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Largest biofuel producer eyes E15 as national standard

The world’s largest biofuel producer wants to make 15-percent blended ethanol fuel the national standard in the U.S.

Doug Berven is the Vice President of Corporate Affairs with POET. “It’s so much better for the consumer, the cars, the environment, our economy, our energy security – you name it. It checks all the boxes,” he says.

Berven tells Brownfield ethanol reduces the price at the pump when comparing no ethanol to E10. “Imagine saving 30 to 40 cents per gallon,” he says. “Everyone is realizing that, but they just don’t know it.  So if we move to E15 to E20 to E30 and even E85 you just save more and more and the more ethanol you put in your tank.”

He says some challenges remain like the Reid Vapor Pressure waiver that prevented summer sales of E15. 

But, Berven says that’s only a speed bump. “It just makes too much sense not to do it and with the current administration’s goals on climate right now, there’s no way they can reach those goals without creating cleaner, domestic fuels.”

He says adding ethanol to the fuel supply will help accomplish the administration’s climate goals.