Important FFV label changes proposed
September 13, 2010
BY Susanne Retka Schill
Product labels are so concise, it can be hard to imagine the care that goes into getting every word right. The U.S. EPA is giving us an opportunity to make sure the fuel economy labels displayed on every new vehicle for sale in the U.S. gets it right about E85.
My colleague Kris Bevill who is particularly good at keeping an eye on U.S. EPA actions important to ethanol, posted a web news story in the last couple of weeks about the proposed changes, "EPA seeks comments on FFV fuel label."
Three options are being proposed, she writes:
"The first proposed option is to continue with the current labeling requirements. This would result in FFV labels listing a lower fuel economy for E85 than gasoline.
"The second option would require the labels to include fuel economy values calculated in miles per gallon. The EPA acknowledges that this approach would result in a label stating that E85 results in fewer miles per gallon than gasoline, so it suggests adding text to the label that says: ‘While the E85 MPG values are lower than the gasoline MPG values, the use of E85 is typically slightly more energy efficient than the use of gasoline.' Additionally, the EPA said it could add CO2 emission rates, which would be lower for E85 than gasoline, and fuel costs.
"The EPA's third suggestion is to list the vehicle's fuel economy in miles per gallon of gasoline-equivalent, which it said would illustrate the slightly higher miles per unit of energy that a vehicle fueled with E85 rather than gasoline would achieve."
The EPA is accepting comments on all of its proposed labeling changes. Comments will be accepted for 60 days following the proposal's publication in the Federal Register. A public hearing will also be scheduled in the coming weeks. For information on submitting comments or to view the entire proposed rule, visit www.epa.gov/fueleconomy/.
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