Girls Auto Clinic Provides Ethanol Education

Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

Patrice Banks, Girls Auto Clinic, and Kendra Coulson, RFA

At the 2026 National Ethanol Conference, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Membership and Marketing Manager Kendra Coulson highlighted a unique partnership with Patrice Banks, founder of Girls Auto Clinic, aimed at educating women about vehicle maintenance and the benefits of ethanol-blended fuels.

Banks, a former DuPont engineer, shared her inspiring journey during a women’s leadership breakfast. Raised by a single mother and the first in her family to graduate college, she excelled in math and science, leading to a stable engineering career. However, feeling unfulfilled in the “rat race,” she pivoted in her early 30s. Unable to find a female mechanic for advice, Banks enrolled in automotive school alongside teenage boys, overcoming imposter syndrome to become a certified mechanic. She launched Girls Auto Clinic in Philadelphia, combining repair services with workshops, nail salons, and education to make car care accessible and empowering for women.

Coulson explained how RFA discovered Banks two and a half years ago through Robert White, RFA’s Vice President of Industry Relations. The collaboration began as a trial, with Banks integrating ethanol education into her curriculums. “She has reached so many audiences for us on the East Coast, mainly women, that we wouldn’t normally reach,” Coulson said. Attending a November workshop, Coulson observed Banks fielding practical questions like ethanol’s cold-weather performance and pump handle colors, demystifying the fuel for novices.

Banks loves to talk about ethanol’s benefits. “We start with money. E15 saves up to $0.17 a gallon. It’s better for the environment as a sustainable corn-based fuel, and it supports U.S. farmers, reducing reliance on foreign oil,” she said, adding that this resonates with her audience. The partnership aligns RFA’s mission with Banks’ SheCanic movement, fostering confidence in women drivers while boosting ethanol awareness. As Banks eyes franchising, this collaboration promises broader impact, proving innovative outreach can drive renewable fuel adoption.

Listen to Kendra and Patrice’s presentation at the NEC Women’s Leadership Breakfast and an interview with Kendra below:

NEC26 Women's Leadership (45:34)

NEC26 interview - Kendra Coulson, RFA Marketing & Membership (3:30)

Official RFANEC Photo Album

2026 National Ethanol Conference highlights photo album

Audio, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

RFA Urges Immediate Action on E15

Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

As gas prices have jumped 14% in a week since the start of Operation Epic Fury, the Renewable Fuels Association is urging the Trump administration to take immediate action allowing broader use of lower-cost, American-made ethanol in the U.S. fuel supply to help ease the impacts of higher crude oil and gasoline prices.

The White House has asked the Departments of Energy, Transportation and ‌Treasury and the Environmental Protection Agency to come up with options, and RFA provided input in a letter to Interior Sec. Doug Burgum, who chairs the administration’s National Energy Dominance Council.

“Adding larger volumes of low-cost ethanol to gasoline is a proven solution for reducing fuel prices and helping to insulate the U.S. market from global supply shocks,” wrote RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “A series of simple deregulatory actions could rapidly unleash billions of gallons of additional fuel volume, providing relief at the pump for hardworking American families.”

Ethanol is selling at a significant discount to gasoline, Cooper noted. On March 6, ethanol was selling for $0.84 per gallon less than gasoline at the wholesale level—a discount of 31 percent. In recent days, E15 has been selling for $0.27 per gallon less than standard E10 gasoline.

RFA urged the following actions, among others:

As soon as possible, EPA should issue emergency summertime fuel waivers allowing a 1-psi Reid vapor pressure (RVP) volatility tolerance for E15 nationwide, as well as E10 in certain areas that previously opted out of the 1-psi RVP waiver program.
EPA should immediately eliminate all E15 Misfueling Mitigation Plan requirements and adopt a simple requirement that retail gasoline stations offering E15 for sale must also continue to make E0 or E10 available in at least one clearly marked dispenser at the station.
Establish a presumption of E15 compatibility for all fuel dispensers, underground storage tank (UST) systems (including piping and all other underground components), and “hanging hardware” (e.g., hoses and nozzles) installed after 2005.

“The most effective way to prevent additional increases in gas prices across the U.S. is by expanding and diversifying the domestic fuel supply, including ethanol made from our nation’s farm fields,” Cooper concluded. “Knocking down regulatory barriers and allowing E15 to be stored and distributed in existing infrastructure throughout the summer will lower fuel costs for Americans and strengthen the market’s resilience against global supply disruptions.”

E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

ACE Ready for 15th Annual DC Fly-in

Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) is hosting its 15th annual Washington, DC Fly-in and Government Affairs Summit March 17-18, 2026, bringing ethanol producers, farmers, and industry stakeholders to Capitol Hill to engage directly with federal policymakers. One of the biofuels industry’s longest-running and most impactful advocacy events, the Fly-In provides a critical opportunity for grassroots voices to help shape federal energy and agriculture policy.

“With so many ethanol priorities hanging in the balance, direct engagement with Congress and the administration has never been more important,” said Brian Jennings, ACE CEO. “Both chambers will be in session, and in an election year, timing matters. We encourage ethanol supporters to join us in Washington this March to reinforce the need for timely action on E15 year-round, 45Z clean fuel production tax credit implementation, and final Renewable Fuel Standard volumes.”

Jennings attended both the National Ethanol Conference and Commodity Classic recently to meet with other ethanol industry stakeholders to discuss the situation with E15 legislation, as the Congressional Rural Council charged with getting a bill to the House missed its deadline and has yet to complete the assignment. “Now, between now and our fly-in, there could be a breakthrough,” said Jennings. “You know, Randy Feenstra, the co-chair of this in the House is very is working very hard. He and his staff are incredible, and they’re committed to getting something done. And if it were Randy Feenstra and a handful of others, I have confidence it would. But there are other people at the table that are, I think, not trying to come to a conclusion. So we’ll see. I fear we may have this issue still on our plate come mid-March.”

Jennings says he believes there is still optimism in the ethanol industry. “The industry is incredibly excited, despite the disappointment with the more recent setbacks relative to E15 year-round legislation. There’s a lot of interest and excitement and enthusiasm, frankly, around 45Z and the clean fuel production tax credit, how producers are gonna make a claim for that, what the rules are gonna be going forward. So we’ve got a lot of work to do on that front as the proposal is out for public comment, but, you know, that’ll be another big topic for our fly-in,” said Jennings.

Learn more in this preview:
Brian Jennings - ACE Fly-in preview (4:43)

Meetings will take place on Capitol Hill, with accommodations and additional programming hosted at the Hilton Washington DC Capitol Hill. For more information, contact Katie Muckenhirn at kmuckenhirn@ethanol.org, Ashley Hillmer at ahillmer@ethanol.org, or visit ethanol.org/events/fly-in.

ACE, Audio, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News

E15 Still Struggling in Congress

Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

The House Agriculture Committee passed a bipartisan Farm Bill in the dark of the night this week but failed to include an amendment with E15 language in it. Meanwhile, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee said this week that they hope it will be added in their version.

RFA’s Troy Bredenkamp (center) moderates policy panel at NEC

Renewable Fuels Association Senior VP, Government & Public Affairs, Troy Bredenkamp says the ethanol industry will continue to fight until Congress does something to allow E15 to be sold in the summer months without resorting to waivers every year. “Until we get E15 over the finish line we won’t stop,” said Bredenkamp at the National Ethanol Conference last week. “That really is priority number one and so that that will be our focus and and we will have to continue to to push forward and and look at different avenues, look at different vehicles, try different angles and until we find something that is going to get us to the finish line.”

Bredenkamp moderated a policy panel at NEC that spent a lot of time discussing the E15 situation. Doug Kantor, representing the convenience store retailers, Will Hupman with the American Petroleum Institute, Jordan Dux of the Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation, and Anne Steckel, Senior Advisor for the National Farmers Union, shared the frustrations of having 95% of the liquid fuel value chain in agreement about E15 and still being unable to get Congress to act.

Listen to their conversation and an interview with Bredenkamp from the NEC:

NEC26 Policy panel (55:35)

NEC26 interview - Troy Bredenkamp, RFA Government & Public Affairs (7:14)

Audio, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

Scholarship Winners Make the Most of NEC

Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

Scholarship winners and RFA CEO Geoff Cooper at NEC

Ten young people, either still in college or at the start of their careers, had the opportunity to attend the National Ethanol Conference last week in Orlando on a scholarship, courtesy of the Renewable Fuels Foundation.

The recipients of the Robert Sather Memorial Scholarship included five college students and five members of the Renewable Fuels Association’s Young Professionals Network. The aim of the scholarship is to reach young adults aspiring to a career related to renewable fuels, open new doors for them, and present new perspectives on ethanol’s place in our world today and in the future.

L-R: Verena Hopkins, Shalom Iboh, Kayla McCaslin, Samantha Cookson

Shalom Igbo, a third year PhD candidate at the University of Florida, is developing mathematical models for biofuel optimization. “I looked up the Renewable Fuels Association because my research closely aligns with what the organization is trying to achieve and I felt that I should apply and that I would have a good chance of coming to the National Ethanol Conference,” said Igbo.

Verena Hopkins, sales representative at IFF, became a member of RFA’s YPN when she moved from production to sales. “I was looking for a position where you could have more interaction with people, you can try to help solve their problems. A good day in production is a boring day, a day that nothing that is crazy happens. And I wanted a little bit more crazy days. So the sales side of it really caught my attention. So I’m excited for that.”

Listen to interviews with four of the scholarship award winners here:

Samantha Cookson, University of Ottawa
NEC26 interview - Samantha Cookson, scholarship winner (2:10)
Shalom Iboh, University of Florida
NEC26 interview - Shalom Iboh, scholarship winner (2:21)
Kayla McCaslin, Valero Energy, YPN scholarship winner
NEC26 interview - Kayla McCaslin, YPN scholarship winner (1:26)
Verena Hopkins, sales representative at IFF, YPN scholarship winner
NEC26 interview - Verena Hopkins, YPN scholarship winner (3:01)

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

California Still Waiting for E15

Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

California stage two vapor recovery nozzles

It was October of 2025 when the California legislature approved the sale of 15% ethanol fuel in the state, which was intended to happen immediately, yet six months later E15 remains on the leash in the Golden State.

The hold up is because of California’s unique stage two vapor recovery equipment, which the state Fire Marshall claims has yet to be approved by Underwriters Laboratory for E15 use despite the manufacturers’ claims that it is compatible.

During a panel on Unleashing E15 at last week’s National Ethanol Conference, Alessandra Magnasco with the California Fuels & Convenience Alliance said her members would be thrilled to see California just do away with the stage two vapor recovery equipment.

NEC E15 panel

“They’re actually a lot more expensive than a traditional nozzle. They break and then you have to get a new one. It’s much more expensive. It really is a huge headache,” said Magnasco. “In my humble opinion, they’re really not necessary because we have such a percentage of the number of cars on the road that have the onboard vapor recovery systems that it really doesn’t make sense. But California likes to hold on to every last little vestiges of their old regulations…And so it’s really an outdated relic of the past, but they just don’t want to give it up because they think it’s going to give you that little extra bit of vapor recovery that you wouldn’t have without it.”

Meanwhile, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is finally at work on regulations for E15 in the state, which had been delayed for so long the legislature took action. Industry consultant Neil Koehler says the process is moving forward.

“We’ve recently had a discussion with CARB staff, and it’s a completely different attitude. It’s not a major rulemaking. It’s a minor rulemaking. We’re going to get it done this year,” said Koehler. “Who knows when it would be effective. It could be January 1 of next year. That would be the earliest, but that’s a lot earlier than had been anticipated, given that they were saying it would be at least a two-year process. So that is very good news.”

Listen to the NEC Unleashing E15 panel, moderated by Robert White, Renewable Fuels Association Senior VP, Industry Relations & Market Development. In addition to Magnasco and Koehler, the panel included Jake Olson, Executive Director of Public Policy, RaceTrac, Inc.

NEC26 Unleashing E15 panel (45:02)

Audio, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

2025 Ethanol Production Sets Record Along with Exports

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol production in the United States hit a new record last year, according to the latest data released by the Energy Information Administration, hitting 16.49 billion gallons (bg) in 2025, in response to stronger domestic consumption and record high exports.

The Renewable Fuels Association reports that the U.S. ethanol blend rate jumped to a record 10.51 percent, as domestic usage of ethanol increased to 14.34 bg, up nearly 100 million gallons (mg) from 2024. The increase continued expansion in sales of E15 despite continued seasonal restrictions in parts of the country. It also demonstrates the potential for more rapid growth if Congress passes E15 legislation, according to RFA.

RFA’s Ed Hubbard moderates global panel at NEC

Internationally, U.S. exports of ethanol surged to over 2.18 bg, a 13-percent increase from the previous record set a year earlier. Almost all the ethanol used in the United States was produced domestically, bolstering America’s energy security, as imports were negligible.

At last week’s National Ethanol Conference, panelists from around the world discussed the challenges and exciting opportunities for expanding global ethanol production and use. RFA General Counsel and VP, Government Affairs, Ed Hubbard moderated the panel which represented dynamic key markets for the U.S. industry. “This past year, we’ve had exponential, tremendous exponential growth in ethanol exports, over 300 million in just one year of increased demand. That was on top of last year’s record-breaking 1.9 billion gallons. No one ever thought we’d ever get past 2 billion and we went past it and and then some all the way to 2.18 billion gallons, which is several years ago was unheard of. And each one of those individuals on that stage represented part of that growth,” said Hubbard.

The panel included:
Fred Ghatala, President, Advanced Biofuels Canada Association
Alberto Carmona, CEO and Founder, NixAl Commodities
Federico Salcedo, Regional Ethanol Consultant for Latin America, U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council
Paulo Macedo, Global Managing Director, International Relations, Policy & Advocacy, Raizen

Listen to an interview with Hubbard and the conversation with the panel below:
NEC26 interview - Ed Hubbard, RFA General Counsel (7:09)

NEC26 Global demand panel (56:13)

2026 National Ethanol Conference highlights photo album

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

ACE Offers Tools to Increase Ethanol Usage

Cindy Zimmerman

The big topic at the 2026 Commodity Classic last week was the need for year-round, nationwide E15, but despite the roadblocks the number of stations selling higher blends continues to increase, according to American Coalition for Ethanol Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Ron Lamberty.

Education is the way to get more stations in the nation to carry higher ethanol blends, and Lamberty says ACE has a fuel cost calculator for retailers to find out just what that can do for them. “And what we’ve got on there is marketers who’ve sold E15 and E85 and E30 talking about how they sold it, how they gained market share,” said Lamberty. “And the reason it’s important to have it on a website is because about 60% of the stations in the country are owned by single station owners and they work in the station. So they may not be able to go to a fuel market or trade show or a workshop, but they can get online anytime. So those tools are there 24/7.”

ACE also has a compatibility tool so retailers can find out if their equipment is capable of selling higher ethanol blends. “They can plug in the names and numbers of all their equipment they use and find out that it’s all compatible or in some rare cases, it’s not…So there’s all those things and that’s on our website, which is flexfuelforward.com.”

Lamberty noted that no one expects ethanol to completely replace gasoline, but neither can electric vehicles. “Where it makes sense and where you can use E85, use it. Where you can use E15, do that… there’s a tractor here (at Commodity Classic) that runs on E98. And that probably wouldn’t have happened five or 10 years ago because there wasn’t as big a gap between ethanol price and diesel price as there is now. And now you’re looking at diesel prices that are a couple of bucks a gallon more than ethanol. And so it makes sense to maybe run those on E85 now, because even though you’ll have less BTU per gallon, by the time you adjust for the different mileage or hours that you’re running, you’re going to save money.”

Learn more in this interview.
American Coalition for Ethanol Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Ron Lamberty
Classic26 - Ron Lamberty, ACE (15:12)

2026 Commodity Classic Photo Album

ACE, Audio, Commodity Classic

Iran Conflict Shows Need for Year-Round E15

Cindy Zimmerman

The conflict in the Middle East is causing crude oil prices to jump, increasing more than 8% Monday on reports that Iran closed the critical Strait of Hormuz, fueling concerns that higher gas prices are on the way for American drivers.

The Renewable Fuels Association renewed its urgent call for Congress to pass legislation to allow the nationwide year-round sale of the lower-cost, American-made E15, a blend with 15 percent ethanol.

“Once again, the events in the Middle East and the spike in oil prices demonstrate this country’s overreliance on foreign sources for our energy,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “We need to take every action we can to insulate our nation from these geopolitically induced price spikes at the pump, and an easy solution is to increase our use of domestically produced ethanol. Congress must pass legislation to allow year-round E15, as President Trump has called them to do. This action has bipartisan and bicameral support, and American consumers demand it.”

In 2025, the U.S. imported 314 million barrels of oil from OPEC countries. If E15 were adopted nationally, Cooper said, the additional ethanol would displace half of this volume.

Kevin Book at the 2026 NEC (RFA photo)

Operation Epic Fury is an example of what energy analyst Kevin Book, ClearView Energy Partners, talked about at the National Ethanol Conference last week, just two days before the United States launched the military campaign against Iran. “The political pendulum swing can make an immense difference in energy markets,” Book said as he concluded his remarks.

Book discussed the importance of the Strait of Hormuz. “This discussion is a non-trivial one, not just because of the 1.6 million barrels per day of liquids that come out of Iran into the world as a part of supply, but also the 16 million barrels of crude alone that transit the Strait of Hormuz, which were exposed in the event of a conflagration and regional escalation,” he said.

Listen to Book’s pre-Epic Fury remarks at NEC:
NEC26 remarks - Kevin Book, ClearView Energy Partners (32:47)

Official RFANEC Photo Album

Audio, E15, Ethanol, National Ethanol Conference, Oil

USDA FAS Administrator Confirms Ethanol Exports Unleashed

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S. ethanol exports hit record levels in 2025 and USDA Foreign Agricultural Service administrator Daniel Whitley told ethanol industry representatives last week that the Trump administration is delivering unprecedented public-private support to keep the momentum going.

Speaking at the National Ethanol Conference, Whitley outlined the agency’s three pillars — trade policy, market intelligence, and market development — and highlighted a surge in funding. “Our mission is very simple,” Whitley said. “It’s one sentence: Increase U.S. agricultural exports. That’s it.”

The administration’s new America First Trade Promotion Program (AFTPP) will inject $285 million this year, on top of the $600 million already deployed through the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program and traditional Market Access Program dollars. “We’ve got more money out on the street than ever before in the history of our agency,” Whitley said.

The ethanol industry’s achievements drew special praise. “You guys have just had an amazing year. I think you’ve had the best export year on record at $4.8 billion,” Whitley said, crediting innovation that has pushed blend walls from E5 to E15 in key markets. He noted the very first Trump mission, led by Agriculture Secretary Rollins to the United Kingdom, secured a dedicated tariff-rate quota for U.S. ethanol.

Looking ahead, Whitley pointed to Southeast Asia as the next frontier, citing Vietnam’s move toward E15 and opportunities in Indonesia. “The moment that we get American products into another market, we’ve instantly — and I mean instantly — made the consumers in that market better off,” he said.

Whitley closed with a call to action – participate in every available program and make industry voices heard at the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. With record funding, new trade tools, and strong administration backing, Whitley predicted “many, many, many record years to come” for American ethanol.

NEC26 remarks - Daniel Whitley, USDA (22:34)

2026 National Ethanol Conference highlights photo album

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Exports, National Ethanol Conference, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA, USDA