By Christopher Seifert
Ethanol, a byproduct of corn and grains, may hold the key to reducing the nation''s dependence on foreign oil.
Christensen Oil in Provo - one of only three gas stations in Utah to offer ethanol-based automotive fuel - held an open house Thurs., April 11, to promote the E85 fuel. Starting at 11 a.m., the first 800 gallons of E85 fuel, which mixes 85 percent ethanol with 15 percent gasoline, were free to the public.
Todd Christensen, president and co-owner of Christensen Oil, said he hoped the event would educate Utahns about something good for both Utah and the nation.
'It''s a cleaner burning fuel and it''s a renewable fuel. It makes us less dependent on foreign oil,' he said.
Christensen said he hopes to keep the price of E85 equal to the price of regular unleaded gasoline.
Christensen Oil first began offering E85 a year and a half ago at the request of the local post office, he said.
A 1992 federal mandate required that 20 percent of federal vehicles run on alternative fuels, said Larry Strong, a vehicle maintenance worker for the postal service in Provo. The post office needed a local supplier of ethanol fuel before it could qualify to receive new ethanol-friendly trucks, he said.
Christensen said nearly two million cars nationwide can handle the ethanol fuel, but E85 has been slow to catch on in Utah. He said he thinks that will change with time.
'It''s obviously in its infancy, but it''s definitely the fuel of the future,' he said.
Michelle Saab, director of communications for the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, said E85 emits 80 percent less contaminants into the air than regular gasoline.
Despite getting 5 to 10 percent fewer miles per gallon than gasoline, E85 has more power - better than a 100-octane rating, she said.
Beverly Miller, director of the Salt Lake Clean Cities Coalition, said Sept. 11 has reawakened many Americans to the need to end the nation''s dependence on Middle Eastern oil.
But, she admitted, ethanol and other alternative fuels can still be a tough sell.
'How do you explain it to people?' she asked. 'When the price (of gasoline) goes down to 99 cents a gallon, nobody cares.'
At the time of the Gulf War, the United States imported 45 percent of its oil, she said. That number has now risen to 60 percent.
Mike Shanahan, a spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute, said in the past his organization has objected to mandates for large sales of ethanol fuel.
The American Petroleum Institute supports cleaner burning fuels, he said, and a compromise included in the energy bill currently before the U.S. Senate has alleviated some of the petroleum industry''s concerns about the sale of ethanol fuels.
Steve Hinckley, a fleet and commercial salesman for Hinckley''s Dodge automotive dealer, said his company has tried to promote cars that are able to run on E85 fuel.
He agreed that Utahns have been reluctant to buy the new flexible-fuel cars that handle ethanol as well as gasoline, but said the alternative fuels have caught on in other states.
After seeing the smog and pollution first-hand during a recent trip to California, Hinckley said he thinks he knows why those in big cities may be more willing to keep an open mind about alternative fuels that are environmentally friendly.
'They have to think about it,' he said. 'I hope it catches on here before we have to.'
Miller said that while ethanol fuel may not be the solution to all our energy problems, it is a sign of bigger things that could be on the horizon.
'Right now, we''re kind of bridging that time span from how we''ve been doing business in the past to the fuel of the future,' she said.