(Agriculture.com) -- Ethanol production opened the door to the renewable fuels industry. The industry now must get past an imposing wall of federal regulations and market conditions if it hopes to grow, says a Purdue University agricultural economist in a university report. "The ethanol industry is now faced with what is called a 'blending wall,'" says Wally Tyner, an energy policy specialist. Unless the barrier is removed, ethanol production could level off by 2010, Tyner says. The blending wall refers to the amount of ethanol gasoline companies are permitted to blend with petroleum-based fuel. Federal standards set the amount at 10% of gasoline consumption. There are too few cars and trucks on the nation's roads capable of running on any gasoline with an ethanol blend higher than 10%, or what is commonly called E10, Tyner says. Some in the ethanol industry have proposed that E10 be replaced by an E15 or E20 blend, thereby increasing ethanol use. However, automobile manufacturers do not believe today's E10 vehicles can run on a higher ethanol blend, Tyner says.
