In the News

Oct 20, 2014

By Syngenta

Minnetonka, MN - Quad County Corn Processors (QCCP) has achieved EPA certification to generate D3 Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) for cellulosic ethanol produced with Cellerate™ process technology. Formerly known as Adding Cellulosic Ethanol, Cellerate is a collaboration between Syngenta and Cellulosic Ethanol Technologies, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Quad County Corn Processors.

QCCP earned D3 pathway approval from the EPA on Oct. 7 and Quality Assurance Program (QAP) certification on Oct. 10. Clearing these hurdles led to production of QCCP’s first QAP D3 RINs on Oct. 16.

To qualify as cellulosic biofuel, a renewable fuel must meet a 60 percent threshold for lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. RINs are used for compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program and may be "banked," traded or sold for use by parties (fuel producers and importers) who must comply with the RFS.

According to QCCP Chief Executive Officer Delayne Johnson, as cellulosic D3 RINs become available on the commercial market, biofuels opponents will no longer be able say there are no D3 RINs as a strategy to weaken the RFS.

“The biofuels industry now has the technology available to create two billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol – with no more corn,” Johnson said. “QCCP is proud to be one of the first companies to issue D3 RINs. We look forward to higher D3 RIN requirements in 2015 as new production comes on.”

In July 2014, collaboration between Syngenta and Cellulosic Ethanol Technologies, LLC, produced the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol in Iowa. QCCP expects to produce one million gallons of cellulosic ethanol in 2014 and two million gallons in 2015. Earlier this year, Syngenta announced an agreement with Cellulosic Ethanol Technologies to license Cellerate process technology to ethanol plants.

“Cellerate is designed to increase an ethanol plant’s production by allowing the corn kernel fiber to be converted into cellulosic ethanol,” said Jack Bernens, head of marketing and stakeholder relations for Enogen® corn enzyme technology. “Ethanol plants can easily integrate Cellerate process technology into their existing production process. Cellerate, in conjunction with Enogen corn, will deliver notable benefits to ethanol plants beyond what can be achieved through either technology alone.”

Read the full press release here : Cellulosic Ethanol Produced With Cellerate Process Technology Recieves EPA Certification For Cellulosic Biofuels RINs

Domestic Fuel.com

Oct 15, 2014

By Joanna Schroeder

As a biofuels plant, how do you make sound plant management and investment decisions in an environment of political turmoil? This was the theme of one of the panel discussions during the 2014 National Advanced Biofuels Conference that took place in Minnesota this week. The conversation focused on how the uncertainty surrounding the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that has not been finalized for 2014 as of this writing, affects decisions made for biofuels plants. The panelists discussed tips and strategies on how they try to keep their business healthy and growing while also trying to position themselves for continued, future success.

Insights were given by Mike Jerke, CEO, Guardian Energy Management LLC; Brian Kletscher, CEO/General Manager, Highwater Ethanol; and Randall Doyal, CEO/General Manager, AL-Corn Clean Fuel who all run currently operating ethanol production facilities. While each one pointed to the prices of feedstocks as being the number one cost of production (feedstock costs are 80 percent of a plant’s production costs) there are other ways to streamline efficiencies to stay competitive and one strategy is to diversify into bolt on advanced biofuels technologies.

Doyal noted that the big takeaway for the attendees was that the existing ethanol industry is looking at those next generation biofuel opportunities. “They look down the road all the time, and that the existing ethanol plants are not Gen 1 – we’re way down the road from Gen 1. We’re far more advanced than that and we look forward to bringing that type of thinking into advanced biofuels,” Doyal said.

When focusing on policy, Doyal said policy directly affects a plant when it decides how to deploy its capital. “If you have uncertainty in policy, it creates an uncertain environment in the lending community and it creates uncertainty in your own board room.”

Doyal stressed, “If you don’t have good, consistent, clear policy, it’s hard to figure out your path forward.”

Read the original story here : Tips For Biofuel Investment In Turbulent Times

Ethanol Producer Magazine

Oct 13, 2014

By Holly Jessen

Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association responded to the USDA’s October supply/demand report released Oct. 10, which forecasted a record corn yield. Growth Energy said it definitively ended the food vs. fuel myth and RFA said it underscores the need for market certainty. 

 

Growth Energy pointed to the WASDE projections and other recent reports from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Bureau of Labor Statistics as confirmation that there's virtually no correlation between U.S. ethanol production and food prices for consumers. “In report after report, we see that the American farmer can produce an abundant amount of food and fuel," said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy. "It is clear that the food and fuel myth is completely unfounded and does a great disservice to the hardworking men and women that help feed the world and fuel our nation.

 

Growth Energy further pointed out that the FAO international food price index has declined 2.6 percent since August and is down 6 percent in the last year. In contrast, looking at the past year, grain prices are down nearly 9 percent, FAO said, but meat prices are nearly 22 percent higher. Domestically, food prices for August are up 2.5 percent compared to December. Corn and grain prices are rapidly going down while meat prices for consumers are up 11.6 percent for the same time period.

 

Even as livestock and poultry companies represented by the Turkey Federation, the National Chicken Council and the National Council of Chain Restaurants brag about record profits and margins they are continuing a campaign to mislead consumers about the real cause of rising U.S. food prices. “Corn prices are below the cost of production for most farmers, and ethanol is selling approximately $1 per gallon less than the gasoline on the wholesale marketplace,” Buis said. “The unrelenting deception coming from these trade associations to continue to perpetuate this lie to mask their growing profits at the expense of the American consumer is deplorable. Their greed and deception knows no boundaries. It’s time for Big Oil and its Big Food allies to begin telling the truth.”

 

RFA came out with a statement that the crop report underscores the need for demand certainty and market expansion. “The American Petroleum Institute has spent millions upon millions of dollars on ad campaigns trying to sell people on the canard that ethanol drives up food prices in a misguided attempt to garner opposition to the renewable fuel standard,” said RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen. “But their argument is bankrupt. Because of the RFS, farmers have invested in technology and increased yields to assure ample supply for all users. Today’s report demonstrates the API campaign is intellectually dishonest.”

 

In fact, Dinneen feels the report should close the debate over the 2014 RFS final rule. Farmers making their planting decisions for this year anticipated that the biofuels volumes in the RFS would be enforced. “But in one fell swoop, the EPA’s proposed rule wiped away demand for 500 million bushels of corn and grain sorghum,” he said. “Now, farmers are faced with corn prices below the cost of production and the risk of returning to an era of increased reliance on federal farm program payments. The White House has an opportunity to help alleviate this situation simply by fixing the badly misguided 2014 RFS proposal and getting the program back on track. 

 

Read the orginal story here : Report Shows Ethanol's Connection To High Food Prices Is A Lie

Star Tribune

Oct 13, 2014

By Dave Shaffer

Leaders of the nation’s biofuels industry on Monday accused the Obama administration of undermining the commercial success of advanced renewable fuels, like ethanol produced from corn cobs and stalks.

Michael McAdams, president of the Advanced Biofuels Association, said at an industry conference in Minneapolis that innovative, biofuel companies are looking to expand in countries like Brazil, China and India, rather than in the United States, because of this nation’s unstable renewable fuel policy.

“It has put us in suspended animation and has made it inherently difficult … to find financing to build these new, innovative plants in the United States of America,” McAdams said at the National Advanced Biofuels Conference & Expo at the Minneapolis Hyatt Regency.

McAdams’ association represents producers of low-carbon and other advanced biofuels, including Gevo Inc., which is trying to produce isobutanol, a higher-value alcohol, at an ethanol plant in Luverne, Minn. He and other industry officials sharply criticized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s still-pending proposal to reduce the level of advanced biofuels that must be blended into the nation’s fuel supply.

“They pulled the rug out from under the industry,” McAdams said.

The EPA did not respond Monday to e-mail and telephone requests to comment.

“This administration is still dithering on whether or not to do the right thing,” added Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, a trade group for producers of biodiesel from soybeans, corn oil and waste oils.

Jobe said the biodiesel industry showed in 2013 that it could produce 1.8 billion gallons of biodiesel, which is considered an advanced biofuel because of its significantly lower carbon footprint compared to fossil fuels. Yet under the Renewable Fuel Standard, a 2007 federal law that aimed to expand the biofuels market, the EPA now proposes blending significantly less advanced biofuel than the biodiesel industry produced last year, he said.

Randall Doyal, CEO of Al-Corn Clean Fuel, a farmer-owned ethanol plant in Claremont, Minn., said he believed the EPA administrative action is “illegal” under the federal law.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Doyal, chairman of the Renewable Fuels Association, an industry trade group. “I can’t believe it happened.”

Industry officials said they are worried about financing large stand-alone commercial biofuel projects, such as the first three, large cellulosic ethanol plants recently or soon to be completed in the Midwest. Those plants — two in Iowa, and another in Kansas, all costing $200 million or more — could end up being the last ones in the United States, industry officials have warned.

Yet industry officials remain interested in lower-cost technology that can be added to the nation’s existing 214 ethanol plants to boost production or expand into new or greener products. This year, many ethanol plants have reported solid profits, leaving room on balance sheets for investment.

Doyal said Al-Corn is close to a deal to install two, pilot biodiesel production units at the Claremont plant, which is one of Minnesota’s oldest ethanol refineries. He said the portable technology developed by Revolution Fuels of St. Louis Park would produce biodiesel from corn oil extracted during ethanol making.

Brian Kletscher, CEO of Highwater Ethanol in Lamberton, Minn., said his company is looking at converting production to isobutanol, a higher-value ethanol that can be used not only as a motor fuel, but as a chemical feedstock for many other products.

“There’s a lot of different technologies out there,” added Mike Jerke, CEO of Guardian Energy Management, which operates three ethanol plants including one in Janesville, Minn. “If someone talks to me about technology that bolts on … that is going to get my attention a lot quicker than something that is stand-alone.”

Read the original story here : Biofuel Leaders Says EPA Has Treated Industry Unfairly

Reuters

Oct 9, 2014

By Ayesha Rascoe

The Obama administration's proposed cuts to U.S. biofuel use targets could undermine the White House's plan to tackle climate change, according to two Democrats on the Senate committee that oversees the renewable fuel mandate.

The Environmental Protection Agency's plan, slashing requirements for blending ethanol and biodiesel into U.S. fuel supplies in 2014, would lead to increased oil use and carbon emissions, Senators Barbara Boxer and Edward Markey said in a letter sent to White House late on Wednesday.

The lawmakers are the latest to weigh in as the White House's Office of Management and Budget considers revisions to the EPA's original proposal on 2014 targets.

"EPA's proposed rule would not only increase carbon pollution, but would also derail our efforts to ... drive the development of fuels that further reduce carbon pollution in the long-term," the lawmakers said.

A study by the Biotechnology Industry Organization cited by Boxer and Markey that found the proposed targets would increase net carbon pollution by 28.2 million metric tons in 2014.

California's Boxer is chairman of the Senate committee on environment and public works, which has oversight authority for the Renewable Fuel Standard. Markey, from Massachusetts, is a committee member and frequent critic of the oil industry.

Producers of renewable fuels say the proposed cuts have already hurt investment in advanced fuels made from crop wastes and led to less output of biodiesel than would otherwise have been the case.

Boxer and Markey also took aim at EPA's reasoning that the cuts were needed due to a shortage of gas-station pumps that can dispense gasoline with higher blends of ethanol, a problem known as the blend wall.

"EPA ... relies on a questionable reading of the statute that would allow the oil industry to escape its obligation under the RFS by simply blocking or limiting the distribution of renewable fuel blends to consumers," the letter said.

The Renewable Fuel Standard requires increasing amounts of ethanol and biodiesel to be mixed into U.S. fuel supplies each year until 2022.

Obama administration officials have said the final targets will likely be higher than the initial proposal, but industry analysts do not expect EPA to restore the requirements fully to the levels set by federal law.

Read the original story here : U.S. Biofuel Mandate Cuts Would Raise Carbon Pollution : Lawmakers

Domestic Fuel.com

Oct 10, 2014

By Joanna Schroeder

The Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association is working on behalf of the biofuels industry and consumers throughout Minnesota. With several successes under their belt, the Association has identified several more goals they would like to achieve on behalf of the biofuels industry over the next few years.

“We are hopeful the next two years will lead us into opportunities to develop higher usage of ethanol blends, in particular we will work hard on promoting usage of E15 in 2001 and newer vehicles,” said Brian Kletscher, CEO of Highwater Ethanol and President of the Board of the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association. “To help accomplish this we have hired a Biofuels Marketing Manager, this will allow us to directly communicate with the many gas station owners in the State of Minnesota and give them guidance on how to bring in E15 to their gas station while providing and economic benefit to them as owners while also passing on a savings to their customers in lower cost for E15.”

Tim Rudnicki, executive director of the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association echoes Kletscher’s goal. In addition, Rudnicki said they are continuing to increase the use of E85. “Sales of E85 in Minnesota have been on the rise but there is still plenty of room to grow. There are many flex-fuel vehicle owners who don’t know the benefits of using E85 or even the fact that it’s 80 cents cheaper per gallon on average in Minnesota.”

When asked if the biofuels industry would have seen as many successes without the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association, Kletscher said while the industry was growing prior to the formation of the Association, by working with Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Soybean Growers Association and other ethanol related organization, the formation of the Association has allowed the ethanol industry and biofuels industry the opportunity to branch out and grow in supporting and promoting the usage of their products.

“While doing this we have maintained a strong relationship with the associations and related organizations that walked with and grew the biofuels industry to the point that it is today,” said Kletscher.

However, as Rudnicki identifies, the political landscape will have an effect on their work but for the most part, the view of biofuels is positive. “We are fortunate that many of our federal and state-level senators and representatives are supportive of biofuels and support measures to increase its usage,” he said. “We work closely with many of them and they understand how important biofuels are to the economy in Minnesota and its role in reducing prices at the pump, greenhouse gases and our dependence on foreign oil. Biofuels are the only viable solution to removing our dependence on harmful fossil fuels and many of them understand that.”

Despite the positive political landscape, there are still three critical things that need to happen to ensure the future growth of the Minnesota biofuels industry as outlined by Rudnicki:

1. The renewable volume obligations (RVO) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) need to be adhered to. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs to stick to the RFS and not bend to Big Oil. The “Blend Wall” is pure fiction. Eight out of 10 cars can use E15.

2. Minnesota has set its own laws that call for the increase of biofuels over the next 10 years. Like the RFS, we need to stick to these goals if we are truly serious about reducing the use of fossil fuels and emission of harmful greenhouse gases.

3. We – along with all other similar organizations – need to continue communicating and educating the public on the benefits of using biofuels. When there is sufficient demand, supply will increase.

The biggest hurdle according to Rudnicki is what the industry is facing with the EPA’s proposed RVOs under the RFS for 2014. “It’s October and the EPA has yet to make an announcement on the RVO for this year,” he said. “Such delays hinder the industry, be it in Minnesota or elsewhere. It has stifled investments in advanced biofuels. Some ethanol producers have even shelved plans to expand their plant capacity. Meanwhile such delays by the EPA have also affected the growth of fuels like E15.”

The EPA has submitted its final proposal to the Office of Management and Budget and Obama administration for review, but the final rule has yet to be released.

It is this issue among others as to why Kletscher encourages other biofuel stakeholders to be involved with the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association. “Biofuels stakeholders are not just the facility that produce the ethanol or biofuels or the farmers that raise the corn or soybeans, or the vendors that services the industry,” explained Kletscher. “The real stakeholders are every citizen in Minnesota. They should be involved because of the environmental and economic benefits that biofuels offers to them plus there are renewed agricultural opportunities.”

He also noted the problem of smog in hundreds of cities across the country and in Minnesota. He points to the air quality problems faced by Minnesota in the St. Paul/Minneapolis metro area in the 1970’s and 1980’s and with the addition of 10 percent ethanol fuel blend, ethanol helped clean the air quality.”

I believe the ethanol industry gave every citizen the opportunity for better air quality, and the positive impact on air quality is still here today. Growth and usage of E15 will continue to help promote clean air quality,” said Kletscher.

The Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association is showcasing their work during the 2014 National Advanced Biofuels Conference taking place October 12-14, 2014 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their goal is continue educating the industry about their work and gain additional support for their efforts.

Read the original story : Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association Working For You

Domestic Fuel.Com

Oct 9, 2014

By Joanna Schroder

In April 2011 the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association was founded to represent and promote the renewable fuels industry in Minnesota. According to Tim Rudnicki, executive director, as a state and a union, the country faces many challenges on the energy and environmental front and the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association is providing solutions to these challenges.

When asked about the Association, Rudnicki explained, “We are a non-profit organization and our members include ethanol producers in Minnesota as well as industry vendors. Our aim is to work with our stakeholders in a collaborative manner to achieve our collective goal of a greener future, a stronger economy in Minnesota, consumer savings at the pump and a more energy independent America.”

The Association has three key areas of focus:

1. Advocacy: Their active engagement takes place at the state capitol in St Paul with a variety of state agencies and departments as well as through the governor’s office. They work with policymakers and agency officials to give voice to the biofuels industry in matters that impact day-to-day production operations and to further grow the industry.

2. Fuel Supply Chain Development: They work closely with fuel retailers in the state to increase the availability of fuels such as E15 and E85. They are also able to connect them with wholesale suppliers of E15 and E85 and infrastructure and equipment providers and also educate them on the business case to sell E15 and E85.

3. Communications: As the representative of the biofuels industry in Minnesota, they organization is constantly communicating and educating consumers on the various benefits of ethanol in transportation fuel as well as changing negative perceptions. Their communication channels include a website with extensive resources on biofuels, social media, advertising and email marketing and they also liaise with the media throughout the state.

One of the founding members of the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association is Highwater Ethanol, a 59.5 million gallon per year denatured ethanol facility located in Lamberton. They also produce nearly 150,000 tons of dried distillers grains (DDGs) and in April of this year began producing corn oil.

In May of 2006, Brian Kletscher began working with Hightower Ethanol as the president of the Board of Directors and then in November of 2008 was hired as the CEO. He has served as the president of Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association since 2011.

When asked why Highwater Ethanol became involved with the Association, Kletscher noted that being a part of Minnesota biofuel producers, they needed another strong voice to deal directly with potential challenges for the industry and the Association is set up to address many biofuel opportunities. For example, the Association has been participating in bringing additional biofuel usage to Minnesota, by supporting usage of higher blends of ethanol and other biofuels.

“This means educating and promoting the clear, clean benefits of ethanol and biofuels for the consumer,” explained Kletscher. “We want to make sure the biofuels industry voice is heard when we are involved in developing pro-biofuel public policies to improve the environmental quality. We needed a strong organization to help in convening stakeholders for continued promoting and usage of ethanol and biofuels. We are involved to ensure that our message to consumers is clear on the benefits of ethanol and biofuels.”

Kletscher also said that their plant, along with the Association, is helping Minnesotans to understand that rural and urban leaders are united in the use and clean benefits of ethanol and biofuels. “We want to make sure that our education system is empowered to understand the clean, clear benefits of ethanol and biofuels use for the environment, the job base and the economic impact in rural and urban areas,” added Kletscher. “We promote the use of a Minnesota grown agricultural product such as corn, while demonstrating the enhanced economic benefit to the end user in price reduction at the pump when filling up your car or truck.”

Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association has enjoyed several key successes in the past several years. Rudnicki noted that the organization successfully spearheaded a multi-legislative session to increase the tiered petroleum replacement to at least 30 percent by 2025. They also worked with Governor Mark Dayton to declare October 2013 as Biofuels Month. This year, they led a campaign to bring about equitable tax treatment for biofuel producers.

“We have also expanded our presence in social media platforms such as Facebook and today, we have 5,669 fans, which is more than other similar organizations,” said Rudnicki. “Social media has given us the ability to speak directly to consumers and in turn change perceptions and make consumers aware of the biofuel options that can cut down greenhouse gas emissions while saving them dollars at the pump.”

Kletscher is also proud of the work the Association did when working with rural and urban legislators to develop an equitable property tax treatment for biofuel producers. “We have also worked closely with agricultural educators in the state to provide students with a better understanding of biofuel production,” added Kletscher.

The story continues tomorrow….

Read the original story here : Get To Know The Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association

Renewable Fuels Association

Oct 7, 2014

Washington D.C. - E85 retailers in the St. Louis area may be purposely price gouging Missouri drivers, according to an in-depth case study released today by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). During the 2014 summer driving season, average E85 prices were 12 percent below gasoline prices at the wholesale level, but 1 percent above gasoline prices at the retail level. Further, the wholesale-to-retail markup on E85 was nearly twice the markup on gasoline. Finally, the study found E85 retail prices were roughly $1 per gallon higher than was justified by wholesale prices for locally available ethanol and hydrocarbon blendstock.

The study’s results offer “… clear support for the notion that some gasoline producers/suppliers and their franchised retailers purposely employ E85 pricing strategies meant to discourage E85 consumption and negatively influence consumer perceptions about the fuel.”

Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the RFA, stated, “It’s fairly obvious that the retailers examined in this study—all of whom are branded by one of the Big Five oil companies—don’t really want to sell E85. In many cases it appears they were pricing E85 above their branded gasoline for the sole purpose of making their gasoline prices look more attractive to the consumer. Sneaky E85 pricing strategies ultimately give oil refiners the opportunity to wrongly claim that consumers are ‘rejecting’ E85; and it gives them an opportunity to claim they can’t comply with Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requirements above the so-called ‘blend wall.’ This study exposes the utter hypocrisy of that argument.”

RFA tracked E85 and gasoline (E10) prices at all nine retail stations selling E85 in the St. Louis metro area. All nine stations carry the brand of one of the five largest integrated oil production and refining companies, which makes the St. Louis E85 market highly unusual because nationwide “…retail stations affiliated with a ‘Big Five’ oil company brand are four to six times less likely to offer E85 than independent or unbranded stations.” 

Across more than 250 observations during the summer, the average E10 retail price was $3.452 per gallon and the average E85 retail price was $3.476 per gallon. Meanwhile, E85 was available at a local wholesale terminal for an average of $2.582 per gallon, while E10 averaged $2.933 per gallon at the wholesale level. Based on prices for locally available ethanol, hydrocarbon blendstock, RFS RIN credits, and a typical markup, E85 could have been offered at retail for $2.44–2.55 per gallon.

So, why is the St. Louis E85 market so dysfunctional, when other markets are seeing competitive pricing and strong demand for E85? The study offers several potential explanations:

1. As RFA pointed out in July, retailers affiliated with a Big Oil brand are often bound by franchise agreements that make it difficult to sell anything other than “branded” fuel. These agreements often set up roadblocks for retailers who wish to sell “unbranded” fuels like E85.

2. Many oil companies require branded retailers to sell a specified amount of “branded” fuel such as premium or diesel. Therefore, competitively priced E85 would potentially drive sales away from those fuels, leaving retailers in jeopardy of failing to meet contractual obligations.

3. A small number of consumers purchase E85—no matter the price relative to gasoline—because of ethanol’s environmental benefits. Retailers may be taking advantage of these consumers by keeping E85 prices artificially high.

4. Due to the relative proximity of the stations offering E85 in the St. Louis market, there is very little price competition to attract FFV drivers to one station over another.

5. Retailers may be implementing “decoy pricing,” which means they set the price of E85 high so that other fuel options seem more reasonably priced.

“The bottom line is some retailers and their upstream franchisors appear to be employing pricing strategies meant to negatively impact consumer perceptions of E85 and biofuels in general,” Dinneen said. “This is just one more way Big Oil attempts to quash competition and discourage consumers from choosing greener, cheaper, domestically-produced renewable fuels.”

Read the original story here : New RFA Case Study : Evidence of E85 Price Gouging

View the study here

E85 retailers in the St. Louis area may be purposely price gouging Missouri drivers, according to an in-depth case study released today by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). During the 2014 summer driving season, average E85 prices were 12 percent below gasoline prices at the wholesale level, but 1 percent above gasoline prices at the retail level. Further, the wholesale-to-retail markup on E85 was nearly twice the markup on gasoline. Finally, the study found E85 retail prices were roughly $1 per gallon higher than was justified by wholesale prices for locally available ethanol and hydrocarbon blendstock.

The study’s results offer “… clear support for the notion that some gasoline producers/suppliers and their franchised retailers purposely employ E85 pricing strategies meant to discourage E85 consumption and negatively influence consumer perceptions about the fuel.”

Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the RFA, stated, “It’s fairly obvious that the retailers examined in this study—all of whom are branded by one of the Big Five oil companies—don’t really want to sell E85. In many cases it appears they were pricing E85 above their branded gasoline for the sole purpose of making their gasoline prices look more attractive to the consumer. Sneaky E85 pricing strategies ultimately give oil refiners the opportunity to wrongly claim that consumers are ‘rejecting’ E85; and it gives them an opportunity to claim they can’t comply with Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requirements above the so-called ‘blend wall.’ This study exposes the utter hypocrisy of that argument.”

RFA tracked E85 and gasoline (E10) prices at all nine retail stations selling E85 in the St. Louis metro area. All nine stations carry the brand of one of the five largest integrated oil production and refining companies, which makes the St. Louis E85 market highly unusual because nationwide “…retail stations affiliated with a ‘Big Five’ oil company brand are four to six times less likely to offer E85 than independent or unbranded stations.” 

Across more than 250 observations during the summer, the average E10 retail price was $3.452 per gallon and the average E85 retail price was $3.476 per gallon. Meanwhile, E85 was available at a local wholesale terminal for an average of $2.582 per gallon, while E10 averaged $2.933 per gallon at the wholesale level. Based on prices for locally available ethanol, hydrocarbon blendstock, RFS RIN credits, and a typical markup, E85 could have been offered at retail for $2.44–2.55 per gallon.

So, why is the St. Louis E85 market so dysfunctional, when other markets are seeing competitive pricing and strong demand for E85? The study offers several potential explanations:

  1. As RFA pointed out in July, retailers affiliated with a Big Oil brand are often bound by franchise agreements that make it difficult to sell anything other than “branded” fuel. These agreements often set up roadblocks for retailers who wish to sell “unbranded” fuels like E85.
  2. Many oil companies require branded retailers to sell a specified amount of “branded” fuel such as premium or diesel. Therefore, competitively priced E85 would potentially drive sales away from those fuels, leaving retailers in jeopardy of failing to meet contractual obligations.
  3. A small number of consumers purchase E85—no matter the price relative to gasoline—because of ethanol’s environmental benefits. Retailers may be taking advantage of these consumers by keeping E85 prices artificially high.
  4. Due to the relative proximity of the stations offering E85 in the St. Louis market, there is very little price competition to attract FFV drivers to one station over another.
  5. Retailers may be implementing “decoy pricing,” which means they set the price of E85 high so that other fuel options seem more reasonably priced.

“The bottom line is some retailers and their upstream franchisors appear to be employing pricing strategies meant to negatively impact consumer perceptions of E85 and biofuels in general,” Dinneen said. “This is just one more way Big Oil attempts to quash competition and discourage consumers from choosing greener, cheaper, domestically-produced renewable fuels.”

- See more at: http://www.ethanolrfa.org/news/entry/new-rfa-case-study-evidence-of-e85-price-gouging/#sthash.w8Ih5Oas.dpuf