Seeking the Blending Sweet Spot

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) For years, in coffee shops and grain elevators across the upper Midwest, independent thinkers have voiced their opinions on the benefits of midlevel ethanol blends. Tales of fueling the old Buick, or otherwise unapproved vehicle, with E20 or E30 without experiencing any of the dire consequences threatened by auto manufacturers are not hard to come by, although getting anyone to report the results of their own private fuel test on the record are not so easy.

...Drivers of flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs), which are approved for midlevel blends, also often report that they experience fewer miles lost when using E30 as compared to E85. Sometimes they say E30 gives them as many miles per gallon as regular unleaded,...

Some ethanol proponents believe that rather than bump up the base fuel to include more ethanol, efforts should be focused instead on expanding the availability and capabilities of midlevel blends in order to really utilize the fuel and push out that dreaded blend wall.

...Bob Kozak, cofounder of the nonprofit biofuels educational group Advanced Biofuels USA, says E15 is only a short-term solution to the blend wall problem. If the industry were to focus on a higher blend such as E30 as an add-on fuel or performance fuel, leaving E10 as the nation’s base fuel, the nation’s fleet would have time to grow into the midlevel blend as consumer interest also expands. “We aren’t saying that everyone should use it, but let’s start having cars that can use it, so eventually E30 does become the base fuel once you have a fleet turnover,” he says. “The ethanol industry needs to start thinking of itself as a fuel industry rather than as an additive industry. Ethanol should start calling the shots rather than just reacting to the oil industry.”

...ICM is leading the research effort in Detroit, which is focused on testing the actual fuel, rather than the specific engines it is used in. “Instead of limiting us to one set point and kind of eliminating the cooling effect, this testing is to look at the performance of ethanol and its limitations,” he says. “What do various blends do to performance, efficiency? The whole goal here is: How do we get more competitive on a volume basis?”

(Steve) Vander Griend (head of ICM Inc.’s research and development of ethanol engines) and others say ethanol testing conducted by the U.S. EPA and U.S. DOE does not accurately display ethanol’s benefits because the agencies often use indolene, a form of standardized gasoline, as the blend fuel rather than the conventional gasoline available to consumers. “It is virtually impossible to identify fuel ethanol testing protocols in which ethanol is simply added to gasoline; in government study after government study the base gasoline makeup is changed when tests are performed with ethanol,” Vander Griend recently stated.

... Without that credi (VEETC), retailers will not be able to sell E85 at a reduced price and motorists will be forced to pay the same price for a fuel that gets fewer miles per gallon. “If we’re not able to price E85 correctly, very few people are going to be willing to take a loss of mileage for the same price,” he (Phil Lampert, an ethanol consultant) says. “We’re fearful that if the price is higher or the same, and people are losing mileage, they’ll buy it one time and won’t be back.” ...“I think we’ve got to refocus our effort to accommodate E30 and E85,” he says.

One way to correct the loss of tax incentives from VEETC could be to modify another existing section of the tax code that allows for a 50-cent-per-gallon credit for alternative fuels, Lampert says. That credit applies to such fuels as propane and hydrogen but not E85...

“This can offer the auto industry the framework to increase compression ratio and in turn, enable the auto industry to manufacture more turbo-charged vehicles. Consumer education is paramount to this initiative. Consumers who understand octane does indeed matter because it improves mileage, provides savings at the pump, and mitigates adverse health effects, are consumers who will choose ethanol.” READ MORE and MORE (Advanced Biofuels USA)