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Ethanol group pleased with Obama’s EPA pick

March 4, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The executive vice president of the American Coalition for Ethanol says they are pleased with President Obama’s appointment of Gina McCarthy as the next administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

For the past four years, McCarthy has headed up the EPA’s air and radiation office, where she has been actively involved in decisions on the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) and E15.  Jennings tells Brownfield that McCarthy understands the importance of the RFS and renewable fuels to the country.

AUDIO: Brian Jennings (6:27 MP3)

Filed Under: Feature Programs, Rural Issues Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Iowa gains second E15 station

January 2, 2013 By 1 Comment

Iowa now has two fuel retailers offering E15.

Fredericksburg Coop in Fredericksburg becomes the second station to offer the blend of gasoline and 15 percent ethanol to owners of 2001 and newer vehicles.   The first was Linn Coop Oil in Marion, which added E15 to its pumps in mid-September.

Steve Neuendorf, petroleum manager for Fredericksburg Coop, says there is great value is offering a less expensive, cleaner, American-made fuel option like E15 to consumers.   He says E15 is a win for the coop’s customers—both motorists and farmers. 

Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says it’s good to “get the ball rolling again for E15 in Iowa”.  Shaw says after the first round of retailer approvals last fall, the federal EPA—in his words—“essentially shut down the system for three months”.  Now that the EPA is apparently back on track, Shaw is hopeful that many more stations will be able to add E15 in 2013.

Filed Under: Crops, Events/Organizations, News, Renewable Energy Tagged With: , , ,

IFRA says more E15 would bring big savings

December 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If E-15 would have been widely available in 2012, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) says $69 Million could have been saved by Iowans at the gas pumps – among those who drive 2001 and newer vehicles.

The group based their findings on data released by the Iowa Department of Revenue. IRFA executive director Monte Shaw says they’re working with retailers to increase access to E15 statewide. Until then, Shaw says “Iowans will continue paying more at the pump than they should.”

Iowa’s first sales of E15 began in mid-September, at the Linn Co-op station in Marion.

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Nebraska’s first E15 pump is open

October 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

A Lexington gas station is the first fuel outlet in Nebraska to offer E15 to its customers.

The blend of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent regular gasoline is being sold at Uncle Neal’s Phillips 66 of Lexington. 

Owner Neal Hoff recently installed new blender pumps and worked with the Nebraska Corn Board and the Renewable Fuels Association to meet all of the requirements for selling E15. 

E15 is approved for use in 2001 and newer vehicles.

Filed Under: Crops, Events/Organizations, News, Renewable Energy Tagged With: , , , , ,

First E15 sold in Iowa

September 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Iowa’s first sale of E15 blended gasoline took place Monday at the Linn Co-op station in Marion.   

E15 can be used by drivers owning a 2001 or new vehicle, SUV or light-duty truck.  

Renewable fuels industry officials anticipate that more stations will begin offering E15 to their customers in coming weeks.  That’s because EPA’s summer volatility restriction ended on September 15th and blend stocks for E15 are now more readily available. 

As part of the introduction of E15, Linn Co-op will hold an open house from 8 to 5 this Friday, during which time E15 will be discounted 15 cents per gallon.   

To introduce E15 to Marion residents, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, Iowa Corn and the Iowa Power Fund Community Grant program are sponsoring a media campaign that includes print and radio ads, billboards and direct mail.  The campaign will run through September.

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E15 sales should increase this fall

September 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The final hurdle to allow sales of gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol—for use in 2001 and newer vehicles—was cleared back on June 15th. But so far only two stations in Kansas have been able to commercially sell the fuel.

That should change as summer comes to a close, according to Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen.  

Dinneen says September 15th marked the end of EPA’s summer volatility restriction that has hindered retail sales of E15.

“Which means that the blend stocks for E15 are going to be more readily available,” he says. “So for a lot of refiners and marketers that have expressed interest in blending E15 and offering this new product to consumers—but haven’t been able to get the blend stock appropriate for its use—they will now be able to do so.”

Dinneen says E15 is going to help lower the price of gasoline to consumers.

“That’s going to be the driving factor.  Even today, with our market and corn prices being around eight dollars a bushel, we are still 40 to 60 cents below the price of gasoline.”

Dinneen anticipates that a number of gasoline marketers, beginning this week, will start offering E15.

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, News, Renewable Energy, Top Stories Tagged With: , ,

NASCAR full steam ahead with E15

July 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

2011 was the first NASCAR Racing season for Sunoco Green E15 fuel.  Danny Lawrence, trackside manager for RCR/ECR Engines told Indiana Corn Farmers this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – when they received word NASCAR was switching fuels to E15 – they weren’t thrilled.  “We had heard all these horror stories about ethanol like water in the fuel or the fuel being inconsistent,” he says.  “I’m going to tell you what – it was absolutely a pleasant surprise at how easy the transition was switching to E15.”  Lawrence says the transition was “pretty much flawless”.

Lawrence tells Brownfield – after almost two full seasons running on E-15, it’s hard to find a negative.  “We make more power with the fuel,” he says.  “It is really more stable and the quality of the fuel was a little higher than we were used to.”  He says the only downside was they lost a little bit of fuel efficiency.  But, he says, “the power gains that we made overcome that.”

Lawrence says he wouldn’t give up the power gained from using E15 for the slight increase in miles per tank by using regular unleaded fuel.

AUDIO: Danny Lawrence ECR-RCR Racing (3:00mp3)

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Kansas retailer sells first gallons of E15

July 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Kansas barely makes the top ten in ethanol production by state, but for now it ranks number one in selling E15 ethanol-blended gasoline “legally” under the EPA waiver.

The nation’s first official sale of E15 for non-flex fuel vehicles took place at the Zarco 66 “Oasis” station in Lawrence, Kansas on Tuesday. 

Owner Scott Zaremba says he is pleased to lead the way on E15.

“Being in the energy business for the last 40 years, we’ve seen the ebb and flow of what we use for transportation energy,” Zaremba says. “We just wholeheartedly believe that alternatives are what we need to be moving towards—to less our dependency on foreign oil and also be able to have cleaner-burning products.”

Zaremba, who is the incoming president of the Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association of Kansas, believes consumers will warm up to E15 and more retailers will soon be following his lead in providing the fuel.

“I think once the consumers understand that the higher blend of ethanol also gives them a higher octane rating, and they’re getting more bang for their buck—plus you’re displacing foreign oil and you’re cleaning our environment—I think it’s going to go extremely well,” he says.

Under the EPA waiver, E15 is approved for use in model year 2001 and newer vehicles.

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, News, Renewable Energy Tagged With: , , ,

Iowa is ‘good to go’ on E15, but a new challenge arises

June 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says Iowa is “good to go” for E15 sales following a federal EPA announcement that the final regulatory hurdle has been cleared.

But Monte Shaw says while the pathway to E15 sales is open, the oil industry has erected another barrier by refusing to make the proper gasoline blendstock available.

In this interview with Brownfield, Shaw talks about what he calls “the artificial marketplace hurdles thrown up by ethanol opponents” and the prospects for E15 sales in 2012. 

Shaw also discusses a new IRFA study detailing the positive impacts of renewable fuels on Iowa’s economy over the past decade.

AUDIO: Monte Shaw (9:00 MP3)

 

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Another barrier to E15 availability

June 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

E-15—the blend of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline—has faced several roadblocks on its road to reality.  

The latest was cleared last week when the EPA approved a final piece of the ethanol industry’s Misfueling Mitigation Plan.

However, it may still be a while before motorists see E-15 the pump.  Monte Shaw with the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says the oil industry has thrown up another marketplace hurdle.

“Due to a quirk in the federal fuel regulations, the gasoline that you blend to create E-10 during the summer is different than the gasoline that is required to make E-15 in the summer—and the oil industry is only sending the blend stock for E-10 up the pipeline,” Shaw says. “Without the proper blend stock, we cannot actually create an E-15 that meets the federal fuel regulations.”

Shaw says that where E-15 is being sold in Iowa today, for use in flexible fuel vehicles, it is anywhere from five to 10 cents a gallon cheaper than E-10, which is 10 to 13 cents cheaper than regular gasoline.  

Radio Iowa contributed to this story.

 

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, News, Renewable Energy Tagged With: , , ,
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