E85 is My Favorite Station. I Listen to it All the Time!
By Trent Loos

Recently, I accompanied Kyle Bauer at the Power Plus gas station in Hays, KS for an E85 fuel promotion. We did a live radio show from the station and from the October Fest, which was held on the opposite end of town. We wanted to get the average consumer’s perception of ethanol. I was stopping attendees and asking them, “What do you think of E85?” This generated one of the most comical moments I have ever had on the air. One person said, “It is my favorite station. I listen to it all the time.”

The guy had no clue what E85 was, but I must applaud him for thinking so quickly on his feet. Ironically, the bigger issue is that he was in the majority. If you walk into any urban area and ask about E85, you will get a series of blank stares. To complicate matters even more, after you explain that E85 is a great fuel alternative then you have to ask if their automobile a “flex-fuel vehicle.” This is way too much for most people. They just want to go the pump and fill up their car for as little cash as possible.

Most of us in agriculture realize that E85 means the fuel is 85% ethanol, but there is no doubt that there will be a tremendous amount of education needed to tell this story. The real story is that this is a renewable fuel, produced on United States soil by United States farmers. Ethanol is very environmentally friendly. Robert White, Kansas Corn Commissions' Director of Value Added Programs, told of an E85 tanker that sprang a leak in the ocean. Since ethanol is alcohol, the only impact to the oceanic environment was a bunch of happy fish. E85 is cleaner burning and releases fewer emissions into the atmosphere.

Let’s take a closer look at the details of ethanol in bettering the environment. The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition reports that the U. S. imports more than half of its oil and overall consumption continues to increase. By supporting ethanol production and use, U.S. drivers can help reverse that trend. Using 85% ethanol fuel can reduce pollution. Government tests have shown that E85 vehicles reduce harmful hydrocarbon and benzene emissions when compared to vehicles running on gasoline. E85 can also reduce carbon dioxide (CO2), a harmful greenhouse gas and a major contributor to global warming.

So whether you spend one moment of your life worrying about global warming or not, that is a warm, fuzzy story that says, “Choose ethanol. It is the right thing to do.” Yet for all the environmental benefits we can get, I believe most consumers will just nod their head with a smile and ask, “But what will it cost me?”

I have found that even the most entrenched, self-proclaimed environmentalists want everyone else to change their consuming habits but they don’t want to spend an extra penny out of their own pockets. Since oil is now bringing $54 a barrel and people are paying well over $2 per gallon for fuel, we have the perfect opportunity to get the attention of consumers.

I do find it troubling, as a livestock producer, that I get a few harassing words about supporting the ethanol industry. Antagonists suggest that corn and grain sorghum prices will be forced upward if we continue to expand the ethanol industry at the current rate. I strongly disagree with that for a number of reasons. We all know that the ethanol manufacturing process generates high quality feedstuffs for livestock. Is there anything more important than sustaining our country with as many homegrown products as possible? Wouldn’t it be the cats meow if every consumer walked into a gas station and railed on the cashiers that didn’t offer American fuel, raised by the farmer down the road?

If we can convince consumers to get in the frame of mind of using homegrown grain to produce ethanol instead of buying foreign oil, we might get them thinking about where their meat and vegetables and produce comes from as well. So I challenge everyone to spread the word that E85 is your favorite station, and if one station doesn’t offer it, you fill up somewhere else.

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