Iowans bought a record amount of E85 and mid-level ethanol blends in 2015, although the higher ethanol blends still make up a small portion of overall fuel sales.

Sales of E85 were up 8.3% on 2014 to 13.1 million gallons, while sales of ethanol blends ranging from E15 to E69 jumped 121.1% to 8.7 million gallons, according to an analysis by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association of a recent Iowa Department of Revenue report.

Sales of E10, or the fuel containing 10% ethanol, held steady last year.

The official report showed that the amount of E10 gasoline sold was 1,319.4 million gallons, while combined all ethanol blends represented 85.9% of total reported gasoline fuel sales. Pure ethanol comprised 9.2% of total gasoline and ethanol fuel sales.

According to the statistics, using the formula to calculate progress towards the state’s 25% biofuel goal by 2020, during 2015 biofuels accounted for 11.6% of Iowa retail motor fuel sales, up slightly from 11.4% in 2014.

Iowa is the largest renewable fuel producer in the US. It has 43 ethanol refineries with an annual capacity of 4 billion gallons, as well as 12 biodiesel facilities.

Provided by SeeNews exclusively for Essentica.