By NANCY LYBARGER
Indiana Correspondent

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Ag officials and the mayor of Evansville think having more ethanol-high gas pumps is good for the country, good for the economy, good for environment and excellent for corn producers.

At the Dec. 18 opening of the first E85 gas pump in Evansville, Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel said his office has been exploring the use of E85 fuel in city vehicles.

“Now we can,” he said, noting that E85 is important in that it reduces the United States’ dependence on foreign oil and cuts down on emissions into the atmosphere, and most of the time will cost less to fuel municipal cars and trucks.

Weinzapfel said he called the Central Indiana Clean Cities Alliance (CICCA) 18 months ago, asking what it would take to get an E85 pump in Evansville. Kellie Walsh, CICCA executive director, worked with Weinzapfel’s office, CountryMark cooperatives and Superior Ag Resources Co-Op, Inc. to bring the 85 percent ethanol fuel to Evansville’s northwest side.

Walsh told the group at the grand opening of the pump that it is not only significant that Evansville has an E85 pump, but that it completes the western Indiana corridor. “Flex Fuel drivers can travel from Gary to Evansville on E85 if they want to,” she said.

This makes the second “corridor” where drivers can find E85, Walsh said. In October, Interstate 65 was officially designated a “biofuels corridor” for an 866-mile stretch from Gary, Ind., to Mobile, Ala. The new pump is located at the Superior Ag Resources Co-operative, a locally-owned farmer co-op that sells CountryMark fuels, at the corner of St. Joe and Mill roads on Evansville’s north side.

It is the fourth in the Superior Ag group, with other pumps at Huntingburg, Princeton, and Boonville, ac-cording to Rick Madden, a Superior Ag Petroleum Divi-sion Manager. He said it is the 13th pump in Indiana fueled by CountryMark. There are 120 statewide under other providers.

Walsh said Indiana’s first E85 pump opened in May 2004 in Terre Haute. Opening the E85 pumps is important, according to Madden, be-cause it reduces dependence on foreign fuels, is cleaner burning and supports corn growers. He added there are 1,700 flex fuel vehicles in Vanderburgh County, where Evansville is its seat (there are 63,000 statewide and 6.8 million in the U.S.).

Weinzapfel said the fuel fits in with his office’s attempt to make the city greener, since E85 is purportedly cleaner than other fuels in emissions and for engine care. Jon Lantz, CountryMark’s vice president of marketing, said E85 is a logical fit for the company.
“CountryMark is the only American-owned fuel company,” he told the group gathered for the ribbon cutting ceremony. “We’re committed to ethanol.”

He said the company launched its Plus line in August. “Each grade has three unique attributes: all the crude is American; every gallon has the proprietary performance package; and every gallon has 10 percent ethanol,” he said. “The U.S. imports 60 percent of its liquid fuels. Ethanol extends the pool of American energy.”

For the past several months, the price of E85 has been lower than that of 87 octane, Lantz said. Since gas prices are a trading function, he said that in the future on some days it may be more expensive to burn E85, and less on others. For now, Superior Ag has pledged to keep the price at the E85 pump within 4 cents of 87 octane.

Vanderburgh County corn producer and Indiana Farm Bureau Vice President Randy Kron said he has been waiting for an E85 pump in Evansville. “I burn E85 any time I can. You’ll see me here quite a bit,” he said.

He said ethanol is good for the U.S. economy. It’s American grown, processed and delivered, he said. Becoming energy independent is a goal the U.S. should pursue, according to Kron. Walsh said it took Brazil 30 years to become independent of outside fuel sources.
“It was a hard trip and really expensive,” Kron said, “but it works well now.”

Kron said it is important for U.S. policy makers to remember renewable fuels, even as petroleum prices are lower. “We can’t let fuel prices drive our commitment to renewable fuels. We have to stay the course,” he said.

December 31, 2008