The newly reopened Shell Quik Mart on the corner of East Second Street and Woodward Avenue not only looks new, it offers a new alternative for the Shoals-area. For the first time, flexible-fuel vehicle owners and operators looking to refill their tanks in Muscle Shoals will have a choice to refuel with traditional gasoline grades or E85 ethanol, a blend of eighty-five percent ethanol with fifteen percent gasoline.
“We are pleased to be the first and only station, not only in Muscle Shoals, but all of Northwest Alabama, to offer a renewable fuel alternative for conscientious consumers,” said Edwards Oil Company’s President, Jonathan Edwards. “Our customers who own flexible-fuel vehicles have been asking for it, and now they have a choice to refuel their vehicles with a product that reduces air pollution, lowers our dependence on foreign oil, and helps support American farmers.”
Family-owned since its founding in 1945, Edwards Oil Company of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, has dabbled in renewable fuels since the 1970s. Over the years, the family kept an eye on opportunities to offer their consumers more choices in refueling their vehicles with alternative products that are kinder to the environment and put more dollars back into local economies.
From 2006 through the next few years, oil futures saw one of its most dramatic increases leading to skyrocketing gasoline prices. At the height of the gasoline price-spike, drivers had no choice but to pay as much as $4 per gallon or more. This quickly led to an increase in the number of calls for alternative fuel choices including ethanol and biodiesel.
In 2008, Edwards Oil successfully responded to the challenge by offering E85 ethanol at two stations in Columbia and Lewisburg, Tennessee, while rolling out B20 biodiesel at the Columbia store and a second store located in Shelbyville, Tennessee. That same year, the family underwent the process of converting their entire network of stations to E10, a blend of traditional gasoline that is composed of up to ten percent ethanol. The Shoals Shell Quik Mart is Edwards Oil Company’s third station to offer E85 ethanol and their first in Alabama.
“The price of gasoline over the last few years provided the right opportunity for many businesses to look at renewable fuels in order to offer consumers choices,” said Mark Bentley, Executive Director of the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition. “And with ethanol feedstock moving away from corn sources to include other cellulosic materials, businesses getting in early may reap more rewards in the future.”
Officials with the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition, which is the principal coordinating point for alternative fuels in the state, say they have seen a dramatic increase in the development of ethanol infrastructure and use in Alabama.
“In 2006, we had zero stations in Alabama offering E85 ethanol, very few entities that had flex-fuel vehicles, and only a handful of people looking for creative ways to implement ethanol. Today, we have the first station in the Shoals to offer ethanol, our state government and many local communities utilize flex-fuel vehicles, we were part of the nation’s first biofuels clean corridor along Interstate 65, and the City of Hoover, Alabama, was the first in the country to turn yard clippings and wood debris into ethanol to fuel their municipal vehicles. What a difference a few years makes!”
Although ethanol and biodiesel have been around for years, these plant-derived fuels have made major quality improvements over the last several decades. While a gallon of E85 ethanol produces less energy measured in BTUs than a gallon of gasoline, benefits of E85 include increased torque and horsepower to go along with reduced ozone forming emissions.
“We and our customers have had good results using the product,” Jonathan Edwards said. “We believe that the commitments made by the government and automobile industry will ensure that these products will be around for a long time to come.”
Growth Energy provides the most comprehensive and accurate listing of E85 and blender pump locations in the nation. The list of retailers and private access sites is updated DAILY. You may review this site at http://www.e85refueling.com/.
