Blender Pumps Fuel Ethanol Growth

Business News/Analysis, Colorado, Deliver Dispense, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Agency, Field/Orchard/Plantation Crops/Residues, Infrastructure

February 21, 2011

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by Candace Krebs (AgJournal.com) Since Stratton Equity Co-op installed Colorado’s first “blender pump” offering a range of ethanol based fuels last April, interest has slowly been rising, right on track with national ethanol usage overall.
“We’ve had a gradual increase in usage,” said Mike Webber, the station manager. “Primarily I would say it is ag-based people and yuppies, the ones who are searching us out on the Internet using websites like ethanolfinder.com.”
Local auto dealerships here are also pushing flex fuel vehicles that can run on up to 85 percent ethanol. The technology is now widely available on new car models. Webber estimates the station, located on the north edge of town, goes through about 400 gallons of ethanol daily.
…(I)n practical terms growth of the industry is being slowed by several speed bumps. For one thing, drivers have been frustrated by a mileage drag of 3 mph, or roughly 15-20 percent, that forces them to pay extra for using it.
“The fact of the matter is we are burning a superior fuel in an engine optimized for petroleum fuels,” (Mark) Sponsler, (executive director of Colorado Corn) explains in presentations he makes to groups like the Colorado Conservation Tillage Association, which recently held its annual no-till conference in Burlington. “Car racers love ethanol: it creates better performance and less wear.”
…Federal subsidies supporting the ethanol industry have also drawn criticism. But Sponsler said the petroleum business receives 11 times more subsidization while externalizing many of its costs onto the public, including the military defense of oil interests in the Middle East.
Sponsler defends the blenders tax credit of 45 cents per gallon as the only way to give drivers a farm-based option at the gas pump. “Ironically, it doesn’t go to farmers. It doesn’t go to ethanol plants. It goes to the oil industry, because they own the infrastructure. …” READ MORE

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