NCC opposes 15% ethanol blends

The Environmental Protection Agency should resist the ethanol industry's demand that it legalize blending of ethanol into motor gasoline up to 15%, according to the National Chicken Council. NCC warned that the higher blend could cause damage to cars and trucks built to run on a maximum of 10% ethanol and would create additional volatility in the grain market.
Growth Energy, a group led by Poet Energy, the nation's largest ethanol distiller, petitioned EPA to raise the legal limit from 10% to as much as 15%, asserting that the higher blend would make no difference to operation of the millions of cars and trucks in the U.S. that run on conventional fuel.
EPA said its consideration of the Growth Energy petition would be based on whether there is adequate reason to believe that more ethanol in fuel would not cause harm to engine components, particularly pollution control equipment. NCC argued that pending studies must be completed before a final decision can be made.
Growth Energy and other ethanol backers claim that the 10% limit effectively caps the amount of ethanol they can sell, calling it the "blend wall."
Comments to EPA on the Growth Energy petition are due no later than July 20 and can be made through the government's official portal at www.regulations.gov.