By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

HARRISON, Ohio — Cars and trucks may be operating on corncobs some day, but right now Gerald “Bud” Herbert, owner of Bud Herbert Motors, a John Deere dealership, would like to have E-85 at a nearby fuel center. He bought a new truck last year.

“I bought a flex-fuel truck so I could use E85,” Herbert said. “I think using ethanol is good for the country. It burns cleaner. It’s about the same price. It’s a local thing and it’s a renewable fuel.”
Trouble is the new local gas station doesn’t carry E85.

“They built a new Kroger store in Harrison with a fuel center, and it doesn’t have ethanol,” Herbert said.

Ohio has around 60 E85 pumps around the state, said Tadd Nicholson, director of government affairs with the Ohio Corn Growers Assoc. “That number has increased slowly – not at the speed we would like it to have done.”

One reason is that Ohio was late getting into the ethanol production business, said Mark Borer, general manager, POET Biorefining-Leipsic. That plant was the first in Ohio, opening in January 2008.

Iowa, South Dakota, Illinois, and other states had a head start on ethanol production and have their infrastructure in place. And infrastructure needs have evolved.

“One of the things we believe is that the consumer should be able to choose what level of ethanol they want to put in their vehicle,” Borer said. “There was a study done a year and a half ago that showed that some vehicles actually performed better in terms of gas mileage with a specific blend whether it be E-20 or E-30 and it depended on the vehicle.”

That led to a strong push for “blend pumps,” which will mean that the consumer can select the amount of ethanol that they want to put in their fuel tank whether it be E85 for flex fuel vehicles, or E10, E20 or E30, Borer said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing to approve E15 at the completion of ongoing tests to determine if existing vehicles, gas pumps and tanks can handle up to 15 percent ethanol, Nicholson said. An announcement is expected in June of 2010.

However, if E15 is approved it will not be a mandate, Borer said. 
“It permits the refineries to blend 15 percent,” he said. “We believe you should have the opportunity to purchase zero percent ethanol if that is what you need.”

Despite infrastructure problems, ethanol use has continued to increase. Funding for fuel retailers for infrastructure in the amount of $1.5 million is in the state budget, Nicholson said.
This country is approaching the point where 10 percent of all gasoline that is put into fuel tanks is ethanol, although many people are not aware of that, Borer said. It used to be called “gasohol,” but then was declared substantially similar to gasoline so that label was dropped.

“Last year Growth Energy, a national ethanol advocacy group, submitted a Green Jobs Waiver to the EPA, Borer said. “What that means is, if we were to go to a 15 percent blend we’ll add 136,000 jobs, do all of the great things for the environment and energy independence, and nobody would notice it just like not everyone knows they’re using 10 percent.”

Plus, the technology for producing ethanol is changing almost daily, Borer said. An early study, often referred to, said that it took more energy to produce ethanol than was saved.

“Nobody really contends anymore that that is the case,” Borer said. “It’s just simply not true.

“If you look at what it is taking us to get the additional petroleum we need we would contend that what it takes to get petroleum out of the ground in terms of energy used continues to grow and ours (use of energy) is shrinking,” he added.

Cellulosic fiber is a big part of that. POET is in the process of launching a cellulosic ethanol operation.

“We’re taking an existing plant and adding 25 million gallons per year that will be produced from corncobs,” Borer said. “Corncobs don’t have any nutritional value when they break down into the fields; this will be getting 25 million gallons for nothing.”
That plant is in Iowa, Borer said, but Ohio plants were constructed with the potential to do that someday.

So, hang onto that truck, Mr. Herbert. E85 will be coming to a pump near you soon.