CINCINNATI -- The Kroger Co. said 18 fuel stations in Texas will sell E85 fuel (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline). Texas leads the nation with more than 250,000 E85 flexible fuel vehicles on the road, and Kroger's rollout of pumps that sell E85 fuel will provide convenient access for Texas motorists.
Kroger is making the station improvements needed to offer E85 in Dallas and Houston this summer, and more Kroger fuel centers could offer E85 as consumer demand grows, it said. Kroger will price E85 ethanol lower than regular unleaded gasoline, and Kroger Plus [image-nocss] Card customers will get the additional per gallon savings offered on all types of fuel.
"We believe customer interest in this alternative, renewable fuel will grow as it becomes more conveniently available," said David B. Dillon, Kroger chairman and CEO. "We are pleased to partner with the State of Texas, General Motors and Abengoa Bioenergy. Kroger will seek other opportunities to offer customers E85 fuel both in Texas and throughout the nation.
Kroger operates more than 500 supermarket fueling stations nationwide, including more than 60 in Texas, all of which are located next to Kroger retail grocery stores. Kroger also operates nearly 800 c-stores with more than 700 c-store fueling sites.
And in other ethanol news, gasoline sold in Louisiana would have to contain ethanol or some other fuel derived from agricultural products if production of the alternative energy sources reaches a prescribed level in the state, under legislation to be considered today by the state House Agriculture Committee, reported The Times-Picayune.
Mandating ethanol content in fuel has already sparked opposition from the state's refinery industry, with lobbyists for the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association saying it would raise the price of gasoline at the pump and would not improve environmental conditions.
Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom reportedly is supportive of the plans. Odom has touted ethanol production as a savior for various crops grown in Louisiana that have had a downturn in recent years, such as sugar cane. He also has said that an ethanol plant that make fuel out of bagasse or other agricultural waste would help make profitable the $45 million sugar syrup mill in Lacassine that he built using state taxpayer dollars, said the report.
House Bill 685 by State Representative Francis Thompson (D) would give the agriculture commissioner a great deal of authority to figure out how to implement the ethanol mandate. The three-page measure specifies only that once the production of denatured alcohol in Louisiana reaches at least 10 million gallons annually, 2% of the gasoline sold in the state must be ethanol. The same requirement for diesel fuel would exist once the state production of biodiesel reaches the same level.
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