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EPA Decision On Ethanol Blend in Gasoline Gets Put Off

By Jeff Neumeyer
June 18, 2010 Updated Dec 1, 2009 at 6:04 PM EST FORT WAYNE, IN (Indiana's NewsCenter) --- It will now be 2010 before the government decides whether it's safe to increase the ethanol content in gasoline. It’s a development that will test the patience of ethanol producers anxious for a new ethanol standard. The Environmental Protection Agency was supposed to rule Tuesday on whether to hike the ethanol blend requirement in fuel from 10 to 15 percent, but the agency said it needs more time and research data to determine if car engines can handle the higher concentrations. Officials at the Poet Biorefining Plant near North Manchester are among those pushing for the change. The EPA says that two tests indicate engine performance should not be harmed by the higher ethanol content in gas. But in a letter to a pro-ethanol group, the EPA said it wants more tests to be certain. The head of the North Manchester operation said this is not about padding the pockets of ethanol producers. Bryan Christjansen/Poet Biorefining: " Allowing us to go up to 15 percent blend will significantly allow dollars to roll in to the research arena to find the second generation and third generation of biofuels that we are looking for as an industry, as well as a country as a whole." Proponents of ethanol argue that selling more ethanol through this blend requirement change would bankroll some of the research needed to accomplish the objective of reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Christjansen is adamant that higher concentrations of ethanol don't lower fuel mileage and thus hurt consumers, but some experts insist mileage can suffer. If a change is made, the higher levels of ethanol may be showing up in gallons of gas by late summer or early fall of next year.
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