Since several organizations and ethanol companies asked the Environmental Protection Agency to approve the use of up to 15 percent ethanol in gasoline for motor vehicles, several folks have come out in support of the measure.
(This is in addition to Greg Ibach, Nebraska Director of Agriculture, and top agriculture officials from nine other Midwestern states...click here for that.)
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said getting to 12 to 13 percent should be relatively simple - by just understanding that it's not all that much different than E10..."and under the rules and regulations EPA could do that." Vilsack also noted that going to 15-20 percent in the next couple of years may be possible.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is also on board.
As is Iowa Senator Tom Harkin.
The day before the petition was filed with EPA, the National 25x'25 Steering Committee sent a letter to President Obama asking that EPA issue a ruling that would allow an increase to E13.
It makes sense that at some point we would need to increase the amount of ethanol in gasoline. After all, how can we get to 15 billion gallons, 20 billion gallons and more of ethanol use as required by the Renewable Fuels Standard without increasing how much we are blending? This year is as good of a time as any to begin this process.
Yet moving to E12 or E13 - or even E15 - will only take us so far.
Automakers are promising more flex fuel vehicles in the future (GM says "half" by 2012), but will they arrive in time? Shouldn't we be building a big fleet now? Harkin suggests that all vehicles should be flex fuel, and he may be right.
No comments:
Post a Comment