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E15 may be lawfully sold by a fuel or fuel additive manufacturer only after the manufacturer has registered E15 and met the conditions of the partial waivers, which include a misfueling mitigation plan for minimizing the potential for E15 to be used in vehicles and engines not covered by the partial waivers. For more information on fuel registration, visit the Registration and Health Effects Testing page. For more information on specific waiver conditions, visit the Misfueling Mitigation Plans page and the Survey Plan page. There are a number of additional factors, including requirements under other federal, state, and local laws, that may also affect the distribution of E15.

With EPA’s June 15, 2012 approval of a number of companies’ misfueling mitigation plans, EPA has acted on each of the Clean Air Act steps required to bring E15 to market. Some companies have now met all of the Clean Air Act requirements related to E15 and may lawfully introduce E15 into the marketplace.

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While E15 could be an effective way to reduce petroleum consumption on a national basis, blending additional quantities beyond E10 poses compatibility hurdles with both infrastructure and vehicles. As a liquid fuel that has been produced for centuries, ethanol should require the fewest changes from traditional petroleum of any available alternative.

In our own testing, Consumer Reports found that a flex-fuel vehicle specifically designed to run on E85, a much higher blend of ethanol, got almost 30-percent worse fuel economy running on the fuel than it did on regular gasoline. Perhaps lower mid-grade blends could provide some advantages without such a large drop in fuel economy, but the energy density of ethanol is significantly lower than gasoline.

Consumers Union, the consumer advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, has expressed concern about warranty coverage for consumers who mistakenly fuel their cars or small engines with E15. But the organization remains hopeful that a solution can be found that will protect consumers and add another arrow to the country's arsenal of alternatives to its dependence on petroleum from other parts of the world.