In This Issue:

FYI Newsletter Volume 8, Issue 8, May 22, 2003 

•   E85 Included in Drive to Survive

•   Celebration in Salt Lake City for New E85 Tank

•  Indianapolis Officials Plan to Tour E85 Stations

•  E85 – Fuel from the Midwest Not the Mideast

•  Letters to the NEVC

 E85 Included in Drive to Survive

Dennis Weaver, star of Gunsmoke and McCloud, led a convoy of hydrogen, compressed natural gas, biodiesel, E85 and other alternative fueled vehicles on a two week procession from Las Angeles to Washington D.C.   The Drive to Survive began on April 30, 2003 with its mission to promote alternative fuel vehicles in an effort to decrease the nation’s dependency on foreign oil.  

Michelle Saab of the NEVC staff met the convoy at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 8, 2003 in the Missouri Corn Grower’s E85 Dodge Caravan.  Weaver and Kansas City Clean Cities Coordinator, Benjamin Watson, led almost fifteen alternative fuel vehicles into the stadium parking lot. 

“We are here to educate people,” stated Weaver at the press conference.  “The biggest change we have to make is to change the energy we use.”   

Dan Pfeiffer represented Missouri Senator Jim Talent’s office and also spoke at the event.   He mentioned how supportive the senator was of the convoy and of alternative fuel vehicles. 

The group then traveled to Columbia, Missouri, where even the rainy weather could not keep supporters away.  Along with Weaver and Watson, St. Louis Clean Cities Coordinator Kevin Herdler and Columbia, Missouri’s Mayor Darwin Hindman addressed the crowd and television affiliates.   

Weaver added, “In this cause, we need forward thinking politicians like Mayor Hindman.”

The Drive to Survive event concluded in Washington D.C. on May 14, 2003 where a petition was handed to congress for increased legislative support for alternative fuels and their powered vehicles.

To view more photos, click here.


Sid Lewis, Bill Jefferson, and
Keith Still from the Kansas City Post Office posed with Dennis Weaver.


Dan Pfeiffer represented Senator Talent at the event in Kansas City.


Columbia's Mayor Darwin Hindman addressed the crowd.

Celebration in Salt Lake City for New E85 Tank

The opening of a new E85 tank was celebrated in Draper, Utah on May 2, 2003.  The new Chevron station, located at 267 West 12300 South, is the third public E85 station in Utah.

Before Friday's grand opening, Peg Wade, from the National Energy Foundation, worked with three classes of 5th graders from Rosamond Elementary.  She met with the children in their classrooms and presented a "lesson" on E85. As part of her program, many of the students drew pictures, wrote a poem or an essay.  All students attended the celebration but only five were selected to read and/or share their work with the audience at the ceremony.

Among those speaking during the ceremony were Draper City Mayor Darrell Smith; Councilmen Ryan Davies and Bill Colbert; Draper City Manager, Eric Keck; Draper Area Chamber of Commerce President Bill Rappleye; Sgt. Major First Class Vern Bracken; and Beverly Miller, Director, Salt Lake Clean Cities Coalition.

“This was a very satisfying event,” said Miller.  “We opened a brand new station close to the freeway.  The city of Draper and the National Guard will be the major anchoring fleets.”

Ending the hour-long program, several of the students went to the microphone and asked the ADULTS questions about ethanol. The individual with the correct answer, or the fastest correct answer was given a prize.

Other E85 locations in Utah are located in Clearfield at 1350 East 700 South and in Provo at 595 South 200 East. 

To view more photos of this celebration, click here.


Chevron station owner Elgin Williams spoke to the media in front of the E85 pump and canopy.


Sgt. Major  First Class Vern Bracken addressed the audience.  (Back row from left to right) Draper Area Chamber of Commerce President Bill Rappleye; station owner Elgin Williams; Draper City Councilmen Ryan Davies and Bill Colbert; and Draper City Mayor Darrell Smith.

Indianapolis Officials Plan to Tour E85 Stations

- Press Release from the City of Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS — In conjunction with statewide Earth Day festivities, Lt. Governor Joe Kernan and Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson announced plans to open four ethanol and bio-diesel motor fuel stations around the city by the end of 2005.

The “Future Fuels Initiative: Indianapolis Partnership Program” is a joint venture between the Indiana Department of Commerce’s Energy and Recycling Office (ERO) and the City of Indianapolis. The city, using a $70,000 ERO grant, has begun to install new equipment at city garages to fuel state- and city-owned vehicles with 85% ethanol (E85) and 20% bio-diesel (B20) fuel.

Using ethanol and bio-diesel fuels will reduce harmful emissions from vehicles, such as carbon monoxide and particulate matter, improving overall air quality. Produced from agricultural products and by-products, such as corn and wheat chaff, ethanol production also creates an increased demand for agricultural commodities.  Bio-diesel is made from a variety plant and animal oils. Because these fuels are domestically produced, there will be less dependence on imported fossil fuels.

“This is an exciting new partnership and we’re glad to partner with the city on this effort,” said Kernan who serves as the director of the Department of Commerce. “These fueling stations will fill a void, and allow the city and the state to both more effectively utilize alternative fuels. This new fuel program is the perfect example of how to preserve our valuable resources for future generations.”

Currently, 250 city vehicles and more than 800 state vehicles, with about 150 of those in the Indianapolis area, are capable of operating on E85. These vehicles are rarely operated using ethanol. The city also has more than 425 heavy-duty, diesel-powered vehicles that can use B20.

The city and state will encourage drivers of the vehicles to use these fuels whenever possible. During “Knozone Action Days,” days in which weather conditions are favorable for the formation of high amounts of ground-level ozone, Mayor Peterson said he would require city vehicles to use these fuels, if needed.

 “We are happy to host this project that will reduce air pollution in our city and can hopefully serve as a model for our cities around the state,” Mayor Peterson said. “By embarking on this partnership, Indianapolis city government can help lead our community toward cleaner air, a safer environment and better fuel efficiency.”

Commerce made $70,000 available to the city for construction of the first fueling site at West St., which was completed in December 2002. New equipment was installed including a refueling pump, a 5,000 gallon above ground fuel tank and a card reader integrated into the city’s fuel management system. Some city cars have been using the fuel on trial basis since then.

Commerce is also providing another $70,000 for the additional facilities at 1651 West 30th St, at 2700 South Belmont and 1220 Waterway, near the Indianapolis Water headquarters. The city will manage the facilities and will charge the state for fuel consumed plus a one-cent per gallon administrative fee.

  
 
 
 
E85 – Fuel from the Midwest Not the Mideast

Glacial Plains Co-op opened their new E85 pump on May 17 twenty cents below unleaded!  The Cenex station located at 140 North Munsterman, in Appleton, Minnesota also operates an E85 station in Benson, Minnesota.  Both stations' ethanol is supplied from Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company. 

 

 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.

  

The following letter were written to NEVC Director of Communications, Michelle Saab.

Bumper Stickers

Does the coalition sell bumper stickers? I have what I think is a good idea-- one that will send the right message to public and car makers: "MY NEXT CAR WILL RUN ON CORN". I will not buy another car until the choices make more sense.

Thanks,
Peg

. . .

Peggy,

Yes, we do sell bumper stickers and I believe your idea is a great one! You can find a complete list of our promotional items at http://www.e85fuel.com/nevc/promoitems.htm. We will take in account your idea when printing more.

Michelle Saab
 

Motorweek

Dear NEVC,

I was very surprised to see Motorweek this week featuring information about E85. I had not even heard of E85 until seeing the program yesterday. Unfortunately, E85 is not available in Texas as of yet, but I find it very exciting to see someone actually promoting ethanol as a viable alternative fuel.

My personal dream car would be powered by a high performance V-8 using a 14:1 or higher compression ratio and running on 160 to 180 proof ethanol. The octane would be would be incredible and the less pure blend would be super cheap to produce. The engine would be started on propane for ease of starting, then, after a few seconds of warming up, the propane would be turned off and the direct port ethanol fuel injectors would be activated. You could then kiss catalytic converters good-bye, cars would be fun to drive, engines would last forever, and the earth would be forever green. But, that would be in a more perfect world where logic prevailed over politics.

I am curious, why the 15% blend of gasoline? Why not straight ethanol? Are there problems in keeping the fuel blended? What are they doing to keep the ethanol anhydrous? I was never impressed with Gasohol (I used it in a new 1981 Chevrolet Caprice Classic and it screwed up the "electronic" Rochester carburetor but good), but an 85% ethanol blend is definitely a step in the right direction.

I hope that E-85 becomes the fuel of choice. I can see it all now: Forget FFV, build engines with 12 to 14:1 compression ratios and you would see the efficiency of the average piston engine equal to or better than the lower compression ratio "gasoline only" engines we drive now.

This would also solve the problem of fueling general aviation piston engine aircraft that are facing the higher cost and lack of availability of 100LL aviation gasoline. The smell of diesel fuel and the related smog that it produces would also be a thing of the past.

Forgive me for rambling, but it is so refreshing to communicate with someone who shares one of my passions. Would love to hear from you if you have the time, and would also appreciate finding some articles in auto or aviation magazines that discuss the technical and practical aspects of E-85 use.

Have a nice day!
Marcus Franklin

. . .

Marcus,

Thank you for your support of E85!  E85 (a blend of 85% fuel ethanol and 15% gasoline) is used in spark ignition engines (i.e. gasoline engines). The gasoline is added to provide good cold start and warm up performance due to ethanol's low volatility, which results in more difficulty vaporizing at cold starts.

Thank you,
Michelle Saab

. . .

Dear Michelle,

Thank you for the info on the reason for adding gasoline. The problem with adding gasoline to ethanol is the difference in specific weight and the characteristic of ethanol to attract water. However, a single fuel operation does simplify things over using a warm up fuel (LPG) and ethanol.

I am curious about something else. Apparently FFV automotive computers are now intelligent enough to detect the ratio of gasoline to ethanol, I wonder if they are also intelligent enough to take advantage of ethanol’s quicker burn time. If you can ignite the fuel/air mixture in the cylinder at TDC or later, the resulting energy from the heat expanded air is working with a 100% mechanical advantage. In a normal gasoline burning engine, ignition usually occurs 32 to 15 degrees advanced to TDC, meaning that when you attain peak energy at TDC, you have no mechanical advantage what so ever.

If you ever get the chance, check out the experimental work that Smokey Yunick did on pre-heated carburetion of gasoline burning engines. By pre-heating the incoming air to 400 degrees F he was able to create a condition where the fuel was totally vaporized, speeding up the burn time to the point that he could ignite the fuel/air mixture well after TDC, with the result that he was getting 2 ½ horse power per cubic inch and incredible mileage. Politics pretty much kept him from promoting this work any further than he did.

I got to go now, but thanks for taking the time to reply.

Have a nice day!
Marcus Franklin
 

The following letter was written to NEVC Executive Director, Phil Lampert.

Thank you

Mr. Lampert,

Received both e-mails, thanks!  Enjoyed our phone call  today-- you provided excellent info on RVP and effect of ethanol.  

I also spoke with Curtis Donaldson of CFT in Georgetown, TX.  He was also very helpful. 

Thanks again,
Kirk

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

NEVC Calendar

 

April 28-29, 2003
Power Crops for America Conference in Miami, FL.  For more information, contact Kelly Chapman at kelly.chapman@informa.com or conferences@fo-licht.com.  Visit www.fo-licht.com for a complete conference brochure. 

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.

June 24-26, 2003
 IMEAC 2003 Conference in Portland, OR at the Oregon Convention Center.  For more information, email Dave Eckberg at help@imeac.org or call (800)315-4333.  

July 30 – August 1, 2003
American Coalition for Ethanol’s Annual Meeting & Ethanol Conference at the Sioux Falls Convention Center in Sioux Falls, SD.  For more information, visit www.ethanol.org/conference.htm or email wsburen@ethanol.org.

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.