In This Issue:

FYI Newsletter Volume 7, Issue 22, December 11, 2002 

•   MN Keeping Busy with E85

•   Columbia, MO Opens E85 Station

•   Member Spotlight – U.S. Energy Services

•  Don't Forget about the E85 Infrastructure Monies Available  

•  Letters to the NEVC  

 MN Keeping Busy with E85

- Based on a press release issued by the American Lung Association of Minnesota, November 26, 2002 

As of the last week of November 2002, three new E85 fueling outlets opened in Minnesota bringing the state's total to an astonishing 70 public E85 fueling sites.

All St. Cloud State University (SCSU) FFVs are now powered by E85. This has been made possible by SCSU's proactive move to convert its main fueling system to E85. A smaller gasoline tank is kept in service for older gasoline-only models; however, SCSU aims to make all future procurements E85-capable FFVs.

The first Amoco-branded E85 outlet west of the Mississippi opened November 22, 2002 in Breckenridge, Minnesota, fifty miles south of the Fargo-Moorhead area.   The fuel made up about three percent of total sales in its first few days of opening.  Breck Amoco, owned by Conzemius Enterprises, now offers the gasoline alternative to FFVs in several local fleets and all private FFVs based in the Minnesota-Dakota border community of Breckenridge-Wahpeton.  The station is currently selling E85 at 15 cents less than regular unleaded gasoline.  The station installed all new equipment, and invested close to $40,000 for a new underground storage tank, sensors, piping, lines and a pump. The station buried the storage tank on September 10 and took delivery of 5,100 gallons of E85 from Chippewa Valley Ethanol Coop right away.

Breck Amoco along with the American Lung Association of Minnesota, sent out 650 flyers to area farmers on both sides of the Red River, alerting them to this latest spot where E85 customers can refuel. The mailing included a map of all 70 Minnesota E85 fueling sites, and at Conzemius' request, included four close-by E85 sites in North Dakota.

Walt's Corner Phillip 66 is the second E85 station to open in Willmar, Minnesota. Walt's joins Central Lakes Coop Cenex in offering E85 to this south-central Minnesota community. Rather than competing for FFV business, Walt's is collaborating with Central Lakes Coop Cenex on fuel deliveries as well as radio and print advertisements. Early indications show the collaborative strategy is working in raising overall awareness and fuel sales. 

International Falls, Minnesota may be the location of a new E85 pump!  A project involving cold weather vehicle testing will create the need for E85 fuel and quite possibly, a new station.  The three month manufacturer's test of FFVs will begin in January.  The site could attract further research in need of the clean fuel.  An existing station on Highway 53 have indicated that they will very likely eliminate their mid-grade gasoline and replace it with E85 because of the demand for the product.

The Koochiching County Economic Development office has been working with the Twin Cities Clean Cities Coalition to identify car dealers and potential FFV fleets including Boise Cascade, Minnesota Power, Rainy River Community College and federal, state and local fleets. Currently, Voyageurs National Park operates three E85 compatible vehicles and plans to use the new site.  Approximately nine more E85 sites are in development in Minnesota.

A listing of all Minnesota E85 fueling sites can be found at www.E85Fuel.com.

Breck Amoco opened on
November 22, 2002 and
they priced their E85 15
cents below their
regular unleaded!

 

 Columbia, MO Opens E85 Station

Missouri has recently added its sixth E85 pump to its list.  Tiger Conoco, located on I-70 Drive S.W. in Columbia, added the pump to their line-up of fuels to accommodate the many postal vehicles in the area. 

“The Postal Service was looking for a place to fuel their flexible-fuel trucks with E85 and I was happy to provide the outlet,” said Steve Gerhardt.  Mr. Gerhardt and his wife, Tammy, own the Tiger Conoco fueling station. 

"The plan was at one time was to have a couple different pumps around town because we thought we would have more of these vehicles," said Columbia Postmaster Steve Saltzman. "But we only have a few of these vehicles and not a whole fleet. We needed at least one pump to help keep us going."

The Gerhardts converted an existing 1,000-gallon diesel tank to an E85 tank.  The tank had to be cleaned and only a few parts had to be changed before it was ready for the clean fuel.  The station is also selling the 100 plus-octane E85 at the same price as their 87-octane gasoline.

 “It is very exciting to see the new E85 station up and running, and that this vendor will be helping his customers by keeping the price of the fuel competitive to regular unleaded,” said Gary Marshall, CEO of the Missouri Corn Growers Association and Chairman of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition. 

You can find a listing of all E85 fueling locations at www.E85Fuel.com.

 Member Spotlight – U.S. Energy Services

Welcome U.S. Energy Services to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition!  The company joined the NEVC on December 3, 2002.  U.S. Energy Services is an independent energy management and engineering company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota with field locations in Omaha, Nebraska and Wichita, Kansas.  U.S. Energy started business over ten years ago with the goal of helping clients control and reduce their natural gas and electric costs. 

“We are a unique company because our independence allows us to have an unbiased view of the energy market, thus, helping our clients make the most economical energy choices,” said U.S. Energy Services President, Bill Bathe.

U.S. Energy works with many ethanol plants throughout the nation helping them develop and implement energy infrastructure solutions on the front-end and then managing each plant’s unique physical and financial energy requirements on an ongoing basis. 

“In working closely with many ethanol plants,” said Bathe, “we have become educated about the ethanol industry and understand the benefits of using ethanol blended fuel like E85.  We want to help promote E85 by placing a logo on our web site, which prompted us to join NEVC.”

Their employees don’t only 'talk the talk' about E85 but 'walk the walk'.  “Several of our employees drive E85 vehicles and proudly display an E85 sticker.  Another senior executive and I have offered to buy the first and second tanks of fuel for any U.S. Energy employee who purchases an E85 vehicle,” commented Bathe.

Bathe says E85 education is a large factor for the increased use of E85.  “Organizations like NEVC are doing a great job of educating the public about E85 and flexible fuel vehicles, which we feel is the key to getting more people to use and promote E85 fuel.”

For more information about U.S. Energy Services, visit www.usenergyservices.com or call (952) 745-4301.

Thank you, U.S. Energy Services, for your strong support of this clean, renewable fuel we know as E85.  We are proud to call you a member of our organization!

 

Don't Forget about the E85 Infrastructure Monies Available

There’s only one month until your application must be received by the NEVC for consideration of portions of the $350,000 E85 infrastructure grant monies.  These funds are available to establish new sites for: the general public; individuals; private groups or organizations; state, local and other units of government; and corporations both public and private. 

The application can be found at http://www.e85fuel.com/application.htm.  The Handbook for Handling, Storing, and Dispensing E85 has been recently added to the application page for reference on what specifications and standards must be considered when an E85 tank is installed.    All applications must be electronically submitted by January 16, 2003.  For questions, contact Michelle Saab at www.E85Fuel.com or at (573) 635-8445.

 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.

  

Security in E85

This email was written to NEVC Executive Director, Phil Lampert. . .

Dear Sir,

I am a citizen who has no direct interest in the fuel or automotive industries. Thank you and your organization for supporting and promoting a domestic, clean fuel for consumption. On Saturday, I purchased a 2003 GMC Yukon and one of the critical factors for purchasing this vehicle is the E85 capability. I truly believe that using E85 instead of foreign oil is great for our country and its security. 

Thank you again for your promotion of and education about E85!

Sincerely,
Ethan Bearman
Apple Valley, MN

. . .

Ethan,

Thank you for your interest in the use of E85.  General Motors has been a leader in the production of E85 alternative fuel vehicles and is also a valuable member of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition.  We very much appreciate your support and trust that you will have an excellent experience with this outstanding vehicle.

Please feel free to contact me at your convenience any time we may be of assistance.

- Phil Lampert

More E85 Education

I attended the E85 National Vehicle Coalition this Spring 2002 in Denver and really enjoyed it. Hope you hold another one, and invite all employees to educate them about this new available alternative fuel. Often, only government fleet vehicle reps have been attending these alternative fuel seminars for government fleet vehicles. The free E85 shirts handed out at the door of our Denver seminar were great, and I hope you'll provide more E85 shirts next year.

-Clare

Energy Policy

This email was written to NEVC Director of Administration, Randa Barker. . .  

Dear Randa, 

As all the advocates for differing energy policies reconvene in DC this January, is anybody seeking a logical compromise?   For example, the MBTE forces will not appreciate losing their share of the gallon to the ethanol advocates.   However, for rights to drill in ANWR, the oil and gas guys would probably accept ethanol for their MBTE.  Meanwhile, this is going to release lots of methanol onto the market with nowhere to go.  Perhaps the methanol guys will fight for methanol/water reformers to make hydrogen for fuel cell cars where natural gas pipelines are not available to gas stations.  Perhaps the electric utilities will accept modifications to their sub-stations allowing "wheeling" of distributed generation and combined heat and power systems, if they can also install fuel cell systems that store off-peak coal and nuclear power generated electricity for use during on-peak periods at those same sub-stations.  Perhaps wind advocates will get behind transmission development, if transmission goes along the off-shore sites for wind power or near the mountain ridges where wind is appropriate.   

Given the news we hear about troop movements, Iraqi inspection issues, and UN authorizations, taken together with our need to fight in the coldest weather possible, if our troops need to be in chemical/biological suits, one can presume that our energy debate this January might occur while we are at war in the world's gas station.   As for myself, I think the time has finally arrived for everybody to compromise an energy policy that points the direction toward lots of ethanol, but lots of wind, methanol, hydrogen, and fuel cells as well.   To get this, I would be happy to support a new natural gas pipeline out of Alaska as well as more oil from ANWR to sustain the oil deliveries down the existing pipeline as the Prudhoe Bay fields begin to decline in output.   I would love to hear from the recipients of the E85 newsletter on this subject.   I, for one, am tired of hearing only from clean energy advocates vs. business as usual advocates.   To my mind, the time has finally arrived for compromises where everybody gets something and nobody gets as much as they would like.

Best Wishes,
John Schnebly
 johnsneb@nycap.rr.com
Founding Chairman, Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, 1974

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

NEVC Calendar

 

February 17-19, 2003
8th Annual National Ethanol Conference: Policy and Marketing at the Camelback Inn Marriott Resort in Scottsdale, AZ.  For more information, call BBI International at (800) 567-6411.

February 18-20, 2003
Western Petroleum Marketers Association Annual meeting and trade show for February 18- 20, Las Vegas, NV.   For more information, visit www.wpma.com.

February 27 – March 1, 2003
2003 Commodity Classic at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, NC.  For more information, visit www.commodityclassic.com.

February 28 – March 3, 2003
The National Farmer’s Union 101st anniversary convention in Anaheim, CA.  For more information, visit http://www.nfu.org/.

May 4-7, 2003
25th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals in Breckenridge, Colorado.  For more information, visit http://www.nrel.gov/biotech_symposium/

May 18-21, 2003
9th National Clean Cities Conference and Exposition in Palm Springs, CA.  For more information, call (303) 275-4317.

June 11-13, 2003
EPAC’s 13th Annual Ethanol Conference in Big Sky, MT.  For more information, email shirley@ethanolmt.org.

June 16-19, 2003
BBI International’s International Fuel Ethanol Workshop and Trade Show at the Sioux Falls Convention Center in Sioux Falls, SD.  For more information, visit www.bbiethanol.com or email conferences@bbiethanol.com.

August 17-24, 2003
Energy 2003 Workshop and Exposition in Orlando, FL.  Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Federal Energy Management Program and co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. General Services Administration.  Visit www.energy2003.ee.doe.gov or call 1-800-395-8574 for more information.

September 21-23,2003
 The US Refining and Automotive Industries 2003 and Beyond - Coming Together of Energy, Environmental & Economic Issues in Washington, DC at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill.  For more information, visit call 1-800-872-3835.

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

Michelle Saab, Director of Communications
info@e85.com

Randa Barker, Director of Administration
info@e85.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.