On March 27, 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) “Set 2” Final Rule, establishing Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) for 2026 and 2027 at the largest levels in the nation’s history.

The EPA also finalized a 70 percent partial reallocation of the 2023-2025 RVOs waived via the Small Refinery Exemption (SRE) program for 2026 and 2027. The SRE reallocation volume for 2026 has been set at approximately 990 million RINs, and for 2027, the SRE reallocation volume has been finalized at 1.04 billion RINs.

EPA’s June 2025 proposal included provisions aimed at boosting domestic biofuel production by limiting the ability of imported fuels and feedstocks to participate in the RFS. Under the proposal, foreign biofuels and feedstocks would only generate 50 percent of the RIN value relative to domestic biofuels and feedstocks. EPA did not finalize this provision and cited that it needs more time to establish this piece of the rulemaking. EPA intends to establish these provisions beginning in the 2028 compliance period.

RVO Numbers

Thank you!

We extend gratitude to the Trump administration and Congress for supporting the delivery of the strongest RVOs in the history of the RFS program.

The post RFS Set 2: A Key Component of American Energy Dominance appeared first on Growth Energy.

Reduce Fuel Prices with E15

• Enact legislation to permanently allow year-round sales of E15 (S.593/H.R.1346: Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act).
• Encourage the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finish regulatory action from the first Trump Administration that would revise burdensome E15 labeling requirements and allow current refueling infrastructure that is compatible with E10 to be compatible with E15.

Drive American Innovation Through Federal Tax Incentives

• Treasury should keep the current proposed 45Z rulemaking intact, with the following modest changes:
• Allow the use of U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) proposed farm practices in conjunction with the GREET model’s feedstock carbon intensity calculator to calculate credit value.
• Finish Provisional Emissions Rate (PER) regulation.
• Fix “qualifying sale” regulation to clarify documentation sufficient to establish a “qualified sale” in a manner consistent with the practicalities of the existing fuel distribution market.
• Finalize the addition of ASTM D8651 for undenatured ethanol within the definition of “low-GHG ethanol.”
• Provide additional prevailing wage flexibility.
  • Geographic flexibility for job classifications.
  • Allow yearly (instead of quarterly) compliance.
• Adjust SAF certification process to ease potential administrative bottlenecks and complications.
• Further clarify anti-stacking provision.
• Change 45ZCF-GREET User Manual to allow carbon utilization to count as a CI reducing practice.

Rebuild the Farm Economy with a Robust Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)

• Extend gratitude to the Trump administration and Congress for the strongest Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) in the history of the RFS program.
• Prohibit unwarranted or illegal small refinery exemptions (SREs).
• Maintain EPA’s policy that any SREs granted do not come at the expense of overall RVO requirements.
• Approve and complete RFS pathways including for corn oil from ethanol wet mills, ethanol produced with carbon capture, kernel fiber from grain sorghum, and corn starch alcohol-to-jet fuel.

Win Global Markets with American Ethanol

• Encourage U.S. trade diplomats to combat unfair trade barriers and tariffs imposed on American ethanol by competitors in Brazil, China, India, Europe, and Southeast Asia.
• Open new export opportunities for American ethanol by supporting higher blends in Canada, Japan, India, Mexico, and across the globe.

Unleash American Energy Dominance by Reducing Barriers to Private Investment

• Ask EPA to process Class VI underground injection control well permits within two years of receiving an application.

The post Ethanol Policy Roadmap appeared first on Growth Energy.

Fair trade policies and increased incorporation in U.S. international energy engagements will grow American agriculture and give American ethanol producers greater access to global markets. Current trade negotiations could eliminate unfair trade practices and build upon U.S. ethanol’s robust trade surplus.

Resolving tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, including inaccurate carbon intensity scores, will help U.S. exporters satisfy growing ethanol demand across the globe.

Overview

The U.S. ethanol industry exported a record 2.18 billion gallons of ethanol in 2025 — valued at $4.8 billion. Those exported gallons were made with more than 754 million bushels of U.S. corn — valued at more than $3 billion. U.S. ethanol also produces valuable co-products, including nutrient-rich animal feed known as dried distillers’ grains (DDGs). In 2025, the U.S. ethanol industry exported 11.6 million metric tons of DDGs, valued at $2.8 billion.

Our policy asks

• Support and encourage U.S. trade diplomats to continue to implement newly formed trade agreements, frameworks, purchase agreements, including in the United Kingdom, Japan, Indonesia, and Guatemala.
• Encourage U.S. trade diplomats to combat unfair trade barriers and tariffs imposed on American ethanol — including by countries that restrict imported fuel ethanol (India), have prohibitive tariffs (Brazil, China), or inaccurately restrict corn feedstocks (EU, U.K.).
• Expand current ethanol blending opportunities (Canada, Vietnam, Philippines, Japan) and open new export opportunities for biofuels across the globe (Mexico).
• Ensure strong U.S. government engagement in international organizations to ensure international lifecycle emissions models accurately, scientifically, and fairly reflect U.S. ethanol’s improved efficiencies and circumstances.  This will ensure export market potential for U.S. ethanol as countries develop aviation and maritime emission reduction programs.

Focus on Brazil and Mexico

In July, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) launched a Section 301 investigation into Brazil’s unfair trade practices, including its market access restrictions on U.S. ethanol. Brazil has enjoyed duty-free access to the U.S. market and can participate in the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard and state-based low carbon fuel programs. Conversely, U.S. ethanol faces an 18 percent tariff in Brazil and no U.S. ethanol producer has been qualified under Brazil’s low carbon fuel program, RenovaBio. Brazil also seeks preferential treatment for their second-crop corn within international organizations while misleading global policymakers about U.S. ethanol.

New leadership in Mexico is reversing earlier disinterest in ethanol blending, which could result in a nearly one-billion-gallon market and make a dent in the U.S. agricultural trade deficit. Shifting Mexico’s fuel policy to support American agriculture will require all-in U.S. government support.

The post Win Global Markets with American Ethanol appeared first on Growth Energy.

The 45Z Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit provides a tax credit for low emissions fuels that have a carbon intensity (CI) score below a baseline level (50 kgCO2e/MMBTU). This incentive is critical to ensure we maintain our dominant position as the world’s top biofuel producer, provide new income opportunities for growers in an ailing farm economy, and ensure U.S. leadership in liquid fuels for light-duty vehicles, heavy-duty trucks, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and marine vessels.

This pro-growth tax policy will unlock billions of dollars in new investments in U.S. clean energy innovation.

Our Regulatory Asks

Treasury should keep the current proposed 45Z rulemaking intact, with the following modest changes:

• Allow the use of U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) proposed farm practices in conjunction with the GREET model’s feedstock carbon intensity calculator to calculate credit value.
• Finish Provisional Emissions Rate (PER) regulation.
• Fix “qualifying sale” regulation to clarify documentation sufficient to establish a “qualified sale” in a manner consistent with the practicalities of the existing fuel distribution market.
• Finalize the addition of ASTM D8651 for undenatured ethanol within the definition of “low-GHG ethanol.”
• Provide additional prevailing wage flexibility.
  • Geographic flexibility for job classifications.
  • Allow yearly (instead of quarterly) compliance.
• Adjust SAF certification process to ease potential administrative bottlenecks and complications.
• Further clarify anti-stacking provision.
• Change 45ZCF-GREET User Manual to allow carbon utilization to count as a CI reducing practice.

Soaring Potential

• With the right policy certainty, the 45Z credit could:
• Add $21 billion to the U.S. economy.
• Support 192,000 new jobs.
• Generate $13.4 billion in household income.
• Provide farmers with a 10% premium price on low-carbon corn used at an ethanol plant.

The post Drive American Innovation Through Federal Tax Incentives appeared first on Growth Energy.

A CLEANER BURNING FUEL

Ethanol is the cleanest, most affordable high-octane fuel on the market. It provides a superior octane boost without the carcinogens associated with other fuel additives.

MORE OCTANE FOR MORE POWER

High-octane fuels like ethanol enhance engine performance by delivering more horsepower and speed. Most vehicles require a minimum octane rating of 87. Ethanol, with an octane rating of 113, helps meet that in modern cars. Ethanol isa cleaner, renewable, and cost-effective alternative to toxic chemicals like lead and MTBE. As a result, ethanol is now blended into 98 percent of motor fuels in the U.S., providing a safe and efficient boost to fuel performance.

MORE OCTANE FOR GREATER EFFICIENCY

Turbocharging forces more fuel and air into a smaller volume, increasing pressure but potentially causing low-octane fuels to ignite prematurely, reducing efficiency and damaging the engine. High-octane fuels, like ethanol, are essential for high-compression, turbocharged, or supercharged engines, ensuring proper ignition timing and delivering more power. Future U.S. fuel efficiency standards may require higher-compression engines, necessitating higher-octane fuels, which ethanol can provide at a lower cost.

Download the Engine Performance Fact Sheet

The post Engine Performance 101: Unlocking the Power of E15 appeared first on Growth Energy.

With high inflation and volatile gas prices, American drivers are increasingly relying on the fuel savings offered by E15 (UNL88), a fuel containing 15 percent American ethanol. Compared to standard 10 percent blends (E10), E15 saved American drivers an average savings of up to 30¢ per gallon — all while increasing U.S. energy security and supporting economic growth across rural America.

Unfortunately, these cost savings could vanish from many markets as early as May 1 of this year due to outdated federal restrictions on summer sales of higher ethanol blends.

For the last seven years, American drivers have uninterrupted access to E15 year-round based on actions taken by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In January 2025, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) declaring a national emergency over energy, which, in Section 2(b) of the EO, orders EPA to “consider issuing emergency fuel waivers to allow the year-round sale of E15 gasoline to meet any projected temporary shortfalls in the supply of gasoline across the Nation.”

The post Year-Round E15 FAQ appeared first on Growth Energy.

Myth: Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs) protect American refineries and keep fuel prices low.

Fact: 2025 marked the 20th anniversary of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Instead of using the last twenty years to figure out how to comply with federal law, mid-sized refiners have gamed the system and spent millions of dollars in lobbying and legal fees challenging biofuels blending obligations in court and in Congress. Meanwhile, their refining peers invested in renewable fuels blending capacity and those investments have increased American energy security and the overall American fuel supply, lowering costs to consumers. It’s past time that lagging refiners join the rest of the fuel supply chain in diversifying our fuel supply to keep costs low.

Myth: Any attempt to overhaul the SRE framework would raise fuel costs.

Fact: Years of historical data show that gasoline prices most closely track the price of crude oil, not RINs (compliance mechanism under the RFS). Further, gasoline blended with ethanol delivers savings to consumers at the pump. Providing access to E15 (UNL 88) delivers significant cost savings, averaging up to 30¢ in savings per gallon. The easiest way to comply with the RFS is to blend more biofuels like American ethanol.  Reluctant mid-sized refiners have had more than two decades to invest and move towards higher biofuel blends and instead have chosen to game the system and litigate to avoid their legal obligations.

Myth: SRE reform threatens hundreds or thousands of jobs across the U.S. and weakens fuel security.

Fact: EPA analysis has shown time and again that all obligated parties under the RFS, including small refiners, fully recover the costs of RFS compliance through wholesale prices on gasoline and diesel. Even when accounting for RFS compliance, gasoline prices most closely track the price of global crude oil, not RFS compliance (RIN price).

Additionally, when it comes to risk and refiner jobs, the mid-sized refiners that would become ineligible for SREs are part of global conglomerates that each have large market caps in the billions of dollars, with some foreign-owned firms being among the largest companies on the planet. There is nothing “small” about these refiners.

The post SRE Myths: The Case for SRE Reform appeared first on Growth Energy.

In 1990, Congress specified that fuel with 10% ethanol (E10) could be sold year-round to encourage the use of ethanol-blended fuels, which save consumers money and burn cleaner than fuels without ethanol. However, the waiver Congress granted for E10 predated the introduction of higher ethanol blends like E15. E15 has an even lower Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) than E10, meaning it has lower evaporative emissions than standard E10 fuel. This means that despite having lower emissions than E10, E15 cannot be sold in most states during the summer months, except through temporary emergency waivers.

Growth Energy’s Ask:

Enact legislation to permanently allow year-round sales of E15  (S.593/H.R.1346: Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act).

Impact of E15 on Fuel prices

As a result of emergency waivers and other EPA regulatory action from 2019-2026, consumers saved up to 30 cents per gallon on average by choosing E15, with some locations offering E15 for over $1 per gallon less than E10.

Passing legislation to allow E15 to be sold year-round would increase availability and save consumers money. If we made E15 the standard fuel in the U.S., we could save $20 billion+ in fuel costs each year.

BENEFITS OF HIGHER BIOFUEL BLENDS

• Nationwide adoption of E15 would save consumers $20.6 billion in annual fuel costs, put an additional $36.3 billion in income into the pockets of American families, and generate $66.3 billion for the U.S. GDP.
• Nationwide adoption of E15 will result in an increase in corn demand of about 2.4 billion bushels per year.
• E15 and higher biofuel blends have lower evaporative emissions than standard vehicle fuels.
• Higher biofuel blends are better for air quality, reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants harmful to human health, like carbon monoxide.
• Ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 46% compared to gasoline.
• If the United States transitioned from E10 to E15 nationwide, greenhouse gas emissions would fall by 17.62 million tons per year, the equivalent of removing 3.85 million vehicles from the road.

Regulatory & Legal Milestones

• 1990 Congress imposes RVP limits but grants an RVP waiver for E10.
• 2009 E15 waiver filed with EPA.
• 2011 EPA approves E15 for 2001 and newer cars.
• 2019 EPA extends the RVP waiver to include E15.
• 2019 AFPM challenges EPA rule.
• 2021 D.C. Circuit ruling reverses EPA’s waiver extension for E15.
• 2022-26 EPA allows year-round E15 on an emergency basis.
• 2025 State E10 RVP waiver opt-outs take effect in eight Midwestern states.

The post Ensure Year-Round Sales of E15 appeared first on Growth Energy.

E15 is a Win for American Drivers

Year-round E15 sales would:

• Provide all Americans access to an average fuel savings of up to $.30 per gallon
• Increase corn demand by 2.4 billion bushels
• Support more than 188,000 new full-time jobs

Congress must pass the E15 fix to lower prices, strengthen the economy, and give drivers the options they deserve.

The post Year Round E15: More Savings at the Pump, Growth for America’s Economy appeared first on Growth Energy.

Learn more about bioethanol’s role in reducing emissions, creating jobs, lowering costs, fostering energy independence, and enhancing engine performance.

The post Biofuels: Fast Facts appeared first on Growth Energy.