As the keynote speaker at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit Thursday, Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper said “2019 sucked” but the industry is focusing forward now into the “Roaring ’20s.”

Cooper offered four predictions for the new decade.

1. The battle over the Renewable Fuel Standard will continue and intensify
2. The use of low carbon fuel standards will spread to other states and regions
3. U.S. ethanol exports will resume vigorous growth
4. E15 will become the standard gasoline blend in the United States

Regarding the last of these, Cooper reminded his audience of the history of E10. “Twenty-five years after its commercial introduction, E10 still only accounted for about 20 percent of total US gasoline sales,” he said. “But in just seven years—between 2003 and 2010—E10 saw hockey-stick growth and went from about 20 percent of the market to almost 100 percent of the market.”

Closing his speech with a note of optimism, Cooper ended with a fifth prediction that flows from these prior ones: “Ethanol’s best and brightest days are ahead of us!”

Listen to Cooper’s address here:
2020 IRFA Summit - Geoff Cooper, Renewable Fuels Association (26:42)