For more than 10 years, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has been gradually changing the U.S. fuel supply, injecting more biofuels and corn ethanol into our gasoline every year. Under the policy, America’s corn ethanol industry has matured. Corn ethanol will account for 15 billion gallons of the fuel supply this year; it is the preferred octane booster in gasoline and is in high demand as an international export.
In fact, for seven years, the United States has been a net exporter of ethanol fuel.
The policy that many felt was needed to help American biofuel producers “grow up” has served its purpose. The corn ethanol industry is thriving and will continue to do so, even without the RFS. An aggressive fuel mandate is not needed to sustain the industry. And, to be frank, consumers need a reprieve.
A conversation about sunsetting the policy over the next several years, or at least substantively reforming it, needs to start now, while the EPA is reviewing its proposal for the volumes of biofuels that will be mandated in next year’s fuel supply.
While the EPA is recommending marginally lower ethanol volumes next year – a small step forward for consumers – there are still flaws, inefficiencies and unintended consequences within the underlying RFS that are leaving Americans shortchanged.
In flooding the American fuel supply with more and more ethanol each year, the RFS has contributed to an increased risk of misfueling, and ethanol-blend fuels themselves have left motorcyclists, boaters and small-engine owners with costly and sometimes dangerous damage.
Consumer demand for higher ethanol-blend fuels is low, which is understandable, given the risk of metal corrosion, rubber swelling and even full engine breakdowns that can occur when those fuels end up in engines and fuel systems not designed for them. Such is the concern for the 22 million motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles in the United States. None is approved by the EPA to use any fuel with more than 10 percent ethanol.
Because the RFS requires E15 and higher ethanol-blend fuels to comprise a larger share of the fuel supply, the chances of consumer misfueling are rising.
To prevent fueling mistakes and fuel-related engine damage, stations are required to provide clear warning labels on ethanol-blended fuels. But this system has proven confusing and ineffective, with cases even coming to light of pumps being labeled incorrectly.
Even when labeled appropriately, the blender pump infrastructure that’s being expanded by taxpayer-funded USDA grants comes with risks of its own. Blender pumps allow stations to deliver different ethanol-blends from the same hose. Residual fuel in the hose between customers – say, one who filled up with E85 and one who attempts to fill up after with E10 – can affect the ethanol volumes significantly in small fuel tanks, leading to serious damage.
Whether at the pump or further down the road, Americans are footing the bill for the shortcomings of a marketplace flooded with a supply of biofuels that isn’t matched by demand. And those motorcyclists, boaters, small-engine owners and motorists who want to know that low- or no-ethanol fuel will continue to be available have no such assurances within the current mandate scheme. That is simply unacceptable.
Today — August 31 — is the last day the EPA will is accepting comments on its proposed ethanol volume requirements for 2018. On behalf of American motorcyclists, recreational motorists and engine-owning consumers, I encourage readers to submit comments, noting how the RFS ignores consumer choice and safety and is no longer needed to buoy a mature ethanol industry. To ensure consumer protection and freedom at the pump and on the road, the RFS must be reformed.
Wayne Allard, a former U.S. senator from Colorado, is Vice President for Government Relations at the American Motorcyclist Association.
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