WASHINGTON, D.C. — Drivers will be able to fuel up with E15 gas this summer, for the third year in a row. The announcement by the EPA follows a rule announced earlier this year that eight Midwestern states can sell E15 all year long beginning in 2025.

What You Need To Know

  • The EPA announced E15 fuel, also known as Unleaded 88, will be sold through the summer

  • The ethanol-gasoline blend is typically banned during the summer in an effort to limit ozone pollution

  • Lawmakers had pushed for the rule to support farmers, who grow the corn used to produce ethanol

The ethanol-gasoline blend is typically banned during the summer in an effort to limit ozone pollution.

Often sold as Unleaded 88, E15 is a blend of 85 percent gasoline and 15 percent ethanol. Its ethanol ratio is 5 percent more than E10, the blend most people use to fuel their cars.

E15 is safe to use in cars and trucks manufactured in 2001 or later.

The fuel costs on average 15 cents less per gallon than E10 in 2023, according to ethanol producer trade association Growth Energy.

Drivers may not see much of a difference at the pump this summer, though, according to industry experts.

The Midwest states that requested a permanent waiver to sell E15 all year long—Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin—will also be required to produce a cleaner, less volatile version of the fuel starting in 2025. Prices could spike as refineries adjust to make the cleaner fuel.

“The governors that opted into this waiver request essentially will be having a different type of gasoline as their standard than other areas and that could actually drive prices up slightly in the years ahead,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

Selling more E15 fuel could help farmers, however. About 40 percent of the nation’s corn crop is used to produce ethanol, so higher sales could mean bigger profits.

“This is a way that we can expand markets for corn and soybeans with biofuel, and I’m all in on that,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who pushed the EPA to allow E15 sales this summer.

Lawmakers are also working on other efforts to increase demand for ethanol. Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, introduced the Farm to Fly Act that would allow agriculture-based fuels such as ethanol to be used in aviation in order to reduce carbon emissions.