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2022 was a good year for ethanol

An ethanol industry leader says 2022 was a good year for farmers and producers.  Troy Bredenkamp is with the Renewable Fuels Association. He says, “We have seen record growth and record sales of E15 across the country this year.”

Bredenkamp tells Brownfield that ethanol use was boosted by midwestern governors opting out of the Reid Vapor Pressure program, prompting the ethanol and gas industries to agree on a policy. “People can’t recall when it happened, but RFA and API, the American Petroleum Institute were on the same side when it came to legislation to try and get year-round E15.”

That legislation didn’t pass Congress, but Bredenkamp says the Inflation Reduction Act became the most important legislation for biofuels since the Renewable Fuel Standard expansion 15 years ago. “It included a clean fuel production credit. It included a sustainable aviation fuel tax credit, which we think corn-based ethanol is going to play a pretty huge role in. It also had a carbon capture sequestration provision in there, and then it had 500 million toward higher blends.”

Bredenkamp says in 2023, the RFA will be looking to push forward a final year-round E15 bill, and a long-term clean fuels bill.