BLOOMINGTON, Ill.—A newly released engineering analysis indicates that 15 percent ethanol fuel would run equivalently to the fuel that most American’s are already using in their vehicles.

Ricardo, Inc, an internationally recognized engineering firm that works with all the major automobile manufacturers, conducted the analysis which was funded in part by the Illinois Corn Marketing Board with corn checkoff dollars.

It’s just this type of data that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said they need to approve higher ethanol blends. The analysis conclusively indicates that there is no reason to limit E15 to newer vehicles as has been suggested by EPA.

“The U.S. ethanol industry hit the blend wall already based on arbitrary limitations to market access,” said Tim Lenz, a corn farmer in Strasburg, IL, who also serves as president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association (ICGA). “Now we’re banging our heads against the EPA wall wondering when officials there will accept the overwhelming evidence and approve higher ethanol blends.”

“EPA’s indication that they will bifurcate, or separate, their rule on higher ethanol blends based on model years is completely unnecessary,” Lenz added. “Continued insistence on that plan is starting to look like stubbornness or something worse when you add this data from Ricardo to the mix.”