The ethanol option: More using E85 mix, which is cheaper than pure gasoline

At $2.94 per gallon, Patricia Ann Smith pumped the E85 blend of gasoline and ethanol into her 2001 white Ford Ranger on Wednesday.

"It's been a great money-saver for me," Smith said as she kept an eye on the amount of fuel she was putting into her vehicle at the Rhodes 101 convenience store at South Sprigg Street and Highway 74 in Cape Girardeau. "Instead of using that money on gas, I can spend it on more things I need, like food. So far, I've been pleased with the results since I began using it earlier this year."

The combination of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline is gaining more users since it was introduced in the last few years. Ethanol is an alcohol-based renewable fuel with the aim of increasing octane and improving the emission quality of gasoline. The fuel is made from agricultural products, generally corn.

When MFA Oil Co. in Perryville, Mo., began offering E85 18 months ago, it sold 100 gallons per week. Now it sells 1,000 to 1,500 gallons weekly.

"As word has gotten out, more people have been driving long distances just to fill up on this cheaper gasoline," store manager Mike Yamnitz said. "People are seeing this is a viable option because it's a clean, efficient fuel."

Perryville is one of only 30 stations within a 200-mile radius of Cape Girardeau that sell E85. Of the 30 stations owned by Rhodes 101, only the South Sprigg Street location in Cape Girardeau sells the fuel. Rhodes 101 president Keith Boeller said E85 fuel containers were installed when the store opened in late 2006.

Boeller said offering consumers the option made good business sense at the time.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.com Whitney Wiseman filled up her 2007 Jeep Cherokee with E85 fuel Friday at Rhodes 101 on South Sprigg Street in Cape Girardeau. Wiseman, who lives in Marble Hill, Mo., and works in Cape Girardeau, said her vehicle has lost only 1 mile per gallon in fuel efficiency with E85.

"It was obviously something that created a great deal of interest with folks at the time, and we've seen that interest gain momentum nearly one-and-a-half years later," Boeller said. "Since there have been some economic issues with regular gasoline since we installed E85, this is an option that more and more people are preferring. But even with the gained interest, it still hasn't been as big a seller as regular gasoline."

Currently, E85 fuel can be used in flexible-fuel vehicles. Because it is more corrosive than gasoline, E85 should not be used in standard vehicles.

Car manufacturers warn that repairs to a standard vehicle filled with E85 might outweigh the savings at the pump. New injectors, fuel lines and rubber seals in the engine could cost thousands of dollars.

Gene Dewrock, a salesman at Ford Groves car dealership in Cape Girardeau, advised consumers to research if their vehicles are E85 compatible. He said ones that are compatible have distinct marks such as the Flex Fuel label inside the fuel doors and windows or a yellow gas cap. The dealership's compatible vehicles are certain years of Ford F-150s, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Cars.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.com For many, the cost benefit of E85 is greater than the fuel efficiency lost with the fuel.

"But consumers also have to take into account whether it would be worth it to buy a Flex Fuel vehicle," Dewrock said. "Though it's great for the environment and farmers, there needs to be a considerable difference between the price of regular and E85 fuel in order for the consumer to break even. If it's not, there won't be any savings because while E85 is cheaper, cars which use it generally don't get very good gas mileage."

The Web site fueleconomy.gov compared the mileage of 2008 models using E85 versus regular gasoline. A Chrysler Sebring Convertible got 26 miles per gallon with gasoline and 19 with E85. A Lincoln Town Car that got 23 miles per gallon with gasoline only got 16 with E85, and a Ford F-150's 19 miles per gallon with gasoline fell to 14 with E85.

According to the Missouri Corn Growers Association, fuel economy loss varies between 10 and 20 percent for vehicles using E85. However, the fuel usually sells for at least 40 to 60 cents a gallon less than regular unleaded, offsetting the mileage penalty.

And that, Yamnitz said, is one reason customers have driven as many as 40 miles to buy E85 fuel from his station. Because only a handful of stations within a 100-mile radius sell E85 gas, his station has been a popular place to fill up. The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition reported on its Web site that 1,587 stations in the United States sell E85 fuel, including 95 in Missouri.

Organizations like the Missouri Corn Growers Association claim E85, in addition to be being a cheaper option for motorists, also could be less harmful to the environment.

E85 burns cleaner than gasoline, reducing ozone-forming pollution by more than 15 percent, carbon monoxide by 40 percent, greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent and overall air toxins by 40 percent, according to the association's Web site.

Affecting acreage

However, other groups believe the fuel may have a negative economic effect.

University of Minnesota professors C. Ford Runge and Benjamin Senauer published in 2007 results from a survey in the government magazine Foreign Affairs in which they found ethanol production could increase the price of corn by 20 percent by 2010 and 41 percent by 2020. That could affect other crops as farmers convert fields to corn because of the economic potential of ethanol production.

"In the United States, the growth of the biofuel industry has triggered increases not only in the prices of corn, oil seeds and other grains but also in the prices of seemingly unrelated crops and products," they wrote in the magazine. "The use of land to grow corn to feed the ethanol maw is reducing the acreage devoted to other crops. Food processors who use crops such as peas and sweet corn have been forced to pay higher prices to keep their supplies secure, costs that will eventually be passed on to consumers."

With the recent flooding throughout the Midwest this year, agriculturalists speculate thousands of acres of corn could be destroyed and affect ethanol production, The Associated Press reported last week. Last year corn was about $4 a bushel; the price is $8 now and could rise depending on the effects of flooding.

Regardless of the differing opinions, both sides agree E85 will be an issue for the nation's economy for years to come.

"As fuel-flexible vehicles are becoming more prevalent, the need for E85 fuel will increase as well," Yamnitz said. "While it will never replace regular gasoline, it will play a very important part of our petroleum needs in the future."

bblackwell@semissiourian.com

335-6611, extension 137

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E85 stations in Southeast Missouri

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