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Nebraska Corn targets California motorists with E85 fuel through infrastructure grants

The Nebraska Corn Board (NCB) is hoping to boost ethanol demand in population-dense areas by targeting California drivers.

John Greer, District 2 Director, tells Brownfield NCB has given ethanol infrastructure grants to two fuel retailers near Los Angeles and Santa Monica to sell E85. “Frankly, California sets the stage for what’s going to happen across the country,” Greer says. “E15 is not allowed to be sold there.  They’re still in the testing process about the 15 percent blend but E85 is being sold and marketed very successfully there.”

NCB is working with Pearson Fuels to help two fuel retailers in Los Angeles County – the nation’s most populous county – provide flex fuel vehicle owners in the Chatsworth suburb near Los Angeles and Agoura Hills near Santa Monica have additional access to E85.

The farmer from Edgar says California is the largest E85 market in the country, which is why Nebraska continues to sell most of its ethanol to that state. “Our transportation costs to California would be much lower than to the East Coast with this product,” he says. “We sell a lot of our ethanol to California anyway and if we can expand that we can keep the plants running, keep the distillers grains coming out the back of the plants and keep the livestock industry growing and well fed.”

Greer says members of NCB plan to visit California in the coming weeks about expanding the program. NCB says

California leads the nation in the number of flex fuel vehicles on the road with 1.1 million in 2020