The Digest’s 2018 Visual Guide to the economics, politics of renewable fuels

Oilcos are laughing, because the markups on ethanol are huge, and that’s why the per-mile is higher. Based on wholesale prices, it ought to be cheaper. Thanks to our friends at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, we see that you can buy wholesale E85 in Iowa for as little as $0.98 per gallon.

Now, we mentioned above that you can buy wholesale 87-octane gasoline (according to EIA’s latest December 2017 data) for $1.72.

So, that’s a 43 percent discount for a 25 percent energy loss. If E85 were priced according to its wholesale cost, it would beat E10 fuel on energy value every time.

Price-gouging? You be the judge. But sometimes it feels a little like Samsung getting worldwide exclusive to retail Apple products and pricing iPhones at a million dollars each.