Retail sales of E15 in Iowa jumped 45 percent last year compared to 2023, and a record number of biodiesel gallons were sold, according to the latest Iowa Department of Revenue 2024 Retailers Motor Fuel Gallons Annual Report.

The report showed E15 sales hit a record 257 million gallons in the state last year with 516 million gallons of biodiesel blends were sold last year, driven by record sales of B20 and higher blends that hit 245 million gallons.

At the end of 2024, more than one in three Iowa fuel stations offered E15, and E15 and higher blends accounted for nearly 20 percent of Iowa gasoline sales in 2024. The state’s E15 Access Standard, which requires most retailers to offer E15 for sale, takes effect January 1, 2026.

“The massive growth in E15 sales reflects the success of Governor Reynolds’s E15 Access Standard,” said Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Executive Director Monte Shaw. “We’re on a record-setting track that shows when consumers have increased access to E15 they choose the cleaner burning fuel that saves them 15 to 20 cents per gallon. Retailers are on track to meet the year-end E15 Access Standard deadline. Farmers are also benefiting from increasing corn demand that stimulates local economies.”

This report follows the recent United States Department of Agriculture announcement of $537 million in grants under the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) and the recent record amount of grants totaling almost $3 million from the latest Iowa’s cost-share Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program (RFIP) meeting. According to these recent announcements, there are hundreds more stations that will soon be offering E15 across Iowa.

Last month, Iowa’s cost-share Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program (RFIP) awarded almost $3 million in grants for Iowa fuel retail locations to add E15 to 111 retail sites throughout the state before the end of the year. In addition, another they already had another 145 applications to be considered at the next RFIP board meeting later this month.