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POET talks impact of year-round sales of E15

President Trump is considering making E15 available year-round and the general manager of POET biorefining in Portland, Ind., says this would be a huge win for farmers.

Matt Tomano says limited market access during the summer months is an obstacle for growth.

“Retailers express a lot of concern that it causes confusion with consumers when they’re not allowed to sell it during the summer months,” he says. “They spend money building up consumer awareness of a fuel that’s cleaner, cheaper, higher octane, and better for their engine and consumers love it whenever they have the opportunity to purchase it. That’s going to help out farmers with more places and more opportunities to sell their grain.”

He tells Brownfield he appreciates support from the administration, but they would like to see a long-term solution.

“We had a lot of conversation with different officers on the hill and they say they want to get something done, but there is also a bill that has been stalled in committee,” he says. “Anything that people can do to call their senators, congressmen and women to let them know we need this to get done also in Congress. ”

Tomano was in D.C. for pro-ethanol group Growth Energy’s DC Fly-In this week.

POET biorefining has 28 plants in seven states. The Portland, Indiana location opened in 2007. The facility consumers about 24 million bushels of local corn to produce 68 million gallons of ethanol each year.

Audio: Matt Tomano, POET Biorefining