Domestic Fuel

By the end of the year, Canadians will be using more ethanol in their fuel. According to The Epoch Times, regulations were finaized by the government yesterday requiring that all gasoline must contain 5% biofuels starting December 15.

“Regulating renewable fuel content in gasoline is just one of several steps the Government is taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector, which account for about a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Environment Minister Jim Prentice in a statement.

This regulation is part of a strategy by the government to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.

“Support for renewable fuels is support for farmers, rural communities and our economy,” said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz in a statement. “This is a vital step in generating new market opportunities for our farmers and maximizing Canada’s high quality resources to produce food and fuel for the world.”

The Sportsman Stop at 1818 State Street North in Waseca, MN will be offering E85 Frenquent Fuel Cards beginning tomorrow, Sept. 1. The first 50 flexible fuel vehicle (FFV) owners will receive the card where, if they purchase E85 four times, they will receive $10 off their 5th E85 purchase.

Recently, Kelly Marczak, director for the American Lung Association in Minnesota’s clean fuel and vehicle technologies stated, “The State of Minnesota is serious about its stated goal to reduce its petroleum consumption. In [the first six months of the year], the state’s use of E85 in 2010 prevented more than 1,745 tons of lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions and harmful pollutants from entering our air.”

This promotion is supported by: the Waseca County Corn & Soybean Growers, Minnesota Corn Growers Association, American Lung Association in Minnesota, and members of the Minnesota Clean Air Choice team.

Minnesota is the home of 358 E85 fueling sites — this is more than any other state in the nation.

Because Texas has the most flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) of any state, a number of industry organizations and companies are getting together to promote ethanol in the Lone Star State next month.

Shaping Texas’ Fuel Ethanol Policy, sponsored by the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association (TREIA), will be held on September 10 in Austin, Texas. TREIA has been bringing decision makers and industry leaders together in Texas for more than 26 years to build the foundation for developing renewable energy. “This conference offers a clear picture of today’s realities and opportunities in a growing renewable energy sector that some may have written off,” said Russel Smith, Executive Director of TREIA. “The nation’s use of ethanol will continue to increase, and Texas has huge production possibilities and more flex-fuel vehicles capable of running on E85 than any other state. Our current approach to this important industry may leave money on the table.”

Participating in the event are: Growth Energy, the Clean Fuels Development Coalition, the Renewable Fuels Association, ICM, Abengoa Bioenergy and more.

More information on the conference including an agenda can be found online here.

Grand Forks, North Dakota is now offering flexible fuel vehicle (FFV) owners the choice at the pump. The Valley Dairy station at 2401 S. Columbia Road is offering the ethanol blends of E20, E30, and E85.

According to the American Lung Assn. of North Dakota, a grand opening celebration will be held Aug. 24 and 25 at the Grand Forks facility. A ribbon cutting will take place at 10 a.m. on August 24 and ethanol-blend fuel discounts on August 25 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. During the promotion, E85 will be priced at $1.85 a gallon, the price of E30 will be discounted by 30 cents, and the price of E20 will be discounted by 20 cents. There will also be in-store specials throughout the week.

“Only flex fuel vehicles should use E85 or high blend ethanol fuels, because they are specifically designed for them,” said Lisa Thurstin, a manager for the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest’s Clean Air Choice program. “There are more than 41,000 flex fuel vehicles already on the road in North Dakota, and more models that can use cleaner-burning E85 as well as gasoline are coming out every year. If you are driving one, we hope you will come out to Valley Dairy on Wednesday and try one of these new fuel choices.”

The fuel promotion is being sponsored by Valley Dairy and members of the North Dakota Clean Air Choice Team including the North Dakota Corn Council, North Dakota Renewable Energy Council, North Dakota Department of Commerce, North Dakota Ethanol Council, North Dakota Ethanol Producers Association, General Motors Corporation, U.S. Department of Energy Clean Cities and American Lung Association in North Dakota.

Currently, the state of ND has 67 E85 outlets including 44 ethanol mid-blend pumps.

Thorntons, Inc., a leading, independent gasoline/convenience-chain retailer carrying E85 fuel throughout the Midwest, is teaming up with the Kentucky Corn Growers Association (KyCGA) and the Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition (KCFC) to give away $17,000 in free E85 fuel at the 2010 Kentucky State Fair.

From August 19 until August 29, flex fuel vehicle owners can visit the Kentucky corn Shack, under the Great Kentucky Cookout Tent, to pick up free E85 fuel gift cards. The first 106 who stop by the shack each day will receive a $5, $20 or $100 promotional card. These cards can be used at any of the 11 Thornton’s E85 fueling facilities in Kentucky and Southern Indiana – including the nine in the state of Kentucky, two of which will be open by the end of August.

“We are very excited about the expansion of E85 fuel in our stores,” said Matt Thornton, Chief Executive Officer of Thorntons. “We support the use of ethanol, wherever it is economically available”.

“Not only are corn farmers feeding the world’s people and livestock, they are producing enough corn for all-American fuel ethanol. While ethanol can be found in 10 percent blends in all of Louisville’s gasoline, KyCGA, Thorntons, and KCFC have partnered to increase awareness about E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline,” said Executive Director of KyCGA, Laura Knoth. “This fuel can only be used in Flexible Fuel Vehicles, but there are nearly 100,000 of these vehicles on Kentucky’s highways today, and vehicle manufacturers continue to make more.”

Growth Energy recently partnered with Thorntons to open 20 E85 stations within five states through their 2010 E85 and Blender Pump program. You can find the listing of these stations at www.E85Refueling.com.

According to Pagusus News, the City of Denton Fleet Services Division in Denton, Texas has been awarded a $599,860 grant to install E85 and Biodiesel. The award is part of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds by the North Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG).

The City of Denton will construct and operate a Fuel Island at 1251 South Mayhill Rd. and will carry E85, B20, unleaded, and diesel fuels to fuel 37 alternative fuel vehicles and 18 hybrid city fleet vehicles.

“Because many air quality issues are intricately linked to energy consumption, strategies for increasing energy efficiency often have the dual benefit of reducing operational costs while simultaneously improving air quality,” said Denton Mayor Mark Burroughs. “This Alternative Fuel Station is just the latest initiative taken by the City to continue to do what we can improve our air quality and sustain our environment.”

The new fueling island is slated to open in September 2010.

A new public fueling facility will soon be opening in Phoenix, Arizona. AAA Yellow Cab is opening an E85 station, 1/4 mile from Sky Harbor Airport, at 3030 S. 45th St.

According to KPHO.com, tomorrow, a grand opening will be held from 10 until 11 a.m. where the first 50 customers in line between that time can fuel their flexible fuel vehicle tanks for $1.99 per gallon.

AAA Yellow Cab has 140 flexible fuel cabs on the road and thus is the reason they decided to install the 12,000 gallon tank in just 41 days. Many of these taxis are Chevy HHR vans and Dodge Caravans.

Currently, there are 28 stations in the state of Arizona carrying the clean, alternative fuel – E85.

Dresser Wayne, producer of fuel dispensers, has announced that their Reliance® E-Series fuel dispensers for retail and fleet applications received Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certification for dispensing ethanol up to E85. Underwriters Laboratories sets safety standards and conducts compliance-testing on a wide range of products.

The Reliance E-Series dispenser’s UL certification follows the recent UL certification of the Dresser Wayne Ovation® Eco Fuel retail dispenser.

“There are a large number of flex-fuel vehicles in government fleets with renewable fuel requirements, but they often lack the supporting local infrastructure for E85 fueling,” says Scott Negley, director of Alternative Energy Products for Dresser Wayne. “UL certification of our E85 Reliance E-Series dispensers can make it easier for government and business fleet customers to gain approval from local authorities for the installation of E85 fleet-fueling facilities.”

The ethanol industry is expecting that Dresser Wayne and Gilbarco Veeder Root pumps will be UL certified to be used for mid to high level blending soon.

This week, with support of the American Lung Association and other sponsors, three fueling facilities in the state of Minnesota are offering a Frequent Fuel Card in exchange for ethanol fuel discounts. These retail sites include those in Truman, Lyle and Austin, Minnesota.

The NuMart C-Store at 302 North 5th Street in Truman began giving away the fuel cards today. The first 50 flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) to fill up at the site received the card where after 4 E85 purchases, they will receive a $10 discount off their next purchase of E85.

Freeborn County Coops are also offering the frequent fuel cards to the first 100 FFV owners to fuel up at their facilities at 301 1st St. in Lyle on July 22 and at Hwys 56 and 90 in Austin, MN. A $10 discount will be given on E85, E20, E30 or E40 after a customer’s fourth fuel up.

Also, the participants at each location will be entered into a drawing for a $50 fuel card.

For more information on these events, go to www.CleanAirChoice.org.

The 10th Annual Federal Fleet Conference kicked off in Phoenix, Arizona this week offering attendees the chance to attend sessions and have the opportunity to visit with exhibition vendors on fleet management and automative procurement.

Over 1,300 participants from all levels of fleet and aviation management within the Federal Government are in attendance. Workshop sessions began on Sunday with a Basic Fleet Class which educated new Federal Fleet management on how to function with the their agency, learn about fleet policies, procedures, mandates, new programs and more. Many workshops followed throughout the week.

The exhibit hall opened on Monday to over 180 companies who can network with other vendors, Federal, State, local government and private sector fleet menagers. Exhibitors included automobile manufacturers, alternative fuel and alternative fuel vehicle promoters and more.

The 2011 FedFleet conference will be held in Orlando, Florida from July 26-28.

Chevrolet has released the technical manual for the Holden-based 2011 Chevrolet Caprice PPV (Police Patrol Vehicle) and it includes an E85 compatible platform.

The new 2011 Caprice will be powered by a 265kW/521Nm 6.0-litre V8 and include Active Fuel Management. General Motors (GM) says its 0-100km/h time of less than 6.0 seconds will make it the police service’s fastest-accelerating and highest-top speed vehicle. This FFV will be included in GM’s extensive line of E85 compatible vehicles available in 2012, but this vehicle will not be offered at the retail level.

In 2010, GM offers as flexible fuel:
Buick Lucerne
Buick Terraza
Cadillac Escalade
Chevrolet Avalanche
Chevrolet Express
Chevrolet HHR
Chevrolet Impala
Chevrolet Malibu
Chevrolet Silverado
Chevrolet Tahoe
GMC Savana
GMC Sierra Pickup
GMC Sierra Denali

Recently, the 2011 Buick Regal was announced to be flexible fuel.

For a complete listing of flexible fuel vehicles, click here.

The Kansas City Regional Clean Cites held a workshop today focusing on ethanol fuel. The speakers focused on where ethanol fits in the world today, fleet and retail success stories, and funding available for retail facilities.

“There are 4,560 flexible fuel vehicles in region 6 of GSA. . . We purchased 3.2 million gallons of gasoline in fiscal year 2009 and we’re on our way on purchasing more in fiscal year 2010,” said U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) Region VI Represenative Don Gard. “As a success, we’ve worked with the Army installing the E85 tank in Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. But we are still having the challenges of driver’s reluctance to use E85, educating consumers and there is a lack of E85 stations.”

“Three years ago, I began putting together green gas stations. . . We were the first in Kansas to put in a blender dispenser,” noted Zarco 66, Inc. owner (shown right). “Being able to get out and explain what I do is the key to moving this forward.”

Others speakers included Rich Cregar of Wake Technical Community College, Robert White of RFA, Kelly Gilbert of the Metropolitan Energy Center, Michelle Kautz of Growth Energy, Byan Fox of KCP&L, and Mike MacComiskey of Syn-Tech Systems.

North Dakota flexible fuel drivers are celebrating the freedom to use a domestically produced fuel in their vehicle. As a goal to educate, the Clean Air Choice Team, which includes the American Lung Association in North Dakota, is encouraging motorists to use mid and high level ethanol blends over the 4th of July weekend.

“Even though North Dakota is an oil-producing state, and many people benefit directly and indirectly from the revenue and jobs created by the petroleum industry, it is still very important that we look for other types of fuels that are more renewable, better for our environment and better for our health,” said Robert Moffitt, a spokesperson for the American Lung Association in North Dakota. “We calculate that if a single flex fuel vehicle is fueled with E85 instead of gasoline for a year, it prevents 4 tons of emissions from entering our air.”

The Meeker County Corn Growers, Minnesota Corn Growers Assn., US Dept. of Clean Cities, American Lung Assn. of MN and the MN Clean Air Choice team is also promoting the use of E85 next week. E85 will sell for 85 cents off per gallon on Thursday, July 8 from 2 until 5 p.m. at the Consumer’s Coop Cenex at 1025 East Frontage Rd. in Litchfield, MN.

For more information on events in MN and ND, go to www.CleanAirChoice.org.

Ethanol Producers and Consumers (EPAC), an educational outreach non-profit organization who supports the production and use of biofuels as a renwable alternative fuel, kicked off their 20th annual conference today in Missoula, MT. “The Biofuel Journey” conference held a number of sessions focusing on ethanol, biodiesel and small grains.

“Twenty years! Who would have thought it?” noted Chairman of the EPAC board, Shirley Ball in her welcome. “Thanks for being here in 2010 to help us celebrate!”

Montana’s Director of Agriculture Ron De Yong presented opening remarks this morning followed by a video greeting from Senator Max Baucus, Senator Jon Tester and Representative Dennis Rehberg. The session that followed, The Journey Begins. . . “The OFEC (Old Fogie Ethanol Coalition) Perspective” included presentations from Shirley Ball, Larry Johnson of LLJ Consulting and Business Development, Dave Hallberg of PRIME BioSolutions, Patsy Reimche of EPAC, and Todd Sneller of the Nebraska Ethanol Board.

Sessions following included speakers on the topics of: Early Years – Early Support – The Industry Grows, Air Quality, Biodiesel, and Small Grains.

The EPAC conference concludes tomorrow with presentations on: Cellulosic Ethanol, DDG’s, Beyond the Blend Wall: E85, Green Jobs and more.

According to autoevolution.com, Switzer Performance has produced a Nissan GTR that runs on E85. The Switzer E900 is named so because it runs on ethanol fuel and produces no less than 900 horsepower.

Working in New Zealand, the group partnered with Dodson Motorsports to beef up the horsepower. The obious fuel to use was 85 percent ethanol which assists in boosting the car from 60 to 130 mph in under 6 seconds.

“E85 isn’t without its trade-offs. We had to modify the fuel system to handle the fuel and significantly increase the size of the injectors, also, but in the end we had a fuel that gave us everything we needed to crank up the boost on this car and deliver over 900 hp,” Tym Switzer said in a statement for the press.

Other vehicle traits include an Amuse carbon fiber aero package, 3-way adjustable suspension, and 20-inch BBS wheels that are an inch wider than stock at all four corners.

“With most high-horsepower cars, you can barely breathe after just a few dyno runs,” Switzer added. “With the E85, we were able to run pull after pull to dial in the tune without feeling any effects of the usual emissions. It’s hardly scientific, but there was a noticeable improvement in the air quality in the shop compared to race gas.”