WICHITA, Kansas -- According to an application submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy, the state of Kansas wants to use $5 million of federal stimulus dollars on a project to install flex-fuel pumps at 38 Wichita, Kansas-area QuikTrip stations. POET Ethanol Products Inc. would invest almost $10 million and would help with the conversion, the application says, reported The Wichita Business Journal.
QuikTrip spokesperson Mike Thornbrugh acknowledged that the retailer was discussing the project, although he said it was "a long way off."
"We're aware of [image-nocss] it," he told the newspaper. "We're just chatting. There's no type of formal agreement."
Thornbrugh said QuikTrip, which currently does not have any stations with 85% ethanol fuel, has some interest in pursuing that option. "It's out there, it's proven, but we want to see demand," he said.
He added that the company had been talking with Bob Casper, president of Wichita-based POET Ethanol Products Inc. Casper told the paper that he did not want to comment on any potential Wichita ethanol projects, saying he wanted to let the governor's office announce details.
The pumps would allow flex-fuel vehicle owners to purchase E85, said the report. The state's application says that by the next model year, half of all Chrysler, Ford and GM vehicles will be able to use high-ethanol fuel.
The Business Journal, citing a Lawrence Journal-World report, said this is one of three projects the Kansas Department of Commerce is hoping to pursue with federal stimulus dollars.
The Wichita area has five stations that carry E85, said the report, citing data from the the U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels & Advanced Vehicles Data Center.
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