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Corn growers are supporting the promotion of mid-level ethanol blends to provide consumers who drive flex-fuel vehicles with more options.
“True fuel flexibility means that drivers should have more of a say,” said Steve Ruh, chairman of the National Corn Growers Association’s ethanol committee. “Mid-level blends allow consumers to customize the fuel they use so they can save money, boost mileage and help reduce air pollution.”
Corn grower associations in South Dakota and Kansas have joined with the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) in offering incentive programs to encourage gas stations to install blender pumps and the response is reported to be overwhelming in both states. Blender pumps adjust the mixture of fuel at the gas pump, drawing ethanol (either 100 percent denatured or E85) and unleaded gasoline from separate underground tanks and mixing them according to the driver’s selection at the pump.
EPIC is hosting an online webinar for anyone interested in learning more about the Kansas Blender Pump Program on October 1 from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. central time. The webinar is free and open to the public and features information on availability of financial assistance, promotion and marketing efforts, equipment requirements and how to increase sales. For more information or to register, go to www.DrivingEthanol.org.
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September 21st, 2008 at 1:12 am
There are millions of FFV’s on the road today that could be fueling up with millions of gallons of cheaper E85, but not enough pumps for them to make a dent. I bet the ethanol industry wishes it had combined its collective power to get more E85 pumps set up sooner, with this unexpected event driving up ethanol supplies just as many plants had hedged for $8 corn feedstock supply earlier this year. Let’s not dinker around with E15 and E20 for now (will be 2020 by the time EPA, CARB, UL, gov’t etc. gets the studies done and approval), and instead get E85 used by more FFV’s now!! Let’s do the math… One penny on 8 billion gallons of ethanol sold is $80 million that the ethanol industry could give away for free for fuel stations to put in E85 pumps (kind of like a soybean check off). That $80 million could convert at least 16,000 mid-grade fuel pumps to E85 (if $5,000 each to convert, which likely would be less). If each E85 pump sold 5,000 gallons of E85 per month (about 4,000 gallons of ethanol and on the low end for most stations), that would be 64 million gallons of ethanol consumed in one month alone–and over 750 million gallons in one year! That would certainly offload a big part of the oversupply that is occuring now. Also, if done for several years in a row, there would be 48,000 conversions for E85 pumps, and an additional total of 2.25 Billion Gallons of ethanol consumed by FFV’s!! But, would the ethanol plants pay a penny per gallon to make a dime per gallon (tighter supply leads to higher prices, and this seems feasible)? Only time will tell. So far most ethanol plants have focused solely on E10.
September 21st, 2008 at 1:12 am
Oh yes, and while they are at it they can put in a whole bunch of blender pumps (not just E85 but also E20, E30, E50) as well. Then those with FFV’s can choose the blend that happens to make the most economic sense at the time, rather than either/or. If people with regular gasoline vehicles illegally (according to EPA) use these pumps so be it; they can already do it by filling up with 10 gallons of E10 and 5 gallons of E85, so what’s the difference? Dragging our feet on blender pumps is as detrimental as dragging our feet on E85 pumps has been. Logically, there’s more economic and environmental harm to this nation by dragging our feet on E85 and blender pumps than there is by allowing consumers their free choice of fuels!