CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Although U.S. ethanol plants continue to go above and beyond meeting federal regulations, opportunities for growth – both in the industry and in E15 and E85 fuel – are creating optimism for the future, according to a Renewable Fuels Assoc. (RFA) executive.

 

“We are not remaining content with the markets we have today,” said Robert White, RFA vice president of industry relation, in a keynote address at the 31st annual Celebration of Agriculture March 21 in Cedar Rapids.

 

White said there will be many opportunities for more domestic and export demand of ethanol. “Science will win,” he added. “Science will show them the history that we’ve seen in the United States.”

 

However, he did cite concerns from farmers about commodity and land values, as well as ethanol.

 

“The concern is: Has ethanol flatlined?” he asked the estimated 600 attendees. “Is that the best we can do? Is this all we’re going to do?”

 

While 2014 was not a banner year for the ethanol industry, he said, “It was a record year for production; it was a record year for net exports; it was a record year for domestic demand; and a record year for E15, E85 and infrastructure build-out at retail fuel stations.

 

“E15 is slowly starting to gain some traction. The USDA’s biofuels infrastructure partnership program should put another 1,000 to 1,200 E15 and E85 stations on the planet in the next 12 to 18 months.”

 

Under current regulations, White said getting retailers to offer E15 – a 15 percent ethanol, 85 percent gasoline blend – for 8.5 months out of the year has been difficult, but something he hopes the Trump administration can help change.

 

“If you walk in the door and you say, ‘I’ve got a higher-octane, lower-priced fuel that 90 percent of the cars can use, and you can make more margin and sell it year-round,’ the conversation changes,” he said. “We have work to do to expand that number (the 15 billion gallons of ethanol in the Renewable Fuel Standard). We have work to do to grow those markets so that no one can ever utter the words ‘blend wall’ again.”

 

On March 8, Crossroads Convenience Store in Spencer became Iowa’s 100th E15 station, strengthening Iowa’s position as the No. 1 state for E15 refueling sites. The company has been offering higher blends of biofuel at their stores – including E85, E20, E30 and B5 biodiesel – since 2014, and is now the retailer’s first location to offer E15.

 

“With the capability to offer E15 to all (model year) 2001 and newer vehicles, it made good business sense to get on board with offering another option to our customers,” said Lisa Wessels, secretary of Wessels Oil Co., which owns Crossroads. Overall, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey told KCRG TV-9, “The agriculture economy is supportive of much of what they’re seeing from the Trump administration, like the reduction in regulations or the reduction in new regulations and potential change in taxes, but concerned a little bit about some of the trade conversations.

 

“Trade is awfully important to agriculture. We sure don’t want that disrupted,” which is why Northey added he’s optimistic about USDA secretary nominee Sonny Perdue.

 

In a March 30 statement before the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, RFA President/CEO Bob Dinneen said Perdue “appreciates the challenge facing farmers today, knows that building demand will be essential to rural economic stability and certainly understands the importance of value-added markets like ethanol.”

 

Despite lower corn prices, White told CBS2/Fox 28 News there is one bright spot that may be helping stabilize demand, with manufacturers producing an estimated 15 billion gallons of ethanol last year, using 35 percent of the nation’s corn.

 

“The world is short on fuel and the world is short on protein, and we make both of those, so it’s a good place to be,” he said. “The export development market is not only our neighbors to the north and the south, it’s all the way through South America, Asia, Africa and so on.”