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Biofuels Mobile Education Center spreads awareness of biofuels

The Biofuels Mobile Education Center (BMEC) is traveling from coast to coast to spread awareness about the benefits of ethanol. One of their recent stops was at the Kansas City Speedway to grab the attention of Midwestern NASCAR lovers.

“We’re here to educate the public,” said Sean Sangar, educator and presenter for the BMEC. “Some sense on how ethanol, the industry, corn and agriculture in general affects their lives.”

Sangar speaks with BMEC visitors about the kinds of ethanol that are available on the market today and the differences they make in automobiles. From the different biofuel varieties, to how they are used and processed in their vehicles, Sangar enjoys helping others understand how biofuels could benefit them.

The walls of the BMEC are lined with informational posters, pamphlets and other diagrams explaining how corn and ethanol are created and used.

“We’re able to show people how efficient our ethanol plants are by converting one bushel of corn to 2.8 gallons of ethanol, but then we still have feed left over for our livestock,” Sangar said.

What Sangar likes most is answering the tough questions from visitors.

“Everybody has a hot topic button, we try and address that in a variety of ways,” Sangar said.

According to Sangar, they get a lot of these questions. They range from specifics in auto mechanics, to how biofuels affect the environment and from increased mileage to how the higher corn demand affects the livestock industry.

The BMEC visits numerous NASCAR races, state fairs and farm shows to help consumers understand this option that is available to them. Sangar says they get anywhere from 1,500 visitiors to 5,000 visitors at most events.

“It’s the quality of the conversations we have,” Sangar says. “My favorite is when they have no knowledge or some misguided knowledge, I see those as huge successes.”