Should an E-15 Ethanol Waiver Be in the Air?

As the Rochester, Minnesota Post Bulletin reports, a major manufacturer of ethanol, is hoping for a government waiver which will allow more ethanol to be blended into the gasoline you purchase at the pump.

Richard Eichstadt is hoping the federal government will give the green light to blending gasoline with 15 percent ethanol.

Eichstadt is the general manager of POET Biorefining in Preston, one of several ethanol plants in Minnesota that could benefit if the percentage of ethanol is gasoline is raised from 10 percent to 15 percent.

Not everyone is lining up behind this idea, though. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has strongly opposed the granting of such a waiver, saying that many cars currently in service will experience failures of on-board pollution diagnostic systems, and could potentially lead to increased harmful emissions.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers released a statement on July 20, indicating the need for additional testing before such a waiver should be granted.

“[W]hile we are sensitive to the issues facing the ethanol industry and remain committed to finding the right answers and market solutions that will support the sustainable use of more biofuels, we urge EPA to delay any decision on blends higher than E10 for the existing fleet until adequate testing results are available.”

I contacted Charles Territo, Senior Communications Director for the Alliance, and asked him if the current administration should support such a waiver, given the vast amounts of taxpayer dollars and attention currently flooding into environmental programs specifically designed to reduce such emissions. He noted concerns expressed during Congressional debate over CO2 emissions from the production of corn based ethanol and life cycle ghg emissions. He also added the following comment:

“From our perspective this administration has pledged to make decisions based on sound science and on this issue the science is far from sound. There is concern that increasing ethanol use would lead to higher [nitrogen oxide] NOx emissions and that could have a negative impact on air quality and create a challenging situation for states who struggle with NAAQs compliance.”

In addition to the Alliance, the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers is warning of the dangers which may be encountered from such a waiver.

The coalition signing on to protest this exemption is a rather unusual one. It includes several automotive and manufacturing interests, such as the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, but also the Friends of the Earth, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, Clean Air Watch and the American Lung Association.

We have argued in this space on many occasions for greater government attention to the potential of ethanol in meeting America’s energy needs, but this is yet another area where rushing forward may have unintended consequences. Detroit has gotten on board with these advances, but we must also keep in mind the fact that the technology needs to be given the time to keep up with advances. Questions remain about the environmental impact of corn based ethanol production vs. other, less water intensive sources. Also, as Mr. Territo notes, dumping mid-range ethanol blends into a fleet of vehicles not designed to operate on them could potentially cause more harm than that which we seek to alleviate.

The EPA’s notice of a request for this waiver can be viewed at their web site. We should encourage the Obama administration to move cautiously on this and allow adequate time to study the full impact of this move before it is approved.