Consumers will have the choice to purchase E15 at the pump again tomorrow, September 15, 2016. For drivers owning a 2001 or newer vehicle, E15 sales are restricted during summer months due to an arcane U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation on Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP). The 15th marks the end of EPA’s “volatility control season” opening the fuel back up to non-flex fuel vehicles.
“In 1989, EPA provided an RVP waiver to 10 percent ethanol blends, concluding there would be no air quality consequence and retailers would otherwise be unable to secure blendstocks for ethanol blending year-round,” said Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Bob Dinneen. “Those same circumstances exist for E15. Indeed, as data submitted by RFA to EPA has shown, emissions from E15 are even lower than E10 and consumers would benefit all year long from a fuel that is higher octane, lower cost and cleaner.”
Listen to an interview with Dinneen on E15 here: Interview with Bob Dinneen, RFA on E15