The designation E15 will be turning up at more and more gas pumps across Iowa in the months to come, and that’s a good thing.

E15, obviously, is the common name for ethanol that contains 15 percent alcohol from corn and 85 percent gasoline.

E15 fuel will be sold at all filling stations in Iowa thanks to a new law which passed the state Senate and House of Representatives by huge margins and was recently signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds. The law requires gas stations to offer E15 at 50 percent of their fuel pumps. The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2023.

Requiring another type of fuel at Iowa gas stations may not seem like a big deal for residents, but there is a financial benefit for them. E15 is generally cheaper than traditional E10 ethanol and regular gasoline. This new law probably won’t make a dent in today’s high gas prices, but as more and more E15 enters the market, consumers will benefit.

Requiring E15 is a very big deal for Iowa’s farmers and ethanol producers. The alcohol portion of E15 comes from corn, which means farmers will have more opportunities to sell their corn at good prices. And the state’s ethanol plants will be ramping up to produce the extra E15, which means they will be not only keeping employees, but maybe even adding some. The income of farmers and ethanol plant workers is a major driver of the economy in rural areas of the state.

Using more ethanol based on Iowa-grown corn will over time reduce the amount of foreign oil that the United States must buy. Considering the fact that many oil exporting countries don’t like the United States or Americans, it makes no sense to keep giving them our money to buy their oil. Giving our money to Iowa farmers and ethanol producers to buy their products makes a lot of sense, and this new law will us to do that.

This new law will give drivers another, cheaper, option at the pump, provide more revenue for farmers and ethanol producers, and reduce oil purchases from unfriendly foreign countries. We say it’s a winner.