E15 sales set record in 2021

ELLISVILLE, Mo. — E15 gasoline blend sales reached a record level of 814 million gallons in 2021.

The volume represented a 62% increase over 2020 and was nearly double pre-pandemic sales volumes in 2019, according to analysis by the Renewable Fuels Association.

Record sales volume of over 814 million gallons of E15 — 15% ethanol blend — equates to over 122 million gallons of ethanol.

The analysis is based on data for Minnesota and Iowa that showed record levels of E15 sales. Minnesota and Iowa account for nearly one-third of the U.S. retail stations offering the 15% blend of ethanol.

E15 sales by stations that reported volumes were nearly 87 million in both Iowa and Minnesota in 2021, an increase of 16% in Minnesota and 43% in Iowa from 2020 levels.

However, based on supplemental information from the Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Iowa Department of Revenue, it was estimated that total E15 volumes were 131 million gallons, a 40% increase, in Minnesota and 97 million in Iowa, a 45% increase, including stations that sold E15, but did not report their volumes.

The U.S. estimate in the analysis is based on average sales per reporting station multiplied by the RFA’s count of the number of stations selling E15 nationwide, according to RFA Chief Economist Scott Richman.

Richman cited likely factors leading to the record volume for 2021: an increase in the number of stations that offer the blend; the recovery in overall fuel consumption toward pre-pandemic levels starting in the late spring; and a rebound in the price of credits used to show compliance with the federal Renewable Fuel Standard.

Public Support

Geoff Cooper, RFA president and CEO, noted a recent nationwide survey that indicated strong public support for increasing E15 sales as a way to replace petroleum imports from Russia and keep a lid on pump prices.

The survey found 83% of registered voters responding said they support increasing the domestic production of renewable fuels like ethanol and 52% “strongly supported” increased production.

Seventy-two percent of the survey respondents said they support increasing the availability of E15 as a way to replace oil imports from Russia.

If E15 replaced just 30% of the E10 currently being sold in the United States, the nation could entirely replace the amount of gasoline supplied annually from Russian petroleum imports.