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Ethanol industry focuses on RVP waiver for E15

Giving consumers year-round access to E15 fuel is a major focus of the ethanol industry.

Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy, says getting the Reid vapor pressure (RVP) waiver extended to E15 is the key.

“You give us the RVP waiver and immediately you’re going to see 700 million gallons in terms of just conventional biofuel demand,” Skor says. “So we’ve got some numbers to show this would have real economic impact.”

Skor says more than one-thousand fuel stations around the country are offering E15, nearly triple from this time last year. But she says the RVP regulation, which prohibits sales of E15 during the summer months, is an obstacle to further growth.

“I’ve talked to a lot of retailers myself that are sitting on the sidelines right now waiting for that,” she says. “It’s a real problem for retailers. It’s a legal fuel and one day a consumer can use it for their 2001 and newer car and the next there’s a label that says they can’t.”

In a letter to corn-state lawmakers in October, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said he would investigate whether the agency has the authority to issue the RVP waiver. If not, Pruitt indicated he would work with Congress to resolve the issue.

AUDIO: Emily Skor at NAFB Trade Talk