Traditional Fuels to Remain Viable, But Chain Will "Not Ignore" Diesel, E85, Especially CNG

by Samantha Oller (CSPnet.com) As one of the highest-volume fuel retailers in the United States, it would be easy to assume that Speedway LLC, the retail arm of Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC), has little to no interest in alternative fuels. When you are connected to a large refiner, and outpace many of your peers in gasoline gallons and margin per store per month, you know where your bread is buttered.
But that would do a disservice to Speedway. While skilled at selling gasoline, the growing 1,470-store chain is also expanding its alternative fuel portfolio...
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This includes, for example, diesel; diesel engines are around 35% more efficient than gasoline-powered engines, and Speedway plans to offer not only car diesel but truck diesel as well at locations where traffic flow and demand support the investment in commercial fueling lanes. Today Speedway sells diesel at just under 1,300 sites.
Then there's E85. Kenney noted that Speedway is one of the biggest marketers of the high-ethanol blend in the Midwest, with 146 sites selling the fuel. "As we build new locations, we're adding E85," he said. While acknowledging the fuel's slow growth overall, he believes it is a better means to meeting the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) biofuel volume mandates than E15.
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But the newest altfuel offer at Speedway--and one poised for very measured expansion in 2014--is compressed natural gas (CNG). In March 2013, Speedway opened its first CNG fueling location in Monona, Wis., in partnership with a local gas and electric utility company...READ MORE (includes video)