Minnesotans love a winner, and our growing unleaded 88 E15 use is proof. Yes, final May 2022 sales data are in, and we have set yet another all-time record in statewide E15 sales!
Better Sales
The Minnesota Department of Commerce estimates statewide E15 sales in May topped 15.2 million gallons. Month-to-month, that’s a 20% increase and an average of 34,500 gallons per station. If this trend continues (and we expect it will), 2022 sales should easily surpass last year’s record of 131 million estimated gallons. The department’s survey included reports submitted by 247 of the 435 Minnesota E15 retailers.
We certainly celebrate more motorists discovering E15, but please remember the better behind those new gallons. After all, “better” is in the name of this blog for good reason!
Better Emissions
The renewable, Minnesota-grown ethanol inside E15 provides more octane, and it significantly reduces lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of our fuel supply.
The latest U.S. Department of Agriculture report (2019) on energy balance and emissions clearly illustrates lifecycle GHGs from ethanol are at least 39% lower than gasoline. At natural gas-powered biorefineries, emissions are even better — about 43% below gasoline. Those conclusions are backed up by other researchers, such as Scully et al, who reported in the March 2021 edition of Environmental Research Letters that fuel ethanol provides a carbon intensity reduction of 46% compared to gasoline.
Better Price
When you use E15 instead of regular unleaded, you’re not only reducing lifecycle carbon emissions and displacing oil from entering our environment. You can also save a few bucks.
Typically, E15 with its midgrade octane rating will run you about 5 to 40 cents per gallon less than 87 octane regular gasoline. However, as world oil and U.S. gasoline prices have spiked this year, prices of homegrown fuel ethanol have remained stable and highly competitive.
As an example, the price of Harvestone Commodities’ wholesale high-blend ethanol was $1.36 per gallon on July 8th FOB Morris, Minnesota. That has translated to a marketing advantage for E15 station owners and to retail E15 advertised at significant discounts to regular gasoline.
Imagine if all Minnesotans used E15 and what we could do collectively for reducing our dependency on petroleum and combatting climate change. Given the trend in E15 sales, maybe that better future is not so far away.