Under a new rule, the EPA will require you to buy a minimum of four gallons of gas from any pump that sells E15, or gasoline that's 15% ethanol.

U.S. ethanol production is headed for the first decline in 16 years, jeopardizing the nation’s drive to boost alternative fuels, as higher costs and lower demand close plants.

Shrinking distilling margins have resulted in a 14 percent drop in output this year to 827,000 barrels a day, or 12.7 billion gallons annually, Energy Department data show, 500 million gallons short of the amount refiners are mandated to use under a 2007 law that calls for escalating consumption of the biofuel. That would be the first yearly decrease since 1996.

As many as 10 companies, from Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) to Biofuel Energy Corp. (BIOF), have closed distilleries after the worst drought since the 1950s sent the price of corn to a record just as gasoline demand slumped. President Barack Obama’s administration has until Nov. 13 to decide whether to agree to calls from a bipartisan group of lawmakers for the suspension of the law, which was the centerpiece of George W. Bush’s plan to wean the U.S. off oil. Ethanol accounts for about 9.2 percent of total gasoline consumption, according to the Energy Department......

An ethanol-blended gasoline approved for use in U.S. vehicles manufactured since model year 2001 may confuse consumers and lead to damaged car engines, the American Automobile Association said.

A survey by the biggest U.S. driving organization showed that the standard for the E15 gasoline blend, issued by the Environmental Protection Agency in June, is unknown to 95 percent of consumers contacted by telephone. Less than a fifth of cars on the road have been approved by manufacturers to use the fuel, and engine damage may not be covered under warranties, AAA said.

“It is clear that millions of Americans are unfamiliar with E15, which means there is a strong possibility that many motorists may improperly fill up using this gasoline and damage their vehicle,” AAA President Robert Darbelnet said today in a statement. “Bringing E15 to the market without adequate safeguards does not responsibly meet the needs of consumers......”

PORTLAND, Ore. — An ethanol plant on the Columbia River that was built with the help of $36 million in Oregon state loans and tax credits is now being used to store and ship crude oil from North Dakota.

The Oregonian reports (http://bit.ly/12xgC1M ) the plant’s switch came with little public notice.

It was built at a cost of $200 million for Cascade Grain at the Port of St. Helens’ Port Westward Industrial park near Clatskanie. The owner filed for bankruptcy in 2009, less than a year after startup. It produced little ethanol and is mothballed except for the storage tanks.

Global Partners LP of Massachusetts bought the plant in February and renamed it the Columbia Pacific Bio-Refinery. It takes oil that arrives by train from North Dakota’s Bakken oil field.

WASHINGTON — It's a hard decision for drivers: Do they choose a gasoline that's cheaper and cleaner even if, as opponents say, it could damage older cars and motorcycles?

That's the peril and promise of a high-ethanol blend of gasoline known as E15. The fuel contains 15 percent ethanol, well above the current 10 percent norm sold at most U.S. gas stations.

The higher-ethanol blend is sold in just fewer than two dozen stations in the Midwest, but could spread to other regions as the Obama administration considers whether to require more ethanol in gasoline.

As a result, there's a feverish lobbying campaign by oil and ethanol interests that has spread from Congress to the White House and the Supreme Court.

On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected a challenge by the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry's chief lobbying group, to block sales of E15. The justices left in place a federal appeals court ruling that dismissed challenges by the oil industry group and trade associations representing food producers, restaurants and others.

Tom Buis, chief executive officer of Growth Energy, an ethanol industry group, hailed the decision as a victory for U.S. consumers, who will now have greater choice at the pump.

"Now that the final word has been issued, I hope that oil companies will begin to work with biofuel producers to help bring new blends into the marketplace that allow for consumer choice and savings," Buis said.

The API had argued that E15 was dangerous for older cars.

Putting fuel with up to 15 percent ethanol into older cars and trucks "could leave millions of consumers with broken-down cars and high repair bills," said Bob Greco, a senior API official who has met with the White House on ethanol issues.

The ethanol industry counters that there have been no documented cases of engine breakdowns caused by the high-ethanol blend since limited sales of E15 began last year. "This is another example of oil companies unnecessarily scaring people, and it's just flat-out wrong," said Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol industry group.

The dispute over E15 is the latest flashpoint in a long-standing battle over the federal Renewable Fuel Standard, approved by Congress in 2005 and amended in 2007. The law requires refiners to blend increasing amounts of ethanol into gasoline each year as a way to decrease reliance on fossil fuels and lower greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a 16.5 billion-gallon production requirement for ethanol and other gasoline alternatives this year, up from 15.2 billion gallons last year.

In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott recently signed a law, which takes effect next Monday, repealing the state's Renewable Fuel Standard, which required that all gasoline sold in the state had to contain 9 or 10 percent ethanol or be blended with other alternative fuels.

Gov. Rick Scott commented, "Take that #1 STUNNA."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/busines...of-e15/2128382

CORYDON, Iowa (AP) — The hills of southern Iowa bear the scars of America's push for green energy: The brown gashes where rain has washed away the soil. The polluted streams that dump fertilizer into the water supply.

Even the cemetery that disappeared like an apparition into a cornfield.

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

With the Iowa political caucuses on the horizon in 2007, presidential candidate Barack Obama made homegrown corn a centerpiece of his plan to slow global warming. And when President George W. Bush signed a law that year requiring oil companies to add billions of gallons of ethanol to their gasoline each year, Bush predicted it would make the country "stronger, cleaner and more secure."

But the ethanol era has proven far more damaging to the environment than politicians promised and much worse than the government admits today.

As farmers rushed to find new places to plant corn, they wiped out millions of acres of conservation land, destroyed habitat and polluted water supplies, an Associated Press investigation found.....