A Murky Value Case for a Higher Ethanol Blend
Source: By NORMAN MAYERSOHN, New York Times • Posted: Friday, July 13, 2012
Steve Hebert for The New York Times At the Zarco 66 filling station in Lawrence, Kan., where E15 is an option at the pump.
As our colleague Matthew L. Wald noted on Wednesday, a filling station west of Kansas City, Kan., recently began pumping E15, the fuel blend consisting of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline. The formulation was approved for use by the Environmental Protection Agency late in 2010.
Though the government cannot compel filling stations to stock the fuel, the Energy Department frames the use of E15 as falling within its broader objective of reducing petroleum imports. (The ethanol is produced primarily from corn grown in the United States.) However, the cost and efficiency benefits for the fuel’s end user are not so apparent. As Mr. Wald wrote:
Some car experts say that the savings are illusory, because a gallon of ethanol has only about two-thirds as much energy as a gallon of gasoline, so it will take a car fewer miles on a gallon.
At the filling station in Lawrence, Kan., visited by Mr. Wald, the price on Tuesday for E15, as seen in the photo above, was $3.279, 2 cents a gallon less than the standard E10 formulation. The lower per-gallon price means that drivers will pay less to fill their tanks, but it does not necessarily mean they are getting a bargain
The Web site of the Energy Department says motorists could expect their cars to travel “3 to 4 percent fewer miles per gallon on E10 than on straight gasoline.” Logically, E15, with its higher concentration of ethanol, will further erode a vehicle’s estimated fuel economy. Using 5 percent as a rough estimate of the fuel economy loss (compared with straight gas, which is difficult to find), the E15 fuel ought to be in the range of 15 cents a gallon cheaper in order to power that vehicle the same number of miles for each dollar spent.
The more relevant comparison, of course, is to the E10 on sale at the same station. Simply, the netted savings of 2 cents a gallon still falls short — E15 should probably be in the range of 4 to 6 cents a gallon cheaper to yield the same miles-per-dollar result as E10. The E15 might be more attractive to drivers of cars that require premium fuel, as Mr. Wald points out, because the ethanol blend has an octane rating of 90. And it was the better choice for topping off his Chevy Aveo rental car before heading back to the airport, because he was more interested in volume per dollar than miles.
The financial penalty may seem small, but the psychic damage could be significant — at least to drivers whose ability to boast about the 50 m.p.g. fuel economy of the family Prius is a critical determinant of self-esteem. That car would suddenly fall below the magic 50 mark and into the increasingly populated range of cars that claim mileage in the 40s.