By Consumer Reports News | ConsumerReports.org – Mon, Jun 10, 2013

Few consumers are familiar with E15 fuel. In fact, two thirds can’t accurately describe the fuel and even fewer know whether it’d be a good deal, according to a new survey by the National Association for Convenience and Fuel Retailing (NACS).

E15 is gasoline that consists of 15 percent ethanol, a corn by-product. Blending ethanol into gasoline reduces dependence on foreign oil, but it increases fuel consumption and not all cars are compatible with it.

To understand public perceptions and purchase intents, the industry trade group for gas station retailers conducted an online survey last month of almost 1,200 Americans who regularly fill up with gasoline. The NACS asked consumers about their fuel preferences and how likely they would be to consider buying a car that uses an alternative fuel, such as diesel or gasoline blended with ethanol. Not many were enthused about these alternatives.

Read the full article here.

BY GEOFFREY STYLES ON JUN 6, 2013

US Ethanol Policy Should Reflect Circumstances and Consequences

This April, two separate bills were introduced in the US House of Representatives to reform, or repeal, the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that mandates how much ethanol and other biofuels must be blended into gasoline.

To understand why reform or repeal makes sense now, we should recall the factors that led Congress to enact this standard six years ago and consider how many of the basic assumptions underlying its design have changed since then. That requires a review of US fuel consumption and import trends, commodity prices, and the impact of the RFS on food prices. After summarizing the other points I want to focus on the last one, based on an interview I conducted with Dr. Yaneer Bar-Yam, an expert on complex systems who has developed a model that explains the behavior of food prices since the introduction of the first, less ambitious RFS in 2005.

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By David J. Unger, Correspondent / June 5, 2013

The EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard program has attracted controversy for driving up food prices and the cost of gasoline. Republican lawmakers lambasted the EPA’s fuel standard in a hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday, but supporters say the standard is flexible and an important part of a transition to alternative fuels.

The push for alternatives to petroleum-based fuels has run into a wall of mounting criticism.

Amid declining gasoline demand, fuel producers are struggling to keep pace with the Environmental Protection Agency‘s expanding Renewable Fuel Standard program (RFS). But supporters say the EPA’s standard offers flexibility, and is a critical part of reducing the country’s reliance on foreign oil.

The brewing controversy has pit biofuel advocates and the EPA against the oil industry and fuel manufacturers who say the standards impose an unnecessary economic burden on consumers. Fueling cars with corn also has significant consequences for agriculture, putting upward pressure on food prices.

Read the full article here.