Drivers in California consume approximately 1.4 billion gallons of ethanol a year and represent just over 10 percent of total national consumption. The Renewable Fuels Association said boosting that to a 15 percent rate would lead to more than two billion gallons of consumption. Robert White, the senior vice president of industry relations and market development, said there is a big opportunity in California
“California, as I think most people know, has been ten percent ethanol for two decades now, and it’s important to note that they are the second-largest state as far as gasoline consumption, and consumes over a billion-and-a-half gallons of ethanol each year. When we look at the opportunity and market opportunity for ethanol to move from 10 to 15 percent, it’s a huge market. In fact, almost 267 million bushels of corn, or 800 million gallons of ethanol. In fact, last week, a hauler of ethanol said, ‘When can I move another 2 million gallons a day?’”
Boosting California to a 15 percent blend would help consume a lot of those bushels coming from a big U.S. harvest.
“When we’re looking at the corn crop we have in the field, or coming out of the field as we speak, and the state of the ethanol industry, and how much we’re looking for another market or market expansion, California is a perfect example of something that’s right in front of us, and we’re just trying to get it to the finish line.”
He said the RFA is conducting educational sessions about the issue for California’s fuel chain. “So, what we’re doing is continuing to push CARB (California Air Resources Board). We finally got them the budget they need to start the rule-making process. But at the same time, in parallel, we have a piece of legislation that would make E15 legal on the governor’s signature or without his signature in 30 days, which is coming up at the beginning of October, and is sitting on the governor’s desk as we speak. And so, in the interim, we’ve been hosting educational workshops for the entire fuel supply chain across California, which we started at the beginning of September.”
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