Aemetis (AMTX) CEO: E15 gas waiver ‘very good’ for US ethanol industry
17:45, 13 April 2022
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Will E15 gas waiver boost biofuels? – Photo: Shutterstock
The Biden administration’s decision to allow higher-ethanol E15 gasoline in the United States is seen as a boon for the industry, said a biofuels executive in an exclusive interview with Capital.com, adding the US president will in the future find it politically difficult to reinstate the lower biofuel cap.
“This decision is like the breaking of a dam,” said Eric McAfee, founder and CEO of Aemetis (
AMTX), the largest ethanol producer in California. “This is very good for the ethanol industry.”
Aemetis, based in Cupertino, California, makes a wide range of biofuels, including the so-called E15 fuel now permitted for year-round use under a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emergency order aimed at lowering gasoline prices during the increased demand of the summer months.
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E15 waiver
“Today, I’m announcing... the Environmental Protection Agency is planning to issue an emergency waiver to allow E15 gasoline that uses more ethanol from homegrown crops to be sold across the United States this summer in order to increase fuel supply,” President Biden
said Tuesday at an event in Menlo, Iowa.
“President Biden did this for political reasons, just like President Trump did in 2019,” McAfee noted. “But the biggest policy failure of this administration was restricting biofuels.”
Additionally, McAfee believes the E15 ethanol cap waiver will remain in place for the foreseeable future, as price sensitive consumers demand the cheaper E15 gas. “[President Biden] can’t rescind this after the summer,” McAfee added. “It will be very difficult for him to go back to more expensive gas with an election coming up.”