Governors' Biofuels Coalition

US ethanol producers may be on the brink of getting the green light from Congress to sell higher blends of their corn-based biofuel nationwide, a long-elusive goal that the industry considers crucial to its future.

Key industry stakeholders have been assured that a stopgap government-funding measure will include language making a higher-ethanol blend known as E15 available year-round across the US, according to people close to the matter. Environmental restrictions now preclude sales of the fuel containing 15% ethanol during the summer across much of the country.

Congressional leaders are nearing an agreement on a three-month stopgap spending bill that would avert a government shutdown. A final text of the measure is still being assembled and last-minute changes could derail the E15 plans.

The ethanol industry has spent more than a decade fighting to expand access to the higher blend amid opposition from oil refiners and environmentalists. Yet the rise of electric vehicles has led to a growing alliance between agriculture and oil producers.

The American Petroleum Institute — the powerful oil lobby — has united with farm groups to support the bipartisan E15 bill from Republican Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska. The legislation would also preserve access to lower-ethanol blends, such as the conventional 10% variety widely available across the US.

Most of the gasoline sold in the US contains 10% ethanol, while selling higher E15 through the summer months has been generally off limits without a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The measure would potentially increase demand for corn at a time when lower crop prices have eroded farmer revenues in the US. The nation already uses almost 140 million metric tons of the grain — or more than one third of its harvest — for biofuel production.