• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Rising Energy Prices Move Ethanol Debate to Back Burner As Production Ramps Up

Posted on: Wednesday, 20 July 2005, 15:01 CDT

Jul. 19--A long-standing debate over ethanol's economic efficiency and energy attributes is evaporating under the pressure of fast-rising oil and gasoline prices.

In Colorado, the proof is in new manufacturing facilities to serve increasing demand.

Three ethanol plants under development on the Eastern Plains -- in Sterling, Windsor and Evans -- will push the state from virtually zero production to become one of the nation's top 10 ethanol producers by the end of 2006, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.

Still, there is debate about ethanol's energy efficiency.

Proponents claim that ethanol -- made mostly from corn -- is a cost-effective, cleaner-burning fuel that lessens the need to import petroleum.

Opponents say ethanol takes more energy to produce than it yields, lessens automotive fuel mileage and wouldn't be economically efficient without a federal tax credit of 51 cents per gallon.

Colorado gasoline blenders use about 100 million gallons of ethanol a year, most of it to produce the 90-10 gasoline-ethanol mix found at most gas pumps.

That mix has been required in Colorado for years as a winter blend to reduce carbon monoxide emissions.

Now, most dealers are using 10 percent ethanol in their gasoline year-round because of its cost advantage.

A smaller use -- with large growth potential -- is a mix of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, known as E85, that can be used in "flex-fuel" vehicles.

About 40,000 vehicles in Colorado are made to run on E85. The drawback, analysts say, is that many of the cars' owners aren't aware of the dual fuel capability.

Highlands Ranch computer consultant Pete Monfiletto discovered a few months ago that his 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe is flex-fuel, designed to run on ethanol, gasoline or any combination of the two.

He has been fueling recently at a Conoco station at South Broadway and Alameda Avenue, where E85's price is about 40 cents less than regular gasoline.

"I gave it a shot and it works really great," Monfiletto said.

Gasoline wholesalers are paying about $1.35 to $1.50 a gallon for ethanol compared with $1.70 a gallon for gasoline.

Even though Colorado's average retail gasoline price last week reached a record high of $2.30, energy analysts say ethanol's cheaper price is helping to keep a lid on gasoline costs.

Except for a small amount produced by Coors Brewing Co. from spent beer grain, most of Colorado's ethanol comes from Midwestern producers.

However, three ethanol plants under development in Colorado initially will produce about 140 million gallons a year, turning the state into an ethanol exporter.

Sterling Ethanol LLC is nearing completion of a 42 million-gallon-a-year plant in Sterling, owned mostly by local farmers and cattle feeders.

Two other plants -- Great Western Ethanol and Front Range Energy LLC, both in Weld County -- are proposing a combined 97 million gallons of ethanol production annually. Neither plant has begun construction.

"We see it as a major boon to agriculture with benefits to consumers as well," said Jim Geist, a spokesman for the proposed Great Western Ethanol plant.

Research from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden shows a clear economic plus.

"When you see the costs we're paying for fossil fuels, there's definitely a new competitive interest in ethanol," said John Sheehan, senior research engineer of the National Bioenergy Center, a unit of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Sheehan's research shows that ethanol production is energy-efficient, producing 100 British thermal units of renewable energy for every 75 units of fossil energy used in its manufacture.

One of the leading skeptics of ethanol's efficiency is Cornell University researcher David Pimentel, who said ethanol production from corn yields a 29 percent net loss in energy.

AUTOMAKERS' MODELS BUILT TO RUN ON E85

Flexible-fuel vehicles are designed to run on any ethanol fuel blend up to 85 percent ethanol. Among the new vehicles with these engines as standard equipment:

DAIMLERCHRYSLER: Dodge Ram 1500 series pickup

--Dodge Stratus

--Chrysler Sebring

--Caravan/Grand Caravan SE*

FORD: Explorer Sport Trac**

--Explorer (four-door)**

--Taurus sedan and wagon (two-valve)**

GENERAL MOTORS: Vortec-engine Avalanche

--V-8 engine Chevy Silverado**

--V-8 engine GMC Sierra**

--Vortec-engine Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon and Yukon XLs

MERCEDES-BENZ: C240 sedan, wagon

--C320 sedan, wagon

MERCURY: 4.0L Mountaineer*

NISSAN: DOHC V8 engine

*-fleet vehicles only

**-selected vehicles

Source: www.E85fuel.com

COLORADO E85 PUMPS

Aurora: Acorn Store, 13690 E. Colfax Ave.

Bennett: Roggen Farmer Elevator Association, 555 Colfax Ave.

Brush: Acorn Store, 1041 N. Colorado Ave.

Colorado Springs: Acorn Food Store, 305 S. 8th St.

Denver: Barns Conoco No. 11, 295 S. Broadway

Greeley: Cenex Ampride, 1607 Second Ave.

Lakewood: Shell, 12410 W. Alameda Parkway

Pueblo: Acorn Food Store, 108 Baxter Road

Watkins: Tomahawk Truck Stop, Interstate 70 and Watkins

Yuma: Equity Co-Operative Oil Co., 600 E. Eighth Ave.

Source: www.E85fuel.com

-----

To see more of The Denver Post, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.denverpost.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Denver Post

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

COP, TAP, DCX, 7663, F, GM, NSANY, 7201, RNO,

Source: The Denver Post

More News in this Category