Insight Focus
Year-round E15 sales still face setbacks in 2026. Legislative progress has stalled despite a temporary waiver, though lawmakers are reframing E15 as a way to ease fuel costs and support farmers amid the Iran conflict. At the same time, US sales hit a record in 2025 led by Iowa and Minnesota, while Brazil prepares to boost output as it considers higher ethanol blend mandates.
Despite a temporary waiver from the US EPA allowing nationwide sales of E15 through the summer driving season, year-round sales of E15 fuel blends continue to face setbacks in 2026.
“We were hopeful at the beginning of the year that, when a government funding bill came around, we would get legislation allowing permanent year-round E15 in that federal funding bill,” said Scott Richman, chief economist for the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). “It didn’t happen.”
Instead, the US House created the Rural Domestic Energy Council, with a directive to come up with legislation facilitating E15. But Richman told news sources that work within the council has stalled. “They were supposed to have a legislative framework by late February outlining exactly how this was going to be solved,” Richman said. “That did not happen, and we still have not seen legislative text about a month and a half later.”
Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra is heading up the council. He recently told Brownfield News the group is committed to crafting E15 legislation that will help build a stronger domestic market for corn producers.
US War with Iran May Boost E15 Efforts
Republican ag leaders who have spent years pushing for year-round E15 sales nationwide are now pitching the idea as a balm for rising gas prices caused by the Iran war. “If we can get an E15 bill to the president, we know that would help every consumer at the pump across the US,” said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) at a recent Senate pro forma session. “That’s something that would help farmers right away as well.”
Source: EIA
Deputy Ag Secretary Stephen Vaden promoted the same conclusion in a recent X post about gas prices: “The higher the ethanol content, the lower the price. Biofuels save money.” After years of struggling to pass legislation authorising the year-round sale of E15, farm-state lawmakers are taking a “now more than ever” messaging approach to highlight how the policy could present a two-pronged solution for both consumers and farmers struggling amid the war in the Middle East.
Josh Roe, the CEO of Kansas Corn, told Brownfield News that uncertainty over domestic biofuels policy makes it even more important for the US to diversify export markets. He said ethanol exports could easily hit 2.4 billion gallons this marketing year. “We’ve seen countries such as India and Brazil moving to an E30 baseline standard.” Roe said the move toward higher blends of ethanol isn’t limited to major markets. “Uganda’s goal is to be an E20 baseline standard by 2030.”
Source: USDA
E15 Sales Hit Record in 2025
US sales of E15 reached a record 1.52 billion gallons last year, up 23% from 2024, the RFA said recently, based on its analysis of data released by state agencies in Minnesota and Iowa. The increase was due to both higher sales per station and accelerated growth in the number of stations offering E15 across the US.
Source: RFA
“Total US E15 sales can be estimated using the data for Iowa and Minnesota, given that the two states account for more than a third of stations offering E15,” the RFA stated, adding that they also “are the only two states for which reliable government data exist for E15 sales volumes.”
Reported sales of E15 surged 60% in Iowa to more than 410 million gallons, according to the RFA, due in part to the state’s E15 Access Standard, which required most retailers to make the fuel available to consumers by the beginning of this year. Combined with the estimated 169 million gallons sold in Minnesota, that amounted to 579 million gallons, compared with 428 million gallons in 2024.
Source: RFA
According to a new poll of more than 2,000 registered voters conducted for the RFA, 71% of respondents support efforts to increase the availability of E15, while only 12% oppose expanding E15 and 17% express no opinion. Meanwhile, two-thirds of voters (66%) support the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, which would make E15 available year-round by removing an outdated regulatory barrier, while only 15% oppose the legislation.
When considering only those respondents who expressed an opinion (i.e., excluding “don’t know” and “no opinion” responses), 85% support increasing the availability of E15, while 82% support the legislation as a way to help lower fuel prices and support energy independence.
Brazil Prepares for Higher Ethanol Blend Mandate
Meanwhile, Brazil’s ethanol sector is ready to meet demand from higher blends. Reuters reports that Brazil’s ethanol makers are prepared to raise output if the government increases the legal mix of ethanol blended with gasoline from 30% to 32% this year, adding that production is already heading toward a record.
Biofuel plant, Brazil
Brazil’s government aims to raise the ethanol blend to 32% in the first half of the year, the country’s Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, said this week, amid higher costs for fossil fuels as oil prices rise following the conflict in Iran.
