"Agriculture Secretary, Producers Confident On Ethanol Hike"

"U.S. regulators are likely to approve a higher blend of ethanol in U.S. gasoline shortly, an ethanol producers group and the top U.S. agriculture official each said on Friday, and the new fuel mix could be selling at the pump by next spring.

Ethanol companies and corn traders are anxiously awaiting a decision from the Environmental Protection Agency -- expected within weeks -- for a waiver to allow cars built in 2007 and after to burn regular gasoline blended with ethanol levels of 15 percent, a fuel that would be known as E15.

The ethanol blend level now is 10 percent.

While proponents have long argued that American automobiles can handle the higher blend without significant damage to the engine, the decision to move to E15 has been delayed twice to allow for more testing."

Timothy Gardner, Charles Abbott, and Tom Doggett report for Reuters September 20, 2010.

SEE ALSO:

"EPA Emissions Rules Could Hinder Ethanol" (Des Moines Register)