ACE Vows to Continue Fight for Year-Round E15
As 2024 rides off into the sunset, the American Coalition for Ethanol vows to continue the fight for year-round, nationwide E15 into the new year.
Getting so close to victory in the year-end legislation adopted by Congress was disappointing but ACE CEO Brian Jennings says the fact that Congressional leadership initially included it in the continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government is an encouraging sign for success in 2025.
“We are encouraged by this progress and confident E15 year-round has cleared enough hurdles to be included in the first must-pass bill Congress takes up in 2025,” said Jennings. “Ensuring year-round availability of E15 remains at the top of our legislative to-do list. It will help provide meaningful savings at the pump, enhance America’s energy security, and increase demand for low-carbon, homegrown ethanol. We will work with our champions in Congress, the administration, and stakeholders across the country to ensure Congress successfully enacts E15 year-round in time for the 2025 driving season.”
ACE encourages grassroots members and supporters to remain engaged and vows to highlight the importance of E15 year-round and other priorities during the organization’s Washington, D.C. Fly-in and Government Affairs Summit March 27-28, 2025.
Clean Fuels Celebrates Productive 2024
Clean Fuels Alliance America is celebrating progress in 2024 with the U.S. on pace to surpass 5 billion gallons of biodiesel and renewable diesel consumption for the first time, thanks to a year that saw increased efforts from states to drive adoption, updates to technical standards, growth in soybean crush capacity and growing public support for clean transportation fuel.
Clean Fuels CEO Donnell Rehagen says a strong 2024 has set the industry up well for further growth in aviation, marine, rail and heavy-duty transportation use. “Consumers and corporations are demanding more clean fuel, and they are increasingly turning to biodiesel and renewable diesel to meet those demands,” Rehagen said. “Our industry has become a central force in the global effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions.”
Among the wins for the industry this year:
– New Mexico became the fourth state to implement a Clean Transportation Fuel Standard.
– Nebraska expanded its biodiesel retail program and passed incentives for the in-state production of sustainable aviation fuel.
– California grew its use of iodiesel and renewable diesel under the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, now accounting for 75% of California’s diesel fuel supply.
– Iowa reached a record 486.5 million gallons of biodiesel sales in 2023, nearly triple the 2007 volume, now accounting for 58.7% of diesel sales in the state.
In addition, through the work of the Clean Fuels technical team and other industry experts, 2024 brought new market opportunities with updated fuel specifications and growing compatibility with manufacturers.
Clean fuel production uses more than a billion pounds of soybean oil per month and increasing amounts of soybean meal for feed markets. This is driving a 30% increase in crush capacity across the United States.
More than 20 new processing plants or expansions are underway that will add 650 million bushels of capacity, representing an investment in rural America of more than $6 billion. This also represents growth in feedstock diversity, as over 20% of the new U.S. crush capacity will process soft seeds like canola.
Rehagen says he expects greater growth in the year ahead. “The rail and marine sectors are poised for growth, and airlines are ready to start using more sustainable aviation fuel,” he said. “We’ve only just begun to meet the growing needs for clean fuel in the U.S. and around the world.”
Year End Ethanol Report
2024 was a very good year for the ethanol industry, but the battle for year-round, nationwide E15 will once again continue on into the new year.
In this edition of the Ethanol Report podcast, Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper comments on some of the top ethanol stories of the year, including the continuing roller coaster ride for E15, fighting the EPA’s tailpipe emissions standards, working to get ethanol off the ground in sustainable aviation fuel, and expected record production and exports.
Ethanol Report 12-30-24 38:30The Ethanol Report is a podcast about the latest news and information in the ethanol industry that has been sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association since 2008.
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Poll Shows E15 Support Despite Being Pulled From CR
The celebration by ethanol interests that E15 would finally be allowed nationwide, year-round was short-lived this week as the continuing resolution unveiled on Tuesday was pulled after receiving backlash for additional policy and funding provisions. But the fuel remains highly popular among voters, according to a recent survey.
Recent nationwide polling conducted by Morning Consult for the Renewable Fuels Association shows that 69 percent of registered voters support increasing the availability of E15 (gasoline with 15 percent ethanol) to help lower fuel prices and support energy independence. Looking only at voters who expressed an opinion, more than four out of five (83 percent) support expanded access to E15.
Voters were specifically asked if they would support legislation to permanently allow E15 to be sold year-round and nationwide, like the language included in the continuing resolution bill released Tuesday by House leadership. Of those respondents with an opinion, 81 percent support adoption of the legislation.
The E15 provision was pulled from the re-crafted CR announced Thursday afternoon.
Funding Bill Includes Year-Round, Nationwide E15
The continuing resolution to fund the government into next year contains a provision that may finally succeed in making E15 available year-round in every state, something the ethanol industry has been working toward since it was first approved by the EPA in 2011.
“We are very pleased to see that the long-awaited fix allowing year-round E15 is included in this package,” said Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “This language would finally remove an outdated, red-tape regulatory barrier, and we remain hopeful that the continuing resolution will move swiftly through Congress and to the president’s desk for signature. Allowing year-round sales of E15 will benefit farmers, fuel retailers, and—most importantly—consumers seeking lower-cost, cleaner fuel options at the pump.”
American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings said, “Legislation to ensure year-round availability of E15 in the U.S. has been at the top of our to-do list for a very long time. We are enormously grateful to our champions in Congress who persistently worked to include this provision in the year-end package. We are deeply grateful to the senators and representatives who fought tirelessly to make this happen.”
The measure also includes a provision for certain small refineries that submitted petitions for small refinery exemptions in 2016, 2017, and 2018 that would allow them to have their credits returned and would be eligible for future compliance years, similar to wording in the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act proposed in Congress. That bill was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE).
“This will once and for all solidify President Trump’s pledge to allow the sale of year-round E15—giving America’s producers and consumers the certainty they deserve,” said Fischer. “This will put an end to years of patchwork regulations and finally make nationwide year-round E15 a reality.”
Sen. Grassley Advocated for E15 in CR
The continuing resolution to be considered by Congress this week to keep the government operating is said to include a provision allowing the sale of E15 year-round, nationwide. Sen. Chuck Grassley told reporters Tuesday that he did not know if it was included, but he provided input to House Speaker Mike Johnson over the weekend regarding the importance of E15.
“I intervened with a phone call to Johnson on that subject Saturday and it happens that he was with the president at the football game, so he couldn’t talk right then, so he said ‘I’ll call you back.’ He never called back, but in the mean time I texted to him why we need E15 year round,” said Grassley. “For the last five years on an annual basis EPA has given the summer waiver. It was bipartisan in the house between the Nebraska congressman and the Minnesota congresswoman and then it was bipartisan in the Senate. For all those reasons, it should be included.”
Listen to Grassley’s comments.
Grassley on E15 in CR 1:31House Speaker Says CR Will Have Aid for Farmers
During a press conference Tuesday morning, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said the continuing resolution (CR) to be considered this week in Congress will have funding in it for struggling farmers and ranchers.
“We can’t do all of it right now but I think what you’ll see reflected in this final package is 10 billion, to start with,” said Johnson. “So help is on the way and I’ve talked in the last 24-48 hours to a number of the leaders in the community who say they are greatly relieved by that.”
“I think this is an important step for Congress,” Johnson added. “I think the people involved understand that and it sends a signal to lenders and creditors that Congress will not abandon our food producers.”
The text of the CR had yet to be released but Johnson said he had hoped for it to be a “very simple, very clean” stop gap funding measure to get us into next year, until the hurricanes hit and they had to include a disaster package. Another addition to the CR is reported to be a provision allowing the sale of 15% ethanol fuel (E15) year-round nationwide.
Listen to Rep. Mike Johnson’s comments on the CR Tuesday morning.
House Speaker press conference 5:49Angie Craig Elected House Ag Ranking Member
Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) was elected Tuesday to serve as Ranking Member of the House Committee on Agriculture, replacing David Scott of Georgia.
“I just won my D+1 district by nearly 14 points because my farmers and rural constituents know that I’ll meet them where they’re at, I’ll listen to their concerns and I’ll work with whoever I can to improve their lives,” said Craig in a statement. “My focus will be on improving people’s lives – not scoring political points. We can lower food and energy costs for consumers. We can strengthen the farm safety net and open the doors of opportunity to new and beginning farmers. And we can ensure that nutrition assistance programs are available for the Americans who need them.”
Agriculture groups were quick to praise Rep. Craig. “Rep. Craig has been a close ally of farmers in general and fierce advocate of corn growers in particular. We are thrilled by this development and look forward to working with her in the year ahead as we advance legislation important to our growers,” said National Corn Growers Association president Kenneth Hartman.
Rep. Craig has been a strong advocate for ethanol and has been consistently working toward year-round E15 nationwide by promoting legislation such as the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act.
Opening Supreme Court Brief Filed on SRE Case
On Monday, the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy filed their opening brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case Environmental Protection Agency v. Calumet Shreveport Refining. The case seeks to overturn an opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit regarding the proper venue for adjudicating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) denials of several petitions for small refinery exemptions (SREs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
In their brief, RFA and Growth Energy argue that the Fifth Circuit had erred and that challenges to those SRE petition denials should be adjudicated solely in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit because EPA’s SRE policy is “nationally applicable” and “based on a determination of nationwide scope or effect.” In support, the organizations argue in their brief that EPA “prescribed general standards” for adjudicating SRE petitions irrespective of their location that, when applied, “inherently affect . . . obligations for all” obligated refineries and renewable fuels producers “throughout the country.”
“EPA’s actions in response to these SRE petitions reflect quintessentially national concerns that are well within EPA’s authority to protect,” said RFA and Growth Energy in a statement. “Oil industry interests should not be allowed to upend Congress’s carefully crafted judicial review process, which ensures national uniformity for the RFS program and avoids inconsistent legal precedents, forum shopping, and market uncertainty for biofuels.”
The case stems from EPA denials of SRE petitions in 2022 that were challenged by the refineries. All regional circuit courts except the Fifth Circuit concluded that only the D.C. Circuit was the proper venue to hear the challenges, and they dismissed or transferred the challenges to the D.C. Circuit. By contrast, the Fifth Circuit held that venue in that court was proper, and in a divided 2-1 panel opinion, vacated EPA’s denials for the refineries that brought challenges in that court.
In May 2024, RFA and Growth Energy jointly petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the Fifth Circuit opinion. The U.S. EPA also petitioned the Supreme Court as well. On October 21, the Supreme Court granted EPA’s petition, and RFA and Growth Energy submitted their opening brief as a respondent in support of EPA.