A new kind of PAIN ; Ethanol Mix May Reduce Mileage, Increase Pollutants
From: Albuquerque Journal
Date: June 13, 2008
Author: JACK KING Journal Staff Writer
Albuquerque Journal
Motorists beware: Some New Mexico gas stations now have ethanol in their fuel all year
round -- not just in winter -- and a couple of major suppliers plan to offer it to all their
stations in coming weeks.
And a lot more stations are expected to add it in the coming months.
That can be bad news in terms of less-thanoptimal gas mileage and more pollutants in the
air, according to state, federal and environmental officials.
Motorists in Missouri and Hawaii have been reporting up to a 10 percent reduction in gas
mileage when using the ethanol mix.
The Energy Information Administration projects that additional ethanol usage this year
will cause average fuel economy to decline by 0.5 percent.
AAA told the Journal that the E-10 blend, which is sold in New Mexico, reduces an
engine's energy by about 5 percent, leading to poorer gas mileage.
On the pollution front, Marissa Stone, spokeswoman for the New Mexico Environment
Department, said ethanol mixed with gas creates less emissions of some hazardous
pollutants but more of others.
"Recent studies have shown increased ethanol in gas will increase ozone concentrations,"
she said.
But there are no "ozone nonattainment areas" in New Mexico, so ethanol blends can be
sold all year, she added.
The move to all-year ethanol has been spurred by new federal mandates and incentives.
"I think you're going to see 99 percent of the stations in Albuquerque moving to it in the
next several months," said Larry Ross, Shell Oil's area manager for New Mexico,
Colorado and West Texas.
All the refinery officials said their reason for offering increased amounts of the ethanol
mix is a federal mandate that set a higher renewable-fuels standard for 2008, together
with an incentive for fuel blenders selling "E10."
That's the federal designation for gasoline with a 10 percent ethanol content.
According to Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Catherine Milbourne, the
Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 requires fuel companies to sell 9 billion
gallons of renewable fuels, the most common of which is ethanol, in 2008, increasing to
36 billion gallons by 2022.
Each company has been assigned a percentage of that total to sell, Milbourne said.
Ross said Shell has made E10 available to filling stations that buy Shell products. It's the
stations' decision, but a number of them are now offering the product yearround or are
converting their stations to handle it, he said.
That statement was echoed by a number of area refiners and wholesalers.
Gary Hansen, communications director of Western Refining, said that 19 of his
company's Giant convenience stores in Albuquerque are selling E10 gasoline and that
Western is supplying the fuel of other customers in Albuquerque.
Rosemary Knorr, light-oil manager for the Holly Corp. refiners, said Holly, too, is selling
the E10 mix to customer stations in Albuquerque.
Bill Day, director of media relations for Valero Energy, said Valero, which owns
Diamond Shamrock and Valero stations in Albuquerque, plans to offer the E10 later this
year.
A few local station operators confirmed they are now offering the ethanol-laced gasoline.
Ron Maclellan, market manager for Albuquerque's Circle Ks, said five Circle Ks that
offer Shell Gas are now offering E10 gasoline, as is shown by a blue sticker on their
pumps.
Mark Sullivan, owner of a Phillips 66 on Carlisle Boulevard, said he, too, is providing the
ethanol mix.
But trying to find out whether your gas station is selling E10 may not be easy. Employees
at a number of stations contacted by the Journal didn't know whether they were offering
ethanol or not. And some said they were told not to talk about it.