Colorado Corn

Reuters. Congress should move to approving a 15% ethanol blend in gasoline (E15), said Representative Collin Peterson (D-MN), the chairman of the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee, in an interview with Reuters.

“I’d like to see us do nationwide a 15 percent blend,” said Peterson. He said President-elect Barack Obama “will be supportive of whatever we (Congress) come up with.”

In the next few years, ethanol production in the US will likely reach the point (approximately 14 billion gallons per year) at which there is sufficient ethanol supply to enable a nationwide E10 blend—the maximum ethanol blend approved for use in non flex-fuel vehicles.

Tests are currently underway to explore the effect of mid-range ethanol blends on vehicles and small engines.