UL says most US gas pumps not certified for E15, as USDA, EPA meet over potential increase in ethanol blend levels

In Washington, Bloomberg reports that the USDA and the EPA have commenced discussions aimed at raising ethanol blending levels in the United States. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack confirmed the talks, and said that raising the blend rate from this year’s 10.2 percent requirement was a short-term fix to ethanol overcapacity that has forced numerous ethanol bankruptcies, including the bankruptcy of industry leader VeraSun Energy, as well as the idling of as much as 21 percent of ethanol capacity.

However, in late breaking news, Underwriters Laboratories indicated that “Underwriters Laboratories Listed dispensers – those legacy dispensers currently in service and used most often in gas stations around the country today – are certified under UL 87 and are authorized for dispensing blends up to E10. Because UL often uses safety margins during testing, some subassemblies have been tested with fuels containing 15% ethanol, leading to some technical references to this level, but that does not mean that those dispensers are certified to dispense fuels containing greater than 10% ethanol.”

UL confirmed that it is in talks with DOE and EPA with relation to higher ethanol blends, but said only that “if new Federal guidelines are established that approve higher ethanol blend levels for public use, UL will review products currently certified under UL 87 to determine whether UL can provide data enabling the authorities having jurisdiction to approve such use.”

The American Coalition for Ethanol issued a stern letter of protest to UL late last week, asking for clarification on previous references to ““approved for” in UL 87 documentation.

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