OAK BROOK, Ill. -- The retail rollout of E85, biodiesel and other alternative fuels continues, with a little help from ice cream and Willie Nelson, among other marketing hooks. Andfuel providers are finding varying degrees of success and consumer acceptance. Here are some recent development from around the country:
Arizona
The Valley's first E85 fueling station serving the public has opened in Phoenix. Western States Petroleum Inc. opened the station in late January, owner Bob Kec told The East Valley Tribune. Potential E85 buyers shouldn't expect a regular fuel station experience. "[image-nocss] This is not a typical gasoline station," Kec said. "We fill the car for the customer, and then they come inside to pay with a credit card or cash."
Phoenix-based Western States is using that procedure to maintain safety at the yard and to make sure the vehicles are properly equipped to run on ethanol, he said.
The company, a wholesaler of petroleum products, is searching for traditional stations across the Valley to sell E85, so far without success, it said. A major reason is that station owners have to install expensive equipment to dispense the alternative fuel, Kec said. "So far we haven't found a [station owner who] that wants to take the chance," he told the newspaper.
The opening of the plant, the first in the state, created expectations that consumption of E85 would grow quickly in Arizona, helping to reduce dependence on foreign oil. But progress has been slow, said the report.
"It's a little like pulling teeth," Bill Sheaffer, executive director of the Clean Cities Coalition, told the paper. "I am disappointed it's taking so long."California
Robinson Oil Corp.'s Rotten Robbie c-store chain has been offering biodiesel at several locations for the past year at the same price as regular diesel to see whether customers prefer the environmentally friendly fuel when price is not a factor, said The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.
Biodiesel costs the company a little more, but so far the experiment isn't breaking the bank, Tom Robinson, president of Robinson Oil, told the newspaper. The company owns 34 Rotten Robbie stores within about 100 miles of its San Jose headquarters.
And the results show that biodiesel is slowly catching on. Each of the four locations with biodiesel sell between 50 and 200 gallons a day—much less than the 200 to 20,000 gallons of regular diesel the stores sell, but still enough to keep the experiment going, Robinson said.Kansas
A new "eco-friendly" Zarco 66 gas station in Lawrence, Kansas, specializes in biofuels. "We've got our earth-friendly fuels location up and running," Scott Zaremba, president of Zarco 66, told The Lawrence Journal-World.
The station sells E10, E85, biodiesel and off-road biodiesel. Zaremba said the company is "trying to come up with an alternative to the usual fossil fuels we have today."Mississippi
There are more than 48,000 flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) in Mississippi, and for the first time, a public facility will offer an E85 option in the Magnolia State. Newton, Miss.-based Ford's Fuel—located at the Ford's Ice Cream Museum, which opens later this year—will sell E85, reported WTOK-TV.
"We are trying to restore a memory here in Newton, Miss., of Ford's Ice cream that delivered to 22 counties in Mississippi some of the best ice cream ever made," station owner Don Evans said.
Jo Jeff Ford, the granddaughter of the founder of Ford's Ice Cream, told the news outlet, "When the interstate came through, we had to close the ice cream parlor because we didn't have enough business to keep it open. So now maybe the people will come off the interstate to get the gas, plus eat some ice cream and everything and go through the museum."TexasEarth Biofuels Inc. has announced the completion of a financing needed to finish the construction of Willie's Place at Carl's Corner truckstop located 70 miles south of Dallas on Interstate 35E. The company said that construction on the remaining final phase of the project has already begun, and management expects the truckstop to open this summer.
This new roadside destination will feature 13 Ultra-High Flow Master/Satellite dispensers for fueling 12 trucks at a time including a wide-load island. There will also be four standard-sized fueling stations with eight pumps. All fuel sold at Willie's Place will have some percentage of biofuels, including BioWillie Premium Biodiesel and ethanol.
In addition to the truckstop fueling facilities, Willie's Place at Carl's Corner will feature two restaurants, a convenience store, saloon, gift shop featuring official Willie Nelson merchandise and memorabilia and the 750-seat performance hall which still remains from the original Carl's Corner truckstop. Additionally, this destination for travelers will feature wireless internet access, clean restrooms, hot showers, laundry facilities, plenty of parking and a video game and TV entertainment area. XM radio will also broadcast during live performances from their studio located within the theater.
Earth Biofuels produces and distributes biodiesel fuel through wholesale and retail outlets. The fuel is sold under Willie Nelson's brand name, BioWillie.WashingtonVulcan Inc. announced that it has signed a lease with Propel Biofuels to construct and operate a 9,000-sq.-ft. biofuel station in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood. The station is expected to open in March.
The project will be a standalone station rather than a single pump at a conventional gas station. Current plans include four biodiesel dispensers that will sell two grades of biodiesel (B99 and B20), both provided by Seattle-based Imperium Renewables.
Propel Biofuels expects to open additional biodiesel stations throughout Washington State in the next few years, and also plans to expand into Oregon and California.
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