensity of ethanol and allows our product to access new markets worldwide that reward or require lower-carbon fuels,” he said.
“One of those markets where low carbon intensity and CCUS will be key is the global sustainable aviation fuel market,” he said. “Aviation fuel is a 90-billion-gallon per year market worldwide, and we believe ethanol can make a significant contribution to that.”
Similarly, Cooper said, oceangoing ships use 70 billion to 80 billion gal per year worldwide, “and the marine sector has recognized the need to decarbonize those fuels.”
That effort “hit a snag” last week when the International Maritime Organization’s vote to adopt its Net-Zero Framework was delayed by a year, said Cooper, who added that it “remains a high-priority area.”
In the longer term, RFA sees mid-level road-fuel blends like E20 and E30 as “a huge opportunity” for U.S. ethanol.
Outside of the U.S., the organization is “inspired by what is happening in India with E20 and what is happening in Brazil with E30,” according to Cooper, who said he sees “no reason why we shouldn’t be doing the same thing here in the U.S.”
“Of course it will take durable, long-term policy to drive higher blends,” he said, “and that is often easier said than done.” He cited a growing number of applications for ethanol in the chemical market, “again because of ethanol’s low carbon intensity and cleanliness as a chemical building block.”
On a less positive note, Cooper said farmers are harvesting corn and soybean crops in record amounts, “but the demand picture is grim, as trade wars have shut down key export markets and domestic demand is being constrained by regulatory and policy barriers.”
Such developments will continue to be addressed by RFA, Cooper said.
“Whether it is cleaning up the air, reducing carbon emissions, boosting energy security, lowering costs for consumers, or building new markets for farmers,” he said, “we must continue to make a credible, compelling, scientific case for the expanded production and use of ethanol.”
Reporting by Michael Schneider, mschneider@opisnet.com; Editing by Aaron Alford, aalford@opisnet.com