Ohio Ethanol Tour Highlights Efforts to Break the Blend Wall

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May 26, 2017

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by Matt Reese (Ohio’s Country Journal) … This summer, Ohio’s corn farmers and their checkoff are chipping away at the ethanol blend wall in the state by highlighting opportunities to buy higher ethanol blends at fueling stations on the 2017 Ohio Ethanol Tour. The summer-long tour kicked off in May and will run though this fall, according to Brad Moffitt, director of market development and membership for Ohio Corn & Wheat.

“The Ohio Ethanol Tour is going to have about 20 stops between now and the middle of October. We are going to be at Sheetz stations in Cleveland and Kroger stations in northeast Ohio. Speedway has been a great partner as well. We’re also going to hit independents like Brookside Carryout in Van Wert and Folk Oil in Maumee. Heritage Co-op has four locations where they retail fuel and those are in Mechanicsburg, Urbana, Kenton and Richwood and we are going to be there to help with customer communication. It is going to be a fun summer and we are really looking forward to it,” Moffitt said. “We are going to highlight our partners in the chains but we are also highlighting the independent ‘mom-and-pop’ style stations that invested in this infrastructure so their customers will have choices at the pump.”

The Ethanol Tour highlights the results of a tremendous effort that began with Ohio Corn Checkoff investment in ethanol over many years. In a team effort between Ohio’s corn growers, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and private fuel retailers, the state received and implemented a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant that is addressing the ethanol blend wall through vital infrastructure expansion of fuel pumps offering higher ethanol blends.

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“Ohio was fortunate to receive almost $3.5 million through the USDA’s Biofuels Infrastructure Program (BIP). That was combined with matching funds from the Ohio Corn Checkoff, Speedway, Sheetz, Protec Fuel, Guardian Energy’s Lima Ethanol Plant, and Three Rivers Energy’s Coshocton ethanol plant. So, in total, we are investing almost $5.5 million around the state to add E85 and E15 dispensers.

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With the new equipment, Ohio will now have approximately 300 pumps for higher blends of ethanol fuel products at over 160 locations in Ohio. READ MORE

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