April 12, 2022

President Joe Biden will visit POET’s bioprocessing plant near Menlo, Iowa, today to announce plans to lift summer restrictions on E15, allowing the 15 percent bioethanol blend to be sold all year.

Sioux Falls-based POET is the world’s largest biofuel producer and has 33 bioethanol production facilities. POET has a combined annual production capacity of 3 billion gallons of bioethanol.

Biden’s announcement is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. at the plant near Menlo, which is west of Des Moines.

“America needs an immediate fix at the fuel pump, and E15 is here to meet that need,” POET founder and CEO Jeff Broin said in a statement. “Bioethanol is an affordable, available, American-made fuel that can lower gas prices and boost our nation’s energy independence right now.”

Bioethanol already makes up 10 percent of the U.S. fuel supply, POET said. The ban on summertime sales of E15 was lifted in 2019; however, that EPA rule was later overturned in a 2021 federal court decision, once again barring E15 sales from June to mid-September.

POET estimates E15 can save consumers as much as 50 to 70 cents per gallon.

“Every driver should have the freedom to choose a fuel that’s better for their wallet, their health and the environment,” Broin said. “Plant-based bioethanol is the only liquid fuel that can check all those boxes, and it’s produced by Americans, for Americans, right here in the heartland.”

Consumers already have driven more than 25 billion miles on E15, he said, adding that moving the nation’s fuel standard from E10 to E15 would offset 6.2 billion gallons of gasoline, cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17 million tons per year and bring value to American consumers, rural communities and the U.S. economy.

“Today, we are grateful to President Biden for following through on his commitment to deliver lower-carbon, lower-cost fuel options to the American people and for allowing the POET team to share in the celebration of this major win for consumers and for America’s energy security,” Broin said.