As the Renewable Fuels Association gathers in Orlando today for the National Ethanol Conference there are many reasons to celebrate, and one is a record high blend rate in 2022.
“It is a big deal,” said Robert White, RFA Vice President, Industry Relations. “What happened was you saw unrest in the Ukraine, tight supplies on petroleum, on gasoline, you saw record prices last year, and what happened was ethanol was able to highlight the savings benefit of that octane that’s allowed to bring up the petroleum gallon to a sellable product…and so you saw sales of E15 and E85 specifically grow because of that cost savings.”
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration for 2022 show that the ethanol blend rate (i.e., the national average ethanol content of gasoline) hit a record 10.39 percent, pushing far beyond the so-called blend wall. U.S. ethanol production rose two percent to 15.36 billion gallons (bg) in 2022, while domestic consumption increased modestly to 13.98 bg.
The ethanol blend rate exceeded 10% every month and reached a peak of 10.79 percent in October. Ethanol was often priced at a substantial discount to gasoline, and prices of renewable identification numbers (RINs) used for compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard sustained their value from late 2021, both of which enhanced the economics of mid- and high-level blends of ethanol. Additionally, retailers were able to offer E15 (a blend containing 15% ethanol) year-round.
Also, RFA released its 2023 Ethanol Industry Outlook and Pocket Guide this week as the go-to source of ethanol industry information, facts, and statistics.
Learn more in this interview with White.
RFANEC 23 interview with Robert White, RFA (2:39)