Ethanol expansion provides cheaper gas and a steady market for corn producers. Are the environmental impacts worth it?

Thrifty drivers may have noticed that some gas stations in Nebraska have begun offering a fuel called E15 that is often 10 to 20 cents per gallon cheaper than its alternatives.

It’s safe for vehicles manufactured since 2001 and is made with 15% ethanol, a kind of biofuel typically made from corn.

Big Ten Network viewers may also recognize it as Unleaded 88, due to its frequent advertising during Husker football games.  It also goes by Echo 88, Clean 88, Super 88 or Husker fuels.

In recent years, the number of gas stations offering E15 has risen significantly. Nebraska state lawmakers passed legislation in 2023 requiring every new fuel retailer in the state to sell it from at least half of its gas pumps.

Today, around 150 fuel retailers in Nebraska offer E15. However, unless emergency waivers are given, the fuel is not available year-round.

The Environmental Protection Agency legalized E15 nationwide in 2011 but limited its use during the summer months because its Reid vapor pressure – a measure of how easily the fuel evaporates and contributes to air pollution – is above the federal limit.

In 1990, the Clean Air Act was amended to allow E10, a gasoline sold with 10% ethanol, to be sold year-round despite its RVP being above the limit. E15’s RVP is lower than E10’s, but sales remain restricted.

Ben Rhodes, the Nebraska Ethanol Board’s executive director, said it’s time to update the law.

“Back then, E15 wasn't even part of the conversation,” he said. “So that same waiver - it's a technical volatility thing has to do with evaporative emissions - was not extended to E15 or other ethanol blends. So because of this almost archaic language, now 35 years later, we're stuck trying to still fight to get E15 sold in the summer months.”

In recent years, the EPA has issued multiple 20-day emergency waivers allowing E15 to be sold throughout the summer. However, ethanol advocates say a permanent solution would give fuel retailers more confidence to invest long term.

Nebraska’s ‘Golden Triangle’

Expanding ethanol markets is key for the economy of many communities in rural Nebraska, including Cambridge.

The town of just over 1,000 people is home to Nebraska Corn Processing, an ethanol plant built in 2008. Today, it processes around 50 million gallons of ethanol each year.

Plant manager Jason Cobb said most of the corn inputs arrive from regional farms, while about 90% of the ethanol leaves by rail – typically on its way to California – the other 10% is trucked out to local facilities.

The plant also produces distiller’s grain, which is used to feed cattle at local feedlots.

Together, the three products – corn, ethanol and cattle – are known as Nebraska’s “Golden Triangle." Nebraska is one of the top three states in the country for all three industries.

A study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln found that the ethanol industry had an economic impact of $8.2 billion in the state in 2022 and was responsible for 8,969 jobs.

“For comparison, the College World Series every year is about $100 million,” Rhodes said. “So, you know, 80 times as much impact in Nebraska's economy from this consistent ag industry than from maybe the flagship event every year of the state, which is the CWS.”

Nebraska Ethanol Board chair Jan tenBensel said the ethanol plant’s economic impact in his hometown of Cambridge is easy to spot.

The plant is responsible for around 50 jobs, and tenBensel said the tax increment financing from the plant has helped provide funds to develop a new subdivision, hotel and other businesses on the east side of town.

Driving past the newly constructed homes, he pointed out how the plant has also changed the demographics of the area.

“The young families and the young people this has brought back to the community, and the economic development that the community has gained from having the ethanol plant here is just spectacular,” he said.

However, not everyone agrees that biofuel expansion is the best long-term solution for Nebraska’s economy and environment.

Environmental Concerns

Haley Leslie-Bole, senior manager of U.S. lands and climate at the World Resources Institute, published research this month showing a link between ethanol production and rising greenhouse gas emissions, water degradation and economic inequality.

To her and other environmental advocates, the concern with ethanol is less about it exceeding Reid vapor pressure limits and more about the immense amount of land it takes to produce biofuels.

Around one-third of corn grown in the United States today is used for ethanol. The land used to grow that corn takes up around 30 million acres, about the same size as Pennsylvania. However, as of 2022, corn ethanol supplies only 4% of U.S. transportation fuel.

Leslie-Bole said the land could be better used for other purposes and recommends that policymakers look at creating new opportunities for farmers instead of subsidizing biofuels.

“Could we instead help to subsidize things like aviation fuel made from crop residues? You know, new markets for farmers to use the things that they grow that are now just waste or byproducts, like corn stover,” she said.

Much of the growth in biofuel production occurred following the introduction and expansion of the Renewable Fuel Standard in the mid-aughts. The program requires the fuel used for transportation in the United States to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuels, such as ethanol or biodiesel.

Between 2005 and 2024, the amount of biofuel produced in the United States increased by more than 500%.

David DeGennaro, a senior policy specialist with the National Wildlife Federation, said recent ethanol expansion has contributed to a loss of grassland habitat across the Great Plains, citing a 2022 study.

“We've lost millions of acres of wildlife habitat as a result of this, and in places like Nebraska and Kansas, increased irrigation to water these fields has contributed to the drop in aquifers that are necessary for people and wildlife alike,” he said.

The perspective from D.C.

For now, the emergency E15 waivers are likely to continue, but Sen. Deb Fischer, who has been introducing legislation to allow for the fuel year-round since 2015, said she feels confident in a permanent solution this year.

After previous failed attempts at getting the legislation across the finish line, Fischer said part of her confidence this year comes from the new administration’s focus on domestic energy production.

On the first day of his second term in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order stating that it is “in the national interest to unleash America’s affordable and reliable energy and natural resources.”

Fischer said her legislation would help the country produce more American energy instead of relying on foreign oil.

Fischer’s Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025 includes cosponsor from both parties and enjoys the support of the American Petroleum Institute.

“We've got refineries that are supporting us, we have states that have been big oil states in the past that have moved in and have a fuller understanding of how important it is to make the country energy independent, and ethanol is part of that,” Fischer said.

In the meantime, tenBensel encouraged Nebraskans to fill up with E15.

“We'll never produce enough oil in Nebraska to meet our needs,” he said. “However, we can use as much ethanol as possible in Nebraska. And the farm and the business that you save, it might be your own.”