The path to E15 has been a rough one, with many roadblocks along the way. 

The latest obstacle is a report released by the American Petroleum Institute (API) that says half of all gasoline station equipment is not compatible with the blend of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent regular gasoline.

Prentiss Searles, API’s manager of marketing issues, says the EPA has done an inadequate job of addressing the issue of dispensing equipment and other infrastructure challenges associated with E15.

“A gas station is more than the dispenser.  It is all of the underground storage tanks, the piping and all the fittings and components that go into making that system,” Searles says. “So even if you have the dispensers upgraded to be able to blend E15, you still haven’t addressed all the other issues of concern that deal with environmental safety, environmental protection, and safety for the consumer.”

Responding to API’s claims, Ron Lamberty of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) says “we shouldn’t be surprised to see Big Oil ‘go negative’ on E15—but it is surprising to see them going after pumps and tanks, because most of that equipment has been tested—for decades—using at least 15 percent ethanol.

“Underwriters Laboratories’ listing for petroleum equipment requires that they pass dozens of tests using fuel that contains 15 percent ethanol,” Lamberty says, “and their listing for tanks and piping defines ‘alcohol-gasoline mixtures’ as any level of ethanol or methanol up to and including 100 percent.”

The ethanol industry is in the process of trying to convince retailers to add E15 to their pumps. Lamberty admits that API’s report will make that job a bit more difficult.

“It’s another roadblock.  It’s another thing thrown out in front of the folks who own gas stations that they’ve got to take a look at and say, ‘okay, do I really want to try this’,” he says. “It’s not anything new, but the timing of it is what is is—it’s there because we’re getting very close to having stations approved and manufacturers approved that can sell E15 at the pump.”

Lamberty calls the petroleum industry’s latest attack on E15 “a thinly-disguised attempt to maintain their stranglehold on our fuel supply.

“Not because they’re truly worried about anybody’s gas pumps, in my opinion,” he says, “but more because they’re worried that people might start buying five percent more ethanol—and that means five percent less gas.”

AUDIO: Ron Lamberty (8:12 MP3)