Sebastien Pouliot, associate professor, was interviewed for an Oct. 10 story on MPR News "As ethanol boosters celebrate sales restriction end, skeptics doubt it will help farmers."
Iowa State University economics professor Sebastien Pouliot says it's not clear if gas stations will want to spend the money required to install new equipment to sell E15. "In some cases, it can be quite a significant investment and it's not an easy decision for sure," said Pouliot.
He says it can mean not only new pumps but in some cases new storage tanks as well. That can cost thousands of dollars. Right now the amount of ethanol used in E15 is fairly small. A federal estimate says less than one percent of all U.S. ethanol production goes into the fuel. So even if sales increase, it's going to take lots of new pumps to really change sales levels. Pouliot thinks the president's E15 announcement will have limited impact.
"In the short run the significance is going to be pretty small," said Pouliot.