The Latest Retailer News.

NEVC is now Growth Energy Market Development

Jefferson City, MO – At the 2009 Fuel Ethanol Workshop, the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC) announced that it intends to unite with Growth Energy and become Growth Energy Market Development. In that role, they will continue in their 13-year mission to increase the availability of higher ethanol blends and flex fuel vehicles (FFVs). The additional resources will bolster Growth Energy’s aggressive goals to proliferate blender pumps across the country.

“For more than a decade, the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition has been carrying on the important mission of increasing the availability and use of ethanol,” said Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, Co-Chairman of Growth Energy. “We are excited that they decided to join forces with us and continue that work as a part of Growth Energy.”

In existence since 1996, the NEVC has assembled a broad coalition of like-minded industry and government leaders, environmentalists and consumers, and many other organizations and individuals interested in reducing oil imports, stimulating the economy, and improving the environment. The non-profit group had 1,600 members and their employees now become part of the Growth Energy team.

Phil Lampert, who was executive director of NEVC since 1997 and is now Vice President of Market Development for Growth Energy, said, “In 1995, the year before NEVC was founded, there were 10 E85 pumps and 500 FFVs in the United States. Today, we have more than 2,000 E85 and blender pumps and more than 8 million FFVs. As part of Growth Energy, I look forward to working with a wide variety of supportive groups and individuals to double or triple those numbers in the next few years.”

NEVC is the second ethanol association to become part of Growth Energy. The first was the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council which combined with Growth Energy late last year.

Virginia E85 Station Pushes National Locations Over 1,900

Jefferson City, MO – The Stop In Food Store #67 at 1220 Seminole Trail in Charlottesville, Virginia is the 1,900th E85 station in the U.S.! The NEVC member facility held its ribbon cutting ceremony just this week.

“We are pleased to own the first public E85 retail location in Virginia and proud to offer a clean alternative transportation fuel,” noted Tom Turner of Stop In Food Stores. The facility was assisted with funds granted through the Virginia Clean Cities Coalition.

The location has twelve gasoline, two E85 and two biodiesel fueling nozzles. A 10,000 gallon compartment tank is used and holds 4,000 gallons of biodiesel and 6,000 gallons of E85. The station is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and offers a 2,400 square foot convenience store which includes a Subway restaurant.

“It’s encouraging to see the number of E85 stations continue to grow even as we deal with issues relating to testing lab certifications and low price of gasoline,” noted NEVC Executive Director, Phil Lampert. “We are excited to be able to achieve this significant milestone of 1,900 E85 fueling facilities! The NEVC and all our national partners look forward to working with the Obama Administration and Congress to continue advance the role of ethanol in reducing our nation’s dependence on imported petroleum.”

At this time last year, there were a total of 1,430 E85 stations across the U.S.

NEVC Urges Congress and the Administration to Act Quickly to Help Automakers

Jefferson City, MO - The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC), the nation’s primary advocate of the use of E85 and high level blends of ethanol in flexible fuel vehicles (FFV's), today urged Congress and the Administration to act quickly to help U.S. automakers with financial assistance.

“U.S. automakers are leading the way in developing and marketing flexible fuel vehicles which run on E85, but without immediate financial assistance, those efforts may go by the wayside,” said NEVC Executive Director Phil Lampert. “I urge Members of Congress and the Administration to think not only about the job losses at facilities which produce flexible fuel vehicles, but also the negative impact on the Renewable Fuels Standard, which requires the use of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels annually by 2022. In order to achieve this national goal, motorists must have access to large quantities of FFV's, primarily being produced by GM, Ford and Chrysler. The ripple effects of the failure of the auto industry would reach far and wide, and would devastate efforts to expand the use of domestic-renewable alternative transportation fuels such as E85.”

Support from Congress and the Administration will allow the domestic auto industry to continue research and development into vehicles which run on advanced biofuels like E85. The continued development of such vehicles—General Motors alone has 15 models designed to run on E85—will help the United States break our dependence on foreign petroleum and instead develop new sources of fuel and economic growth here in America.

Those efforts could severely be hampered without support for the auto industry, which will enable the industry to bridge what is arguably one of the country’s most difficult economic periods and to weather a financial storm not of its own making.

“The current economic crisis was not caused by U.S. automakers, but they are certainly feeling its ill effects,” added Lampert. “Congress and the Administration have responded to the crisis in financial markets and should also take immediate steps to assist the domestic auto industry, which is vital to America's well being.”

The NEVC is a non-profit organization. The NEVC is the nation’s primary advocate organization supporting the expanded use of E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) as an alternative motor fuel and the increased production of FFVs which can run on blends of renewable ethanol higher than the conventional 10% level.

Since 1996, the NEVC has worked tirelessly to assemble a broad-based Coalition of like-minded industry and government leaders, environmentalists, consumers and many other organizations and individuals interested in reducing oil imports, stimulating the economy and improving the environment.

E85 Stations Exceed 1,800

Jefferson City, MO - The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC), the nation’s primary advocate of the use of E85 and high level blends of ethanol in flexible fuel vehicles, is pleased to announce that the number of E85 stations has now exceeded 1,800. There are currently 1,802 private and public refueling stations across the U.S. The number of facilities have grown 28 percent since October 2007.

“It’s exciting to see E85 stations grow so rapidly within the past year,” noted Executive Director of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, Phil Lampert. “From providing technical support on-site, through our internet materials, or over the phone, the NEVC has in one way or another been involved with the establishment of every one of these facilities! From the humble total of 50 E85 stations in 2001, we believe that E85 represents the ‘only’ significant growth opportunity in the field of liquid fuels.”

Currently, the states with the highest number of E85 sites are: Minnesota with 357, Illinois with 188 and Missouri with 112. Unfortunately, seven states do not offer E85 including: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Alaska and Hawaii.

Lampert added, “Fuel retailers have many incentives to add this clean, renewable product to their facilities. The spike in E85 fueling facilities is a direct reflection of the Federal income tax credit that the NEVC and our partners worked hard to implement in 2005. Additionally, the provisions of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 that allowed franchise operators to install E85 fueling sites are two of the most significant Federal actions that have been implemented to address the growth of E85 fueling nationally. We are hopeful that future federal actions will appropriate at least a part of the $200 million that was authorized in EISA to assist with continuing to expand the E85 fueling infrastructure.”