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WASHINGTON — President Biden will announce Tuesday the suspension of the summer ban on the sale of high-ethanol gasoline blends, a move White House officials say is aimed at lowering gas prices, but energy experts predict will have only a marginal impact on the pump. .
On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency will issue a disclaimer that will allow the blend, known as E15, which is made from 15 percent ethanol, to be used between June 1 and September 15. The White House would discount 10 cents for every gallon of gasoline sold at nearly 2,300 stations across the country, sold in the summer of the ethanol blend, and cite the decision as a move toward “energy independence.”
The decision to lift the summer ban came as Mr. Biden faced increasing pressure to bring energy prices down, which helped catch the fastest rate of inflation since 1981 in March. Gasoline averaged $4.10 a gallon on Tuesday, according to AAA.
Biden is expected to make the E15 announcement when he visits an ethanol plant in Menlo, Iowa, on Tuesday. The move follows a plan the president announced last month that will release one million barrels per day of oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the next six months.
Ethanol is made from corn and other crops and has been mixed with some types of gasoline for years as a way to reduce reliance on oil. However, the higher volatility of the mixture may contribute to smoke formation in warmer weather. For this reason, environmental groups have traditionally objected to lifting the summer ban, as have oil companies, which fear that greater use of ethanol will reduce their sales.
How much the presence of ethanol keeps fuel prices down has been a matter of debate among economists. Some experts said the decision would likely bring greater political benefits than financial ones.
“This is still very small compared to the strategic oil reserve release,” said David Victor, a climate policy expert at the University of California at San Diego. “This is a much more transparent political move.”
Egyptian state lawmakers are urging Mr Biden to fill the void created by the US ban on Russian oil exports with biofuels.
Oil refineries are required to mix some ethanol into gasoline under a pair of laws passed in 2005 and 2007 that aim to reduce oil use and greenhouse gas formation by mandating increasing levels of ethanol in the country’s fuel mix each year. But since the 2007 law was enacted, the mandate has been met with criticism that it contributes to rising fuel prices and does little to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.
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