When it comes to ethanol, American drivers don’t really care

In a June 28-July 5 Reuters/ Ipsos poll of about 1,500 US drivers, more than a half said they were unfamiliar with ethanol. About the same portion of respondents said they paid little or no attention to whether the gasoline they bought contained ethanol.

The results show that multi-million dollar campaigns waged by corn farmers and the biofuel lobby to boost the use ethanol in fuels and by the oil industry defending the status quo, barely registered with consumers and gas retailers. “I have no idea” what’s in the gas,” said Kerri Price, 53, who lives near Albuquerque and drives a Jeep Grand Cherokee. “I just drive up, look for the cheapest price and pump.” 

Nearly all US gasoline contains about 10 percent ethanol, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration. Many consumers are unaware of that or of fuels with higher 15 and 85 percent ethanol content that the biofuel lobby promotes. Both the survey results and interviews with motorists show cost and convenience trump everything, with 93 per cent of those surveyed saying price influenced their decisions and 80 per cent said location of a gas station was a priority. 

The online poll of over 2,500 American adults included 1,526 people who said they commute to work in their personal vehicles. Higher ethanol blends tend to be slightly cheaper than the standard 10-per cent gasoline, but shale oil boom and the collapse in oil and gas prices in the past two years have limited that price advantage. The E15 fuel with up to 15 per cent of ethanol costs about 5 cents per gallon, about 2 per cent, less than the standard gasoline, according to estimates from the Renewable Fuels Association. 

Surging shale production has also effectively made the US energy self-sufficient, helping accomplish one of the goals of the 2005 legislation that introduced biofuel blending targets. Reducing greenhouse emissions was another reason the US and more than 60 other countries have adopted renewable fuel targets.