Using data from the Minnesota Department of Revenue, the Minnesota Department of Commerce said E85 usage in October totaled 1.28 million gallons in comparison to the 1.23 million gallons consumed in September.

On an annualized basis, E85 usage in Minnesota this year would clock in at 13.28 million gallons. The total volume of E85 sold in 2013 was 13.05 million gallons.

One salient point to note is that the number of stations selling E85 this year was significantly lower than last year. In October, there were only 278 stations selling E85. In comparison, there were 351 stations selling E85 in October 2013. Nonetheless, E85 use has been on the rise this year.

The average price of E85 in October was at $2.37, which represented a discount of 68 cents to regular 87-octane E10.

More importantly, using data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the EPA, the use of E85 in Minnesota this year prevented 26,106 metric tons of CO2 from being released into the air, based on the assumption E10 would have been consumed in place of E85. This is equivalent to annual emissions from 5,496 cars or 102.18 million lbs of coal burned. Moreover, according to the EPA's data, it would take 7.2 wind turbines to displace this amount of CO2. 

According to the EIA, a gallon of E10 emits 18.95 lbs of CO2 while E85 emits 13.75 lbs of CO2. Gasoline with no ethanol blended into it produces 19.64 lbs of CO2.

Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce reports that 173,988 gallons of E15 has been sold this year as at end-October. With more stations offering E15 since November, we can expect that number to continue growing in the coming year.

See the full report from the Minnesota Department of Commerce here.