Scaling the Ethanol ‘Blend Wall’ Ultimately Consumers’ Decision

Business News/Analysis, Deliver Dispense, Feedstocks, Field/Orchard/Plantation Crops/Residues, Green Racing, Infrastructure, Kansas, Marketing/Market Forces and Sales, Texas

December 11, 2018

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by John Duff (Delta Farm Press/National Sorghum Producers) … The Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership program is a grassroots effort to fund new infrastructure for e15. Selling higher blends of ethanol at convenience stores sometimes requires new equipment or modifications to existing equipment, and both require investment. With this in mind, the sorghum, corn and ethanol industries partnered with USDA to create a program that has seen almost a quarter-billion dollars invested in infrastructure.

USDA and private fuel providers matched contributions from farm country to help reach this amount, so the investment attributable to the sorghum industry alone is $500,000. As a result of the effort, we have seen hundreds of new equipment purchases and upgrades that have already increased sales of e15 in every region of the U.S., and in particular, Kansas and Texas, where most of the sorghum ethanol produced is marketed.

The second initiative aims to promote ethanol — and most importantly, its effective usage — to American consumers. American Ethanol was launched in 2011 as a partnership between the ethanol industry and NASCAR. With millions of fans and an iconic place in American sports and cultural history, NASCAR provides a platform unlike any other. E15 is the official fuel of NASCAR, and since 2011, its drivers have traveled 15 million miles on the homegrown fuel. The phrase “good enough” sometimes has negative connotations, but I think it’s appropriate here: If e15 is good enough for the best drivers and mechanics in the world, it’s good enough for me!

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Although seeing “Sorghum: The Smart Choice” zipping around a track at 180 mph is fun, actually having a presence on the car is the least-valuable part of these partnerships. Remember, many of the same folks that have had questions about e15’s safety and effectiveness in the past are some of NASCAR’s biggest fans. And, those fans are loyal to their sport and the sponsors that help bring it to them. American Ethanol didn’t just happen. It was the result of years of careful market research, and it’s paying dividends for e15 demand. It has been the sorghum industry’s pleasure to be involved. READ MORE

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