Most recently, the company has joined forces with Rocky Point CITGO, Rocky Point, N.Y., to introduce another E85 fueling facility in the state.
Tom Campbell, owner of Rocky Point CITGO, said, "I felt with the high cost of regular gasoline and with more and more vehicles being made that are flex fuel, the significant price difference would sway customers [image-nocss] to switch over to E85."
Rocky Point CITGO started selling E85 in June, but also offers E10, regular unleaded, midgrade and diesel.
Rocky Point is the 66th E85 fueling station in the state of New York and is a member of Growth Energy's Market Development. To date, Growth Energy has issued grants to support a total of 90 ethanol fueling sites across the country, including 50 E85 pumps and 40 blender pumps.
Growth Energy has joined forces with Russell Oil Co. to offer E85 fuel at ROC One Stop, Marion, Ill.
We are pleased to work with Russell Oil to build out ethanol fueling infrastructure to give more flex-fuel vehicle owners access to high levels of ethanol," Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis said. "There are flex-fuel vehicles out there that have never run on anything but conventional gasoline because they don't have access to mid and high level ethanol. Through our grant program we are working to change that reality by giving consumers a choice at the pump that includes clean, renewable ethanol."
Jonathan Russell, manager of ROC One Stop, said, "We appreciate the support of Growth Energy, the availability of informational materials, signs and the advice we have been given to promote the sale of E85. We believe the use of E85 will continue to increase and we plan to offer it in our new locations as our company continues to grow. We wanted to provide a quality fuel that is better for the environment, supports our local farmers, as well as help us to increase sales and fuel margins."
ROC One Stop began offering E85 in May 2010.
The company has joined forces with Bridgehampton Service Station, Bridgehampton, N.Y., to introduce another E85 fueling facility in the state.
"Increased consumption of ethanol will reduce our dependence on foreign oil, clean our air and help create jobs in Bridgehampton and across the country," Buis said.
Albert McCoy, sole shareholder of Bridgehampton Service Station LLC, said, "One of the main reasons we decided to install E85 was because we have hundreds of FFVs in our surrounding cities that can fuel up. We built a station that offers E85 because we recognize the local demand to do things 'green.' An added incentive is that there was funding available to assist with infrastructure."
The Bridgehampton station started selling E85 on June 5, 2010, but also offers E10 among other fuels. Since the installation of the E85 pump, Bridgehampton has been pumping 300 to 400 gallons of E85 fuel daily.
Growth Energy has joined forces with Gulf Oil to provide high-level blends of ethanol on Long Island. Gulf's new E85 pumps are located in Brentwood, Hauppauge, Rockville Centre, and Ronkonkoma, N.Y.
"We are proud to be among the first to offer E85 in Long Island and we look forward to the day when many more fuel choices form the foundation of a new energy future," said Laura Scott, senior vice president finance and strategy for Framingham, Mass.-based Gulf. "We think it is important to offer our customers choices. E85 is an option customers can choose today to address our nation's energy security. We would like to thank Growth Energy, the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority and the Department of Energy for making this project financially feasible."
The company has joined forces with Pro Ag Marketing to install two blender pumps in Kirwin and Kensington, Kansas. The Kirwin Blender pump station is branded Pro Ag Marketing and the Kensington facility, is named Corner Corral Cenex.
On August 13, Growth Energy member plant Prairie Horizon sponsored a grand opening event at the Corner Corral Cenex. State Senator Janis Lee and Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Josh Svalty attended, and speakers included Steve Seabrook from POET Ethanol Products and Mike Erhart, general manager of Prairie Horizon.
James Jirak, general manager of Pro Ag Marketing and station owner, said, "Selling ethanol blended fuels in our communities makes sense, as there is great synergy between what we do in producing the crops that are used in making ethanol and putting that ethanol fuel right back into our cars and trucks that we use every day. In a way, we are supporting our own local economy as we create demand for our crops by using ethanol. I would highly recommend getting in contact with Growth Energy if you are working on a project to install E85 or blender pumps at your fueling locations."
Added Erhart, "As an ethanol plant, blender pump infrastructure further promotes ethanol as America's fuel. It's homegrown, lessens our dependence on foreign oil, is cleaner, greener, better for the environment and reaps all the benefits of supporting our local communities."
The new pumps installed will bring the total number of blender pumps in the state to 14. The blender pumps were also provided funding from the Kansas Corn Commission.
And Growth Energy has joined forces with Country Partners Cooperative in Ord, Neb., install the town's first blender pump.
The new blender pump in Ord was open for business on July 10, with sales of more than 1,300 gallons.
"We took advantage of Growth Energy's funding to install a blender pump. We needed to upgrade our pumps and we believe that ethanol is a huge part of our sales and our community. We are a farmer-based cooperative, so we wanted to get in the structure of burning something we are producing. We have seen a lot more FFVs out there, so it's great to give the consumer a choice at the pump," said Scott Haller, petroleum manager for Country Partners Cooperative.
"The expansion of blender pumps in Nebraska offers consumers additional fuel choices at the pump," said Todd Sneller, administrator for the Nebraska Ethanol Board. "The increased use of higher ethanol fuel blends helps to retain energy dollars in the Nebraska economy and support the investment in ethanol plants."
Washington-based Growth Energy is a group committed to the promise of agriculture and growing America's economy through cleaner, greener energy. Growth Energy members recognize America needs a new ethanol approach. Through policy reform and a proactive grassroots campaign, Growth Energy promotes reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanding the use of ethanol in gasoline, decreasing U.S. dependence on foreign oil and creating American jobs at home, it said.
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