The Renewable Fuels Association was in San Diego, California this week at the annual conference of the California Fuels and Convenience Alliance (CFCA) talking with retailers about the details of selling E15, now that a technicality in last year’s legislation to allow the lower cost fuel has been fixed.

RFA has been front-and-center at the CFCA trade show with an exhibit and a schedule of retailer E15 workshops at the event, with more than 1,500 attendees. “As the final roadblocks are removed, we’re working had to ensure E15 gets to the stations—and drivers’ gas tanks—as soon as possible. Working with CFCA has really helped us make the connections to move the fuel forward,” said Robert White, RFA Senior Vice President for Industry Relations and Market Development.

White explained the bill that California legislators unanimously passed last week fixes a technical issue regarding stage 2 vapor recovery equipment so retailers can get certified to sell the fuel. “This allows the OEMs that make the stage 2 vapor recovery equipment to submit statements of compatibility as a listing source. So instead of going to Underwriters Laboratories and spending millions of dollars and could be a year or two down the road, this allows them to self-certify,” said White in an interview at Farm Progress Show. “And all of their equipment was already tested on E15, so they’re all going to submit those statements of compatibility, which is very exciting to us because the retailers don’t have to add new equipment. They don’t have to shop for a different vendor. We’re talking about equipment that they already have.”

White says the fix will not go into effect until January 1, but that is just around the corner. “So we’ll be gearing folks up for the coming year, teaching them again about the economics and why in a state that’s so short of liquid fuel, so high of fuel prices, how E15 can help immediately.”

RFA kicked off its E15 for California education campaign at last year’s CFCA Summit, when lawmakers unanimously passed the bill to allow E15 to be sold in the state.

Learn more in this interview.
FPS26 Robert White, RFA 6:58