The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed lowering requirements for biofuel use in 2014, trimming targets for corn-based ethanol use for the first time.
The proposal would set ethanol use at 15.21 billion gallons (57.58 billion liters), just under 10 percent of motor fuel and 16 percent lower than targets established by Congress in 2007.
The proposal angered farm groups, corn ethanol producers and supporters of biodiesel, but it mollified oil companies, which have long argued that if the content of ethanol in motor fuel exceeded 10 percent — known as the blend wall — it might damage cars, motorcycles and lawn mowers. Groups representing ethanol makers say that mixing significantly higher levels of ethanol with gasoline would not harm vehicles.