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Nebraskans celebrate state's first ethanol blender pumps

Nebraska corn producers and ethanol supporters gathered in Grand Island Friday to celebrate the grand opening of the state’s first ethanol blender pumps.

The six ethanol blender pumps at the Bosselman’s station on Allen Drive in Grand Island give drivers of flex-fuel vehicles (FFV) the option of using E85, E30, E20 or the traditional E10 blend of gasoline.

Becki Keeshan of Grand Island was pumping E85 into her ChevyTahoe at the special grand opening price of one dollar per gallon. “My husband works in the ethanol industry, so I’m trying to support him as much as possible,” Keeshan says, “and also my vehicle does get real good gas mileage on the E85 blend.”

Unfortunately, Keeshan was one of the few drivers punching the E85 button on the blender pump on Friday. Most customers still drove non-flex fuel vehicles and we’re pumping E10. Nebraska Corn Board chair Jon Holzfaster of Paxton says it will take some time to educate the public on the newblends.

“It’s kind of a learning curve for each individual flex fuel owner to find out what fuel works best for them,” Holzfaster says, “for their vehicle and their driving habits—and what is not only the most economical, but the most beneficial to them, inwhat they want out of their vehicle.”

In fact, Holzfaster says many people may be driving an FFVand not even realize it. He suggests they check the “fuel” section of their owner’s manual to see if they can use a blend higher than E10.

Several Nebraska corn producers were on hand to help customers fill their tanks and to answer their questions about ethanol. Grower Curt Friesen of Henderson acknowledges the ethanol industry’s current struggles, but says there’s no question about the impact ethanol has had on Nebraska’s cornindustry.

“I think it’s improved our basis by—I’m going to say 20 to 25 cents—from pre-ethanol, back when I first started farming,” Friesen says. “It’s easily increased the basis that much alone. And then just the demand—the bushels we’re using these daysand the bushels we’re raising—if we didn’t have ethanol here, we’d be in a world of hurt.”

Meanwhile, Bosselman’s plans to install more blender pumps in Nebraska. “This is the first of many,” says Fred Bosselman, president of Bosselman Energy. “We’vegot two more on the drawing board and as we continue to rebuild some of our convenience stores, we’ll probably be going to more and more of the blenders.”

Bosselman’s next blend pumps are slated for stores at Ainsworth and Chappell.