Tired of high gas prices? Try corn© 2000 MSNBC
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
June 23, 2000
June 23 — Hundreds of thousands of Americans are driving cars that could be filled with a corn-based fuel that currently costs 50 cents a gallon less than unleaded gasoline. The industry that makes this fuel, called ethanol, hopes the latest gas crunch will drive motorists to their product, but there is a big obstacle: So far, only 100 or so stations nationwide sell it.
Take Jim Accalee, who was filling up at the Gas City station on Chicago’s North Side. Told the station also sells an ethanol mix known as E85 for $1.76 a gallon — compared with unleaded at $2.23 — he said even if his vehicle could use E85 he would hesitate because he knows little about it. “That might be why most people aren’t buying it now,” he added.
That’s a situation proponents of ethanol-based fuels like E85 want to change. And they figure current high gas prices are the ideal opportunity to take the offensive.
John Van Pelt, a consultant working for E85 proponents, said many people own “flexible fuel” vehicles that can use either ethanol-based fuel or gasoline but are unaware of that capacity. “We’re having a difficult time getting the public educated about these vehicles,” he said. “They come from the factory that way. Generally, dealers don’t even know about it.”
Besides the cost advantage — which could easily evaporate if gasoline prices fall back to last year’s levels — industry and government officials cite other benefits. Ethanol emits far fewer emissions than gasoline, particularly when it comes to carbon dioxide, a key “greenhouse” gas many scientists fear is warming the Earth.
Moreover, supporters note, ethanol is produced domestically, helping farmers hurt by lower prices for their traditional crops. And that also helps those local economies, while reducing dependence on foreign oil.
But ethanol also has its detractors, particularly some U.S. lawmakers opposed to federal subsidies for farmers who grow corn for the ethanol industry. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., made it a campaign issue when he was running for the GOP nomination, arguing it was a waste of taxpayer money.
And automakers underscore the drawbacks. “Producing ethanol in large volumes would drive up the prices of both the fuel and its source crops,” the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers says on its Web site.
“Dedicating huge amounts of cropland to fuel production could have negative ecological effects,” it said, and ethanol cars get 75 percent to 90 percent of the mileage of a gasoline vehicle with the same size fuel tank.
‘FLEXIBLE FUEL’ VEHICLES
Still, the industry has built hundreds of thousands of flexible fuel vehicles because of federal and state requirements for lower emissions.
The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition estimates 1 million of these cars are on the road. Van Pelt said there’s a simple way for anyone who wonders if their vehicle can use E85 to find out: Check the owner’s manual.
lexible-fuel vehicles on the road include:
Chrysler, Plymouth and Dodge minivans with a 3.3-liter V-6 engine made from 1998 to the present.
Ford Ranger pickups with a 3-liter V-6 made from 1999 to the present.
General Motors Chevy S-10 and Sonoma pickups with 4-cylinder engines starting with the 2000 model.
Some Ford Taurus cars made between 1996 and 1999 are flexible fuel vehicles.
In addition, GM earlier this month said it would begin selling flexible fuel sports utility vehicles and trucks in 2002.
FEW STATIONS
But most owners of these flexible fuel cars couldn’t try E85 even if they wanted to. That’s because only about 100 stations in the country — including about 10 in Chicago — sell the fuel. Minnesota has the lion’s share, 31 stations. And the vast majority are in the Midwest, closest to the nation’s corn fields and ethanol mills.
Gas City, the Chicago station, began selling E85 to accommodate the U.S. Postal Service, which uses some flexible-fuel vehicles. Paul Torstrick, a vice president of the company that owns the station, said skyrocketing gas prices are stirring some interest among regular motorists with flexible fuel vehicles.
Larry Cunningham, a senior vice president at ethanol producer Archer Daniels Midland, said he believes E85 will always be competitively priced with — and hopefully cheaper than — gasoline, even if gas prices drop.
He said the ethanol industry hopes that most vehicles will eventually roll off the production line with the flexible-fuel option. “I think the momentum is moving in that direction,” he said.
Phil Lampert, head of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, agrees and notes that DaimlerChrysler, Ford and GM are strong supporters of the coalition.
“The paradigm we need to break,” he adds, “is to make E85 available.” And that becomes an issue of why more stations don’t carry it.
“Most of the gas stations in this country are owned by what we call Big Oil,” he argues, “and all they want to sell are petroleum products.”
The oil industry disagrees, saying it needs the demand to be there before it will supply more pumps.
That’s where Lampert hopes the public, especially those whose cars can use ethanol, will go to their gas stations and demand the ethanol option.
The coalition is focusing its efforts on getting ethanol pumps in Chicago, Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Their strategy is to try to get independent stations to install the pumps and then spread the word to other independents around the country.
Lampert acknowledges that ethanol is not a perfect fuel but he emphasizes it should be seen as one of the “opportunity fuels” on the road to a power source that’s harmless and inexpensive.
HOW ETHANOL WORKS
Ethanol is an alcohol, and is usually made much like beer is. Starch crops like corn are converted into sugars, the sugars are fermented into ethanol, and then the ethanol is distilled into its final form.
E85 contains 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, which is needed because it has a higher vapor pressure than ethanol, making it easier for an engine to start in cold weather.
In addition some “reformulated” gas, which is required in areas with severe smog, uses 10 percent ethanol as an additive to cut harmful emissions.
Cunningham said making E85 is as simple as pouring the liquids together.
Ford spokesman Scott Jensen said flexible fuel vehicles use the same fuel system as regular cars and trucks, but some parts are made from more durable materials and the oxygen-to-fuel ratio is a little different. He said drivers using E85 might lose up to two miles per gallon in fuel efficiency but will see an improvement in horsepower.
“Essentially, the way these E85 vehicles are built is for them to be completely invisible to the customer,” he said. “Your everyday customer is not going to notice the difference.”
In the “flexible fuel” Ford Ranger, for example, a sensor in the engine measures the ethanol and gasoline content of the fuel and adjusts the fuel injectors continuously while it is running.
MSNBC.com’s Miguel Llanos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.