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FUEL FOR DEBATE; Backers Want More Ethanol at Pumps, but Some Experts Disagree

Posted on: Sunday, 5 February 2006, 15:00 CST

By RICK BARRETT

For more than a year, Mahlon Mitchell did not realize that his Chevy Tahoe sport utility vehicle was capable of burning E85, a fuel that's 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.

He bought the Tahoe two years ago, with 25,000 miles on it, and the previous owner never said anything about using fuel refined from corn. Only recently did he learn, from an employee of the state Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Department, that his Tahoe was E85-capable.

Mitchell, of the Madison suburb of Verona, was far from alone.

One national study showed that 70% of the owners of so-called "E85 vehicles" weren't aware they could use ethanol as an alternative to unleaded gasoline. General Motors Corp. has produced a large share of the 6 million "flexible fuel" vehicles that are on the road, but the company hasn't done a lot to promote them.

"GM is pushing this now for a couple of reasons, including the fact that they have more E85 SUVs and pickups than anyone else," said Joseph Wiesenfelder, senior producer at Cars.com, a Web site for automobile enthusiasts.

"GM also was accused of being caught with its pants down" when it came to producing gasoline-electric hybrids, he said.

It's a lot cheaper and simpler for automakers to build an E85- capable vehicle than a hybrid. Cars and trucks that use high blends of ethanol are nearly identical to standard, gasoline-only models, except for slightly modified engine components including a fuel system that can handle both types of fuel.

Mitchell recently started using 85% ethanol fuel in his Tahoe. The vehicle's fuel mileage dropped, but a lower price for the biofuel, which often is 30 cents per gallon cheaper than unleaded gasoline, has offset it.

"It seems like the engine has a little more power" when using ethanol, Mitchell said.

Few gas stations

The problem is that there are only about 30 gasoline stations in Wisconsin that sell E85, with another 10 stations coming this year. Nationwide, there are only 608 locations selling the fuel out of 165,000 gasoline stations.

Thus, most people with E85-capable vehicles are forced to buy gasoline instead of the high-ethanol blend.

Oil companies have blocked the use of E85 by not allowing their retail outlets to carry the fuel, state Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen said. In most cases, he added, the oil companies have used franchise agreements to keep vendors from selling biofuel.

"We were told of one case where a gas station owner was threatened with non-delivery of gasoline if he put in an E85 pump," Nilsestuen said. "Big oil companies are throwing everything they have" into slowing the growth of alternative fuels.

Backers of ethanol said it's a clean-burning fuel that reduces greenhouse gases, provides steady income for Midwest farmers, and reduces the nation's dependency on foreign oil.

"We are building a renewable energy market here," Nilsestuen said.

Not everyone agrees that ethanol is a viable, renewable fuel.

Oil companies aren't to blame for E85's not being widely accepted, said Erin Roth, executive director of the Wisconsin Petroleum Council.

Oil companies object to E85 because it's not their branded product, yet they could be liable if something went wrong with the fuel, Roth said.

"We could get sued if somebody drives up to one of our stations in a Corvette, mistakenly fills the tank with E85, and the car's engine burns up. E85 is not our product, and yet we would be expected to guarantee it," Roth said.

Wisconsin has four ethanol refineries, with two more scheduled to be operating this year. The state also has a plethora of stainless- steel fabricators that have benefited from a national boom in building ethanol refineries.

Wisconsin grows enough corn to supply 10% of its gasoline needs, with ethanol, this year, according to Nilsestuen.

"When you spend a buck on ethanol, 70 cents stays in the state," he said. "The money circulates through our economy and produces $20- per-hour jobs at ethanol plants. But when you spend a dollar on gasoline, 70 cents of that goes out of the state."

No energy benefit'

Critics said the billions of dollars in ethanol subsidies nationwide are not justified.

Turning corn, soybeans and sunflowers into ethanol uses more energy than the resulting fuel generates, according to a study from Cornell University and the University of California-Berkley.

"There is just no energy benefit to using plant biomass for liquid fuel," said David Pimentel, professor of agriculture and ecology at Cornell.

It takes a large amount of energy to grow corn, including energy from machinery, fertilizers, herbicides, irrigation and transportation. There are also environmental costs because corn uses nitrogen fertilizer that contributes to water pollution, according to Pimentel.

"Major air and water pollution problems are associated with the production of ethanol in chemical plants. The EPA has issued warnings to ethanol plants to reduce their air pollution emissions or be shut down," he said, referring to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Using corn to make ethanol also raises ethical issues, according to Pimentel, partly because the crop takes up land that could be used for food production.

"Some politicians mistakenly believe that ethanol production provides large benefits for farmers, when in fact farmer profits are minimal," he said.

Large corporations, such as Archer Daniels Midland Corp., are making profits from ethanol that's subsidized by states and the federal government.

According to Nilsestuen, Pimentel's objections are based on old data.

"It's really misleading to raise the energy debate" when oil imports are so expensive, he said.

Corn that's grown for ethanol serves a dual purpose: Once the energy is extracted to make fuel, what remains can be turned into food, he said.

"It isn't taking away food from people or livestock," Nilsestuen said. "We have an opportunity to grow our livestock feed industry as a result of new ethanol plants."

Nearly half the vehicle fuel sold in Wisconsin contains a 10% blend of ethanol, with most of it used in the Milwaukee area because of air pollution regulations. The state Legislature is debating whether to require the use of a 10% ethanol blend in 87-octane unleaded gas statewide.

"Ethanol production has incredible growth potential here," Nilsestuen said. "When it comes to our energy future, we should rely on the Midwest, not the Middle East."

Mandating fuel

Oil companies are nervous about states writing laws that require the use of fuels such as E85 or biodiesel. For one thing, it's a competing product that would cut into their revenue.

"We don't like to see any alternative fuel mandated," Roth said. "Let the marketplace decide what fuels, and what fuel mixtures, are out there rather than having them shoved down our throats."

GM is to offer nine models of vehicles with E85 capability this year. Ford Motor Co. has said that it will produce 250,000 ethanol- capable vehicles, including the F-150 pickup truck, Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car.

GM is launching an aggressive advertising campaign for its E85 cars and trucks. The campaign, called "Live Green Go Yellow," is to be launched during the Winter Olympics and focus on the benefits of using corn as a renewable fuel.

The Tahoe is made at GM's Janesville assembly plant. GM has lent one of the E85-capable Tahoes to the state Agriculture Department as part of an ethanol promotion. Gena Cooper, the state's agricultural ambassador known as Alice in Dairyland, drives the SUV.

Barb Knapp, a department employee, drives a Chrysler minivan that's E85-capable. She uses the van for daily transportation and to carry a harp to music lessons. She also drives a moped as part of her effort to save fuel and help the environment.

Knapp, who uses the high-ethanol blend when it's available, said her minivan has performed well with it.

"I can tell the exhaust has a different smell," she said. "The smell is lighter, something like corn."

To find out whether your vehicle is E85-capable, or to find out the locations of E85 fueling stations, go to www.e85fuel.com.

Copyright 2006, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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