In This Issue:

FYI Newsletter Volume 9, Issue 2, January 28, 2004 

•  NEVC 2004 Annual Board and
    Membership Meeting

• New E85 station in Devil's Lake, ND

•  Gas Prices Rise 7 Cents in Past
   Two Weeks

• US DOE Seeking Applications for
   E85 Locations

•  E85 Coming to Woodbury, MN


•  DaimlerChrysler to Roll-off
    E85 Minivan in August
•  Questions on So-Called
    “Hydrogen Economy”

•  Plans to Build Ethanol Plant
    in Garnett, KS

•  Letters to the NEVC

NEVC 2004 Annual Board and Membership Meeting
 

YOU ARE INVITED to join the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition at our 2004 Annual Board and Membership Meeting immediately preceding the Commodity Classicsm in Las Vegas, Nevada.   The meeting will be held in the Embassy Salon at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel from 8 a.m. to noon on March 1, 2004.  A light breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m.   

The Betting on E85 Hospitality Reception will also be held in conjunction with the Commodity Classicsm on March 1 from 7 to 10 p.m. The reception, sponsored by General Motors and the NEVC, will be held in Pavilion 6 at the Las Vegas Hilton.  Food and beverages will be served and a press conference will take place at 8 p.m.

 

There is no charge to attend either function, however, in order to plan for the appropriate number of participants, please register for both the NEVC 2004 Annual Meeting and the Betting on E85 reception, by contacting Michelle Kautz before February 20, 2004 at (573) 635-8445 or email mkautz@e85fuel.com.
 

New E85 station in Devil's Lake, ND

On Friday, January 9, 2004, members of the North Dakota Corn Utilization Council along with North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson celebrated the Grand Opening of the fourth E85 fueling station in North Dakota.  The new E85 location is located at the Cenex Farmers Union Station at 600 Highway 2 West in Devil’s Lake.  

“We have always tried to be the market leader when it comes to making alternative, renewable fuels available to our customers,” said Cenex Manager, Emil Gregory.  “E85 fits well into our growth strategy for the future.  Since ethanol comes primarily from the distillation of corn, we are simply promoting and selling products our farm customers grow right here in the state.   We have always felt that renewable fuels are good for our farmers, good for our community, good for our environment and good for North Dakota.  Every gallon we sell is one less we import from OPEC, and that’s good for America.” 

Johnson also commented, “The ethanol industry in North Dakota in terms of consumption is small.  It is new and it has to grow.  This is really an exciting new development.  Only a third of the fuel sold in the state is ethanol blended; so we are quite a bit behind the rest of the country, and certainly the upper Midwest.  South Dakota’s consumption is double that of North Dakota’s.   Minnesota is almost at 100%, so we have a lot of room for growth and that’s why this new E85 pump is exciting, because it will help our consumption of ethanol grow.” 

E85 sold for just 85 cents a gallon during the Grand Opening celebration. 

The remaining three E85 stations in North Dakota are located at Cenex Petro Express’ at 3902 Main Avenue in Fargo and 1210 13th Avenue East West Fargo; and Stamart at 1120 East Divide Avenue in Bismarck.  

Partial funding for the new E85 pump was provided by the North Dakota Corn Utilization Council and the NEVC.

  
   

Gas Prices Rise 7 Cents in Past Two Weeks

- from Sunday, January 25 edition of CNN.com

Gas prices nationwide soared nearly 7 cents per gallon of self-serve regular to $1.62 during the past two weeks, a national survey said Sunday.

The Lundberg Survey had reported an 8-cent rise during the previous three weeks, and consumers can expect the trend to continue, publisher Trilby Lundberg said. "Our mid-range forecast says there's another 16 cents before it's over and prices drift down" in early April, she said.

Lundberg blamed the increase on high demand for crude oil -- the result of a robust economy and cold weather diverting supplies to create home heating oil.

That demand will not fall soon, she predicted. As warmer weather diminishes the need for heating oil, driving will raise the demand for gasoline.

At the same time, U.S. refiners have passed through to consumers additional costs associated with meeting government regulations to reduce sulfur in gasoline and, in some locations, to use ethanol, she said.

The survey of about 7,000 stations nationwide was conducted January 23.

The survey's forecast of continuing price spikes is based on a report posted on its web site.

Drivers in Cheyenne, Wyoming, paid the least, at $1.45 per gallon, and drivers in Honolulu, Hawaii, paid the most, at $1.99. San Francisco, California, had the second-highest average price, at $1.75.

A perfect reason to fuel up with E85 where many locations sell the clean-burning alternative fuel up to 25 cents less than regular unleaded!

U.S. DOE Seeking Applications for E85 Locations

The U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) is seeking proposals to assist in the establishment of E85 fueling infrastructure, among other projects. 

In 2003, over $525,000 was awarded through the U.S. DOE for E85 facilities in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Jackson, Wyoming; Edmond, Oklahoma; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Albuquerque and the Native American Pueblo of Santo Domingo in New Mexico. 

The E85 Fueling Network application (DE-PS26-NT 42068-01G) can be found at http://www.ccities.doe.gov/funding.shtml.  The proposal submission deadline is Monday, March 29, 2004.  For questions, contact Stephanie Sung at the U.S. DOE at (312) 886-8584 or at stephanie.sung@ee.doe.gov.

E85 Coming to Woodbury, MN

Ranked #1 in CNN-Money's "Best Places to Live" in 2003, Woodbury, Minnesota will soon be even better!  [source: CNN-Money (2003): Central USA; population less than 100,000] 

Seasons Market Holiday at 757 Radio Drive in Woodbury plans to offer E85 to flexible-fuel vehicle drivers by May 1, 2004.  

Mark Fritz, the station's owner, makes an excellent partner and is already researching how best to showcase E85 at his Holiday franchise, one of the most prominent service stations in town and located just half a mile south of Interstate 94. 

Woodbury, a fast-growing suburb of 50,000, is located on the eastern edge of the Twin Cities.  It is home to State Farm Insurance, The Hartford, Fortis, eFunds, EcoWater Systems and Dean Foods/Land O' Lakes.  It is also in very close proximity to Minnesota's largest employer, 3M.  

Approximately 90 E85 refueling stations are now operating in Minnesota with several more "coming soon."

DaimlerChrysler to Roll-off E85 Minivan in August

The 2005 E85 compatible DaimlerChrysler minivans are now able to be ordered by fleet customers.  However, the roll-off of the 3.3L FFV engine on the 2005 Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Caravan will not occur until August of this year.  DaimlerChrysler FFVs available at this time are the 2.7L Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Stratus sedans and the 4.7L Dodge Ram 1500 Series. 

Go to your local DaimlerChrysler dealer and order your flexible-fuel vehicle today!
 

Questions on So-Called “Hydrogen Economy”

David Morris, Vice President of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, recently completed a new publication titled, “A better way to get from here to there- A commentary on the hydrogen economy and a proposal for an alternative strategy.” 

Mr. Morris comments that while the “hydrogen economy” is touted as an all purpose, universal solution to the nation’s growing dependence on imported petroleum, it is clearly a long term program that may in fact result in short and medium term unwanted and even damaging consequences.  Rather than focusing the combined resources of industry and government on hydrogen, Morris argues that it would be more beneficial to consider the use of hybrid electric vehicles.  Specifically, such hybrid electric vehicles that are capable of operating on domestic renewable fuels such as ethanol. 

Morris believes that the nation, “….may be on the verge of spending hundreds of billions of dollars and diverting enormous amounts of scarce intellectual and entrepreneurial energy to create an infrastructure based on nonrenewable fuels in the hope that after it is in place we might fuel it with renewable energy.”  Rather than this program, Morris asks why not focus on expanding the portion of the delivery systems that relies on renewable energy rather than spend the next generation creating a new delivery system that will ultimately be modified to use renewable fuels. 

A copy of the entire publication can be found on the NEVC web site at http://www.e85fuel.com/front_page/get_from_here2there.pdf.  Once again, David Morris has penned a thought provoking analysis and the NEVC encourages you to consider its review.
 

Plans to Build Ethanol Plant at Garnett, KS

- January 27, 2004 news release from the Kansas Corn Growers Association and Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers Association

Organizers of East Kansas Agri Energy LLC announced that they reached the requirements to break escrow for the construction of a 25 million gallon ethanol plant at Garnett. EKAE's equity drive ended Saturday.  

According to Bill Pracht, EKAE Chairman, the group reached the bank requirement to break escrow on the project. Organizers are now going through last minute investments and finalizing financial and legal agreements that will lead to the completion of the project. The group raised over $16 million in equity from more than 500 investors. 

"We'd like to thank everyone who had faith in us and invested in this project," Pracht said. 

The size of the Garnett plant has been increased from 20 million gallons to 25 million gallons, and will be built at the same cost of $36 million.  

The announcement comes a week after Western Plains Energy LLC produced its first drops of ethanol. The 30 million gallon plant, located in Campus in northwest Kansas completed its equity drive about a year ago. 

"We're seeing dynamic growth in the Kansas ethanol industry," according to Jere White, executive director of the Kansas Corn Growers Association and Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers Association. "That's good news not only for farmers, but also for the local economies where the ethanol plants are located, and for our state's economy as well." 

Kansas now has six functioning ethanol plants, located in Atchison, Colwich, Garden City, Leoti, Russell and Campus that are producing a combined 117 million gallons of ethanol per year.  

"This is a dramatic increase from where we were just a few years ago, when Kansas had an ethanol producing capacity of 50 million gallons," White said. "Not only did growers invest in the Campus and Garnett plants, they also played a part in the development of the plants through their corn and grain sorghum check off." 

The Kansas Corn Commission and Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission assisted in funding feasibility studies for groups who were interested in bringing ethanol plants to their communities. The Campus and Garnett plants both worked closely with the commissions. 

The nation's ethanol industry is growing as well. Ethanol production was up over 30 percent in 2003, setting an annual production record of 2.81 billion gallons.  

"We're seeing a lot more usage of ethanol throughout the United States," White said. "These new plants are being built to meet that demand for a fuel that is renewable, domestic and clean burning." 

Availability of ethanol blended fuels is growing in Kansas. The state now has 341 stations in 95 Kansas counties that carry E10 Unleaded, an ethanol blended fuel that is approved for use by all foreign and domestic automakers. Kansas now has three E85 fueling sites that carry 85 percent ethanol fuel for flexible fuel vehicles at Topeka, Maize and Garnett. The Maize and Garnett sites opened in the past six months.

US Ethanol Industry Facts
72 ethanol plants in operation
15 ethanol plants under construction
3.1 billion gallon annual production capacity
40% of current and under construction production capacity is farmer-owned.

Kansas Ethanol Facts
6 ethanol plants in operation
Over 117 million gallon annual production capacity

Kansas Plant Capacity
US Energy Partners, Russell: 40 million gallons per year
Western Plains Energy LLC, Campus: 30 million gallons per year
Abengoa, Colwich: 25 million gallons per year
Reeve Agri-Energy, Garden City: 12 million gallons per year
MGP Ingredients, Atchison: 9 million gallons per year
ESE Alcohol, Leoti: 1.5 million gallons per year
 

 Letters to the NEVC

Letters to the NEVC - This section highlights emails that the NEVC has recently received.  Many of the comments or suggestions that we receive are of interest to a wider audience and we would like to share them with our readers.

  

Thank You  

Phil Lampert,

On behalf of the entire 2003-2004 Formula Car Team, we would like to thank you for your donation.  Donations like yours make it possible for the members of our team to apply what they have learned in the classroom to a real world project.  Team members design each component on our racecar in a CAD environment, analyze and optimize the parts, manufacture, assemble, and test our racecar before going to the May 2004 SAE Formula competition in Pontiac, Michigan.

Our team has continued to make progress since its inception at ISU seven years ago because of the generosity of caring people like you.  Each year the team has learned from the previous year, and each year the Cyclone Racing Formula Team has gotten better.  This year there is a record 140 university teams from around the world registered, and the Cyclone Racing Formula Team is working hard to be at the top with an E-85 ethanol powered racecar.

Please look for our quarterly newsletters to keep you updated on our progress, along with browsing our website.

Included is a receipt for your donation and our tax-deductible status form.

Thank you again for your support of the Formula Car Team.

Sincerely,
Dan De Clute
Project Director

and

Andy Eis
 Project Director

We Use the Fuel!

Michelle,

I first want to say that I appreciate the efforts and work you all are doing in promoting the use of ethanol fuels.  I think you are doing a great job!

I work for the USDA-NRCS, and we have been instructed to always use E85 if it is available, and the vehicle we are driving is E85 compliant.  I guess we can thank President Bush for that directive.  In the information provided by our agency, they said that all the vehicles purchased in 2003 are E85 compliant, so those of us driving new vehicles can now use this product.

Thanks again for all your efforts and great information!

Stan Boltz
Rapid City, SD

Thanks for the emails to the NEVC!  Feel free to email us with your comments at anytime.

NEVC Calendar

 

February 3-5, 2004
 MidAtlantic Regional Clean Cities Coordinator's meeting in Williamsburg, VA.  For more information, contact Nic van Vuuren at (757) 873-6239.

February 20-21, 2004
Petroleum and Convenience-Store Exposition at the Edward Jones Dome in St Louis, MO.  For more information, visit www.paceexpo.org.

March 1, 2004
NEVC Annual Board and Membership Meeting from 8 a.m. until noon in Las Vegas, NV.  Betting on E85 Hospitality Reception from 7-10 p.m.  To register, contact Michelle Kautz by phone at (573) 635-8445 or by email at mkautz@e85fuel.com.  Register before February 20, 2004. 

March 2-4, 2004
Commodity Classic 2004 in Las Vegas, NV.  For more information, visit www.commodityclassic.com.
March 5-8, 2004
National Farmers Union Annual Convention at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center in Billings, MT.  For more information, contact (303) 337-5500.

March 8-11, 2004
8th Annual Western States Clean Cities Conference at the Westin Hotel Tabor Center in Denver, Colorado.  For more information, contact Tim Cunningham at (303) 388-4327.

March 15-17, 2004
 Midwest Petroleum Marketers Expo in Omaha, Nebraska.  For more information call (515) 224-7545.

April 17-20, 2004
 National Association of Fleet Administrators Conference in Atlanta, GA.  For more information, visit http://www.nafa.org/
May 2-5, 2004
10th Annual National Clean Cities Conference at Greater Ft. Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL.  For more information, visit http://www.ccities.doe.gov/conference/lauderdale/

June 13-15, 2004
14th Annual EPAC Ethanol Conference at the Great Northern Hotel in Helena, Montana.  For more information, email shirley@ethanolmt.org.

July 20-22, 2004
FedFleet 2004:  The Road to the Future is Now at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, NY.  For more information, visit www.fedfleet.org.


 CONTACT US. . .

Please feel free to e-mail your story suggestions, comments, corrections or clarifications to us at info@e85fuel.com or call us toll free at 877-485-8595.

Phillip J. Lampert, Executive Director
info@e85.com

Randa Barker, Director of Administration
info@e85.com

Michelle Kautz, Director of Communications
 mkautz@e85fuel.com

Roger Listenberger, Director of E85 Fuel Networking
rlistenberger@e85fuel.com

Louise Saucier, Membership Coordinator
lsaucier@E85Fuel.com

Christi Vander Voort, NEVC Iowa E85 Coordinator
cvandervoort@E85Fuel.com


You may view this FYI online at
http://www.e85fuel.com/news/index.htm

NEVC  promotes the use of 85 percent ethanol as a renewable form of alternative transportation fuel while enhancing agricultural profitability, advancing environmental stewardship and promoting national energy independence.