Blend Your Own Ethanol Campaign Launched
Campaign goal is to install 5,000 blender pumps over next three years.
Jason Vance
Published: Aug 12, 2009
The American Coalition for Ethanol, the Renewable Fuels Association and several state corn boards unveiled the "Blend Your Own Ethanol" campaign or BYOethanol on Tuesday. Darrin Ihnen, First Vice President of the National Corn Growers Association says the goal of the national campaign is to see 5,000 blender pumps installed nationwide over the next three years.
"I'm proud that my fellow growers from so many states have seen the need to support renewable fuel infrastructure and are partnering on this national campaign to increase the availability of ethanol to consumers," said Ihnen. "Just like ethanol plants give us more choices for where to sell our crops, blender pumps give drivers more choices at the pump. When given the choice, we believe American motorists will choose ethanol."
Ihnen says that if ethanol doesn't have a market the industry is not going to be successful and therefore the research and investment needed for cellulosic ethanol is not going to happen. This campaign will work directly with petroleum marketers to educate them on the benefits of ethanol and blender pumps and how these can benefit their bottom line.
"If we present petroleum marketers with the facts about why this is a good business decision — and it is a good business decision — they will consider adding blender pumps to their stations," said Ron Lamberty, Vice President of Market Development for the American Coalition for Ethanol. "Now our job is to get this information out to as many of them as possible, and we've already begun doing that."
Lamberty says that blender pumps are the most cost effective way to make more renewable fuels available to more motorists and provide the opportunity to blend E85 and gasoline to make E10 as well as midlevel blends such as E20, E30 and E40. Currently there are nearly 200 blender pumps in use in the United States.
"It's time for a national campaign to get this infrastructure in the ground and get consumers the choices they deserve," said Robert White, Director of Market Development for the Renewable Fuels Association. "No matter where their station is located, retailers will have a wide variety of options to increase their profit margin while lowering the cost for consumers." Ihnen says he realizes 5,000 new blender pumps is an aggressive goal, but with the expertise of the people leading BYOethanol he is confident that it will happen.
Permalink: Click here
Tagged: ethanol, National Corn Growers Association, cellulosic ethanol
|