E-85 fuel flowing at Columbus station

May 17, 2008 06:34 pm

— By Mike Surbrugg
msurbrugg@joplinglobe.com
COLUMBUS., Kan. — The yellow-brick road is now the yellow hose to pump E-85 fuel into vehicles at a service station on the west side of Columbus.
The station owned and operated by Farmers Cooperative Association at Columbus. Pumps offer the 85 percent ethanol fuel with 15 percent petroleum, unleaded fuel (10 percent ethanol), clear (road) diesel and “red” diesel that is dyed red and can be sold only for off-road use such as for large lawn mowers or farm equipment.
The station is the first in the Columbus area to offer E-85 fuel, said the cooperative’s general manager, Marilyn Shouse. Getting ethanol from production sites to service station pumps has been a slow process.
The cooperative’s board approved a new enterprise to sell fuel to the public. The cooperative in November 2007 purchased the former Lopp Oil Co. and made various updates to the station.
It is a Cenex service station. Cenex is based in Minneapolis, Minn., and has a refinery at Coffeyville. No fuel is blended at the service station, Shouse said.
The cooperative does blend soybean oil with petroleum to generate soydiesel at its other location in Columbus. This fuel that has up to 20 percent soybean oil is only sold for delivery to farms.
“We are looking for a way to blend the soydiesel at the retail pump location,” Shouse said. Bulk fuel tanks are at each location and will continue to be used for farm deliveries. Farmers are the major source of the cooperative’s fuel business.
Shouse estimates the cooperative will sell more than a million gallons of all types of fuel this year combined from sales at pumps and at farm deliveries.
The cooperative has 3,500 members, she said. Members elect nine board members from their numbers. Scott Jarrett, Baxter Springs, is board president.
The retail station sells all of its fuel blends to the public.
Shouse said that vehicle owners must check their Vehicle Identification Number, their owner’s manual or their dealership to determine whether their vehicle can use E-85 fuel.
Brian Clugston, manager of the new service station, said the E-85 fuel is designed for use in flex-fuel vehicles.
Price is a key factor because E-85 may get three to four less miles per gallon than unleaded fuel, Shouse said. The station’s pump price for E-85 last week was 70 cents a gallon below that for unleaded fuel.
The pump price was $3.69 a gallon for unleaded (with 10 percent ethanol), E-85, $2.99; clear diesel, $4.30; and red diesel, $3.80. A road tax of 50 cents a gallon is not charged for red diesel.
On the grand-opening day, Cherokee County Farm Bureau paid customers $1 a gallon for up to 20 gallons when they purchased E-85 and the cooperative took another 30 cents off the price.
Board member Ron Westervelt, Columbus, said the nine board members are farmers who combine to farm 25,000 acres to grow corn, soybeans and wheat.
If any local corn is in the fuel is not known. Farmers sell grain into the market and the market sells it to the highest bidders.
Among those buying E-85 on Wednesday was Estel Carter, Columbus. “This is the first car I’ve owned that can use it. I plan on using it,” he said.
Frieda Lancaster, rural Columbus, has used E-85 fuel in her vehicle for two weeks. “I like it and my car runs just fine. I see no difference in it from other fuel,” she said.
Bobby Soper, Columbus, is turning to E-85 because of price.
The truck at the head of a line of vehicles waiting for the pumps to open at 11 a.m. Wednesday was driven by Ted Wary, Columbus.
Wary discounted claims that the nation lacks corn to feed fuel pumps and livestock.
For the long run, he expects ethanol to be made from cellulose rather than from grain crops. “It can be done,” he said. “Scientists are perfecting the system.”
Ethanol is driving the price of corn up to about $5 a bushel; that is double the price in recent years.


Differential
E-85 needs to be 70 cents a gallon less expensive to have equal value with unleaded fuel, authorities say.

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