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Study says drivers switch to E85 when price is right

A new study by Iowa State University has two key findings for ethanol. First, it found that drivers DO switch to using high ethanol blends like E-85 when “priced attractively.”  Second, the final RFS requirement for 2017 of 15 billion gallons of conventional biofuel is achievable.

When EPA first proposed reducing RFS ethanol mandates in 2014, ’15 and ’16 – it claimed there was not sufficient evidence to meet the 15-billion gallon target for 2017 based on its belief that not enough Flex Fuel Vehicles would switch to E-85 if it were attractively priced.

Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen says the U.S. has enough Flex-fuel vehicles and E-85 pumps already in place to easily satisfy the RFS requirement and more blender pumps are being added each day. He says the EPA’s decision to raise the requirement for 2017 was the right decision. The study is published in Energy Policy.