At 23.24 million gallons, E15 sales in Minnesota this year has already exceeded the volume sold for the whole of 2017 of 19.05 million gallons (which itself was a record at the time) by 21 percent.

In April, 5.95 million gallons of E15 was sold, slightly lower than the 6.15 million gallons moved in March. It should be noted, however, that the Commerce Department's data shows fewer stations reporting their E15 sales in April than March and this may have accounted for the slight drop in sales. 

The volume recorded in April 2018 was also more than five times more than the volume sold in April 2017 (1.02 million gallons).

The Commerce Department's monthly report on E15 sales in Minnesota is based on data provided by retailers and there are a significant number of stations that don't report their sales.

Based on the average volume sold by the stations that do turn in their numbers, the Commerce Department estimates E15 sales from all stations that sell E15 in Minnesota would have totaled 7.63 million gallons in April.

Meanwhile, E85 sales in the first four months of the year totaled 1.09 million gallons, bringing the total volume sold this year to 4.6 million gallons. 

Picture Caption : MN Biofuels and KS95 teamed up at the Tesoro on Riverside Avenue in Minneapolis in April to educate and reward drivers on the benefits of using E15.