Sen. Webb of Virginia leads gang of 20 in call for more research of E12, E15 before EPA OK

In Washington, a group of 20 US Senators led by Jim Webb of Virginia wrote to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, DOE Secretary Chu, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack and White House energy policy chief Carol Browner, to request more research before approving an increase in the ratio of fuel that can be blended with gasoline.

The proposed E12 – E15 range is intended to move the US beyond the E10 blend wall, which limits the amount of ethanol that can be blended with US cars to the 13-16 billion gallon range until more flex-fuel cars are available from struggling automakers.  The 20 Senators said that “use of ethanol use of ethanol has helped advance the goal of energy independence, it has had the unintended consequence of sharply increasing costs for corn and other sources of feed.”

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