The Presence of E85

September 19, 2006

BBC News recently ran a report dealing with the US's ethanol race, citing it as an "uphill" battle. While that's not terribly new news, it was also reported that, in order for ethanol to be a true alternative to the current offering of E10, there has to be access to E85 pumps. Again, that's stating the obvious, but at least our overseas reporters are noticing the lack of E85 pumps nation wide.

With Florida marking its first-ever public E85 pump, the topic is starting to "fuel" discussions (ok, I am really sorry for the bad pun) about the availability of ethanol beyond the Midwestern part of the US. Commentary from a linked article stated that, while E85 is becoming hot news, the presence for this Midwestern resident is all too common. Not only are flexible fuel vehicles produced in this region, but the area is awash in E85 pumps on the retail side.

The case for E85 is also a topic for the political race, as both Democrats and Republicans are doing their research and touting the need for ethanol distribution. And why not? Ethanol comes from our homeland, thereby decreasing our need on foreign fuels. And we know that them politicians want to support "Made in the USA"....right? One can only hope.

While there are many states that have E85 stations (every state but AK, HI, AR, LA, AL, DE, MD, NJ, CT, RI, MA, NH, ME and VT to be exact), the presence of E85 stations are still few and far between, particularly in the state of New York where all stations are privately owned and not open to the public.

While I'm all for owning an FFV and support the use of E85, there is a need for more pumps at the retail level.

Interested and want to join the coalition? Visit www.e85fuel.com