Monday, August 02, 2010

Volume 1, Issue 16

Tell Leader Reid to Support the Harkin-Lugar Amendment

Dear Friends:

On Monday, the U.S. Senate will begin debate on a new energy bill introduced by Leader Harry Reid. Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) have offered an amendment that we strongly endorse — and we need your help getting the message to other senators that they should support this bill as well.

The Harkin-Luger amendment would do three things, all positive for the domestic ethanol industry:

• Mandate the production of Flex Fuel Vehicles;
• Require the installation of blender pumps to dispense mid- and high-level ethanol blends; and
• Create a federal loan guarantee program for pipelines to carry ethanol from production facilities to markets.

Bipartisan support for the Harkin-Lugar amendment is crucial. The timing is also crucial, because if Leader Reid is unable to cut off a filibuster next week, our next opportunity to address energy legislation in the Senate will be in September — after the month-long Congressional recess in August.

We need you to call your Senator and encourage them to endorse the Harkin-Lugar amendment. The more voices our senators hear in support of this legislation the more likely they will get behind it.

At Growth Energy's Action Center, you can find the contact information for your senator. Or call the Senate Switchboard at 202.224.3121 and remember to ask for both senators from your state.

Please call or email your senators today.

Sincerely,
Phil Lampert
Vice President, Market Development

Read Growth Energy's blog posts on RenewableEnergyWorld.com

Featured Links

• See if Your Vehicle is Ethanol Blend Compatible
• Find an Flex Fuel Station in Your Area

Growth Energy: Dresser Wayne Blender Pumps Receive Final Safety Certification

Growth Energy along with Dresser Wayne today announced that Underwriters Laboratory (UL) has issued certification to the dual hose ethanol blender available in Dresser Wayne Ovation eco fuel dispensers. This certification will help fuel retailers meet increasing demand for renewable fuel by dispensing mid to high ethanol blends along with conventional gasoline.

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Growth Energy Partners to Open First Blender Pump With Mid and High Level Ethanol West of the Rockie

Growth Energy has joined forces with Get Green LLC, Lucky Stop to offer the first blender pump offering mid and high levels of ethanol in the Southwest. Located at 8816 S Eastern in Las Vegas, NV, the site offers ethanol blends of E30 and E85.

Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy noted that the recent certification of Dresser Wayne and Gilbarco blender pumps by Underwriters Laboratory will help promote the installation of blender pumps across the country to help decrease our dependence on oil.

Read More >>

Minnesota Uses More E85 In State-Owned Vehicles

Minnesota’s state agencies continue to make steady progress in their effort to reduce the amount of petroleum consumed by publically-owned vehicles. During the first two quarters of the year, state agencies used 437,063 gallons of E85, a cleaner burning fuel consisting of up to 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. That represents a nearly 25 percent increase over the amount used during the same period in 2009, according to Tim Morse, chair of the SmartFleet Committee, a group tasked with helping agencies comply with Executive Order 04-10, issued by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

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Growth Energy Partners with Retailer in Las Vegas to Offer Higher Ethanol Blends

Growth Energy has joined forces with CJW Petroleum to offer E85 at 3870 Craig Road in North Las Vegas, NV. The station is located in close proximity to Nellis Air Force Base where numerous flexible fuel vehicles are stationed.

“There are tens of thousands of federal flex fuel vehicles that have never run on anything but conventional gasoline because they don’t have access to mid and high level blends of ethanol,” said Phil Lampert, V.P. of Market Development for Growth Energy. “We are working with partners across the nation to build out the infrastructure so flex fuel vehicle owners have a choice at the pump.”

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Dresser Wayne Reliance E-Series Dispensers Receive UL Certification for E85 Fuel

Dresser Wayne, a global innovator of fuel dispensers and technologies, announced today that its Reliance® E-Series fuel dispensers for retail and fleet applications received Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certification for dispensing ethanol up to E85. The Reliance E-Series dispenser’s UL certification follows the recent UL certification of the Dresser Wayne Ovation® Eco Fuel retail dispenser, and expands Dresser Wayne’s portfolio of compliant alternative-fuel offerings for both retail and fleet customers.

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Ethanol Frequent Fuel Card Available

This week, with support of the American Lung Association and other sponsors, three fueling facilities in the state of Minnesota are offering a Frequent Fuel Card in exchange for ethanol fuel discounts. These retail sites include those in Truman, Lyle and Austin, Minnesota.

The NuMart C-Store at 302 North 5th Street in Truman began giving away the fuel cards today. The first 50 flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) to fill up at the site received the card where after 4 E85 purchases, they will receive a $10 discount off their next purchase of E85.

Read More >>

US Automakers on Track for More Ethanol Vehicles

U.S. automakers also expect to meet a goal of making half their vehicle production flex-fuel by 2012, up from around 30 percent now. But they warn that they could pull back if there aren’t enough gas stations with ethanol pumps.

Availability of ethanol varies widely. There are more than 2,000 U.S. gas stations with E85 pumps or blender pumps that allow drivers to specify the percentage of ethanol they want in their fuel. But that’s less than one in five gas stations in the country, and the vast majority are in the Midwest.

Read More >>

Member Spotlight — Gerstner Oil Company

Gerstner Oil Company has recently joined the Growth Energy Market Development team as new members. Family owned and operated by Rudy Gerstner and his wife Kathie, Gerstner Oil was first established in 1976. Gerstner Oil has changed distributors many times since 1979 and today they are branded Valero and Cenex.

Gerstner Oil currently has two convenient stores that it owns and operates, along with a cardtrol and 2 bulk plants. They have a total of 20 employees and 300 customers. Gerstner Oil is a supplier of fuels that has around 22 dealers. They are located at 300 East Highway 50 in Yankton, SD.

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New and Renewed Growth Energy Market Development Members

Country Mark
Brabham Oil
Appel Oil
Midway Services, Inc.
Drum Oil & Propane
Skyline Petroleum

Read More >>

New E85 and Blender Pump Stations

There are currently a total of 2,164 E85 stations and 162 blender pump stations.

Below are the new E85 and blender pumps as of the last newsletter. 

Read More >>

Letters to Growth Energy

Please send comments, questions or suggestions to our Market Development Team and we will share them with our readers in our next FYI newsletter. Email questions, comments or suggestions to: marketdevelopment@growthenergy.org.

Events Calendar

To submit a Calendar item, email marketdevelopment@growthenergy.org.

GrowthEnergy represents the producers and supporters of ethanol who feed the world and fuel America in ways that achieve energy independence, improve economic well-being and create a healthier environment for all Americans now!