A month ago, Steve Walk was on the brink of deals to sell two big oil refiners some of his company’s specialized oil pumps, which serve up fuel that is 85 percent ethanol, a biofuel made mostly from corn. Walk’s company, Protec Fuel, sells and installs the equipment needed to dispense so-called E85. The deals would have nearly doubled Protec’s business, he said. The number of stations across the United States dispensing E85, which is a rarity despite the growing use of biofuels, would have jumped by 10 percent. But those deals are on hold after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal earlier this month to slash the minimum volume of ethanol to be used in the country’s gasoline supply next year. The surprise move by the Obama administration marks a retreat from the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act meant to push increased sales of […]