---

ACE hosts market development webinar

Posted on 09/13/2017  | Tags: ACE, American Coalition for Ethanol, Ron Lamberty, market development, E15, webinar

Sioux Falls, SD (September 13, 2017) – The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Senior Vice President, Ron Lamberty, hosted the third quarter webinar of ACE’s webinar series yesterday. The webinar covered the organization’s market development work and highlighted legislative and policy priorities that can make a difference in marketing higher ethanol blends, including a timely update on Reid vapor pressure (RVP) relief, as the RVP restriction for E15 ends this week on Friday.

Some highlights of what the webinar covered include:

• Legislative and policy priorities, including an update on Renewable Fuel Standard related issues and RVP relief;
• Developing markets for higher ethanol blends and how others can play a role;
• Assistance retailers need to start offering higher ethanol blends;
• An update on flex fuel gas station projects;
• And a tour of resources on ACE's FlexFuelForward.com and Retailer Roadmap websites.

“The strategy behind our FlexFuelForward.com website is that fuel marketers trust information they get from other marketers like themselves,” Lamberty said. “This matches what we have seen on our site; three of the most viewed pages are our featured retailers addressing common questions and concerns of other retailers.”

Lamberty added that the retailers he’s spoken with want others to start selling E15. “The more E15 retailers people see across the U.S., the more comfortable consumers become with the product and the more likely they’ll use it at whatever station they visit offering the fuel,” Lamberty said.

In addition to others joining the ranks, retailers want a variety of barriers to offering higher blends addressed, including regulatory burdens, the cost and availability of funds, available RIN-less E85, consistent identification of fuel blends, and RVP relief.

The webinar walked through ACE’s FlexFuelForward.com resources retailers can utilize to learn more about what it would take to overcome these obstacles and profitably offer higher ethanol blends to their customers. Lamberty pointed out that the site makes the business case for adding E15 in place of premium or diesel.

“Whether it’s a switch of products in the tank or a new installation, “the math” favors E15 over either of those fuels,” Lamberty said. “Almost 90 percent of the market can use E15, and while marketers consider premium or diesel, our website reminds them E15 generally costs less than E10 "regular" fuel, while those other fuels cost more.”

To view the webinar and download the presentation slides, click here.

---