The Future Looks Promising for E30

Study supports E30’s affordable, high-octane, low carbon viability for majority of cars on the road today.

In 2019, the Nebraska Ethanol Board (NEB) launched a study to determine the long-term adaptability and effects of non-flex fuel vehicles (FFV’s) using E30, a blend of 30 percent ethanol with 70 percent regular gasoline. The study demonstrated the effects of the biofuel on 50 state-owned vehicles with amazing results. It found that the biofuel had no negative mechanical effects on the tested vehicles but saved thousands of dollars at the pump.

According to Executive Director of the NEB Reid Wagner, “Our first phase of this study in 2019 was very limited in scope and more of a proof of concept, but the point was to conduct a peer review and publish it in an academic journal.” In 2022 the NEB gained approval by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to further their work on a much larger scale with the help of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL).

Today, the NEB is approved to conduct research on a Nebraska state-owned fleet of 825 vehicles using roughly 90,000 gallons of E30 every month, with various vehicles utilizing onboard diagnostic tracking devices. “We are tracking 16 to 32 data points per second on each one of those vehicles, and one of my favorite statistics to share is that we have had zero problems utilizing E30. The vehicles just have the run-of-the-mill maintenance codes that you would normally see from cars at various points in their lifetimes. Nothing attributable to the fuel,” Wagner said.

Not only is the study targeting the biofuel’s effect on non-FFV’s, it is also tracking the effects it is having on the infrastructure dispensing it. Wagner asserted, “This infrastructure is robustly offering this fuel with no problems, and it’s also been approved by our fire marshal.”

Regarding why the jump from E15, which is still not available for sale 12 months of the year in all states due to EPA regulations, to testing E30, Wagner shares interesting data. “E30 actually has a lower volatility than either E10 or E15 so it’s solving a problem that the EPA has an issue with. In addition, it’s a higher-octane fuel so your car will actually perform better with more power.” E30 blends typically have an octane rating of 92 or 93 compared to 88 from E15, and is friendly for consumers because it costs less at the pump.

Wagner hopes to have the study wrapped up in 2026 and credits their ability to conduct it to support from UNL, corn growers associations as well as their past and current governors. “It’s been a really great partnership with UNL and our former Governor Pete Ricketts and now Governor Jim Pillen who both really helped get this off the ground.”

Chief Executive Officer Jim Seurer of South Dakota based Glacial Lakes Energy, LLC says, “Ethanol is woefully underutilized, so it was nice to see the Nebraska study and I was pleased to see that it has expanded so much since it was first launched in 2019. We believe there is a case for higher blends, and I think the ethanol board in Nebraska has proved it.”

Realtime data for E30 is pulled from small tracking devices that are plugged into the interior of the vehicle being tested.

16-32 data points are recorded every second the vehicle is in operation.