December 2004 eNews Bulletin

Stinker Gets First E85 Ethanol Outlet in Idaho

November 12, 2004
by Patricia McCoy, Idaho Staff Writer

Air quality experts urge fueling vehicles with cleaner ethanol or ethanol blends, but in Idaho, at least, it hasn’t been that easy to find.

That changed Nov. 5 when the Stinker Station, Boise, became the first to offer E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, in Idaho.

Gov. Dirk Kempthorne was on hand to fill up his new sports utility vehicle with the fuel.

“I’m really proud of what the Stinker Stations have done. As people become aware, and make sure they drive a flexible fuel vehicle, now they have a place to fill up,” said John Hamilton, manager of Treasure Valley Renewable Resources.

TVRR is the company working to build a biofuels plant on the western edge of Ontario, Ore. Construction should hopefully begin next spring, Hamilton said.

“The fact that E85 is now available in the area gives us a lot of encouragement. Stinker Stations have had blended ethanol in the past. Adding E85 required them to install a large separate fuel tank, so this is a real commitment on their part. Some of the corner stations won’t have room to follow suit,” he said.

Hamilton hopes some of the truck stops will soon follow suit, making E85 available for visitors driving through Idaho. Many come from states where they’re already using the fuel extensively.

“Even if the price of E85 is comparable to conventional gasoline, we’ll be better off. We may not be dependent on foreign oil forever,” he said.

TVRR is designed to produce biofuels from agricultural products. So far, the reaction of area growers has been to tell the promoters, “Build your plant, then come talk to us about supplying you with our crops,” Hamilton said.

“The more exposure we get, the more inclined people will be to support it. In the end, it will all depend on the prices farmers get for selling their crop to us compared to what they receive for just selling it for feed,” he said.

Ethanol production and usage are increasing in the Midwest, and creating jobs in the process. Idaho now has the same opportunity, said Frank Priestley, state president of the Idaho Farm Bureau.

E85 produces less toxic emissions. It is cleaner burning than conventional gasoline, he said. The biofuel can be made from corn, potatoes, wheat and several other crops.

Vehicles must be properly equipped to burn the fuel. Drivers should check their handbooks to be certain theirs is a flexible fuel vehicle. Companies producing vehicles with the special fuel systems required to burn E85 include General Motors, Ford, Daimler Chrysler, Mazda, Mercury and Isuzu, Farm Bureau spokesmen said.

Opening the E85 fuel pump is one of several “Treasure the Valley’s Air” programs intended to improve air quality in the Treasure Valley of southwest Idaho and Eastern Oregon. The area is infamous for weather inversions in the winter that trap pollutants close to the ground. Vehicle emissions create a major portion of those pollutants.

The new pump was installed as part of a feasibility project promoted by public and private interests, including the Farm Bureau; the Idaho state departments of Environmental Quality, Agriculture, Transportation and Water Resources; the City of Boise, the Ada County Highway District, Boise State University, General Motors, the Idaho Grain Producers Association, the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, and Stinker Stations.