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Ask The Californian
| Sunday, Mar 18 2007 10:40 PM
Last Updated: Sunday, Mar 18 2007 10:44 PM
Q: I bought a flex-fuel car but after buying it I have not been able to find a station in town that sells the ethanol blend of gas. Is there one in town, or are they planning on putting one in?
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-- Justin Bullard
Just one fueling station in the state provides ethanol and it's not in Kern County. You'd have to drive to San Diego to find this lone dispenser of E85, the blend of ethanol that flex-fuel vehicles are designed to run on, according to the California Energy Commission.
There's a couple reasons for this. First, there's not enough flex-fuel cars on the road in California to create a big demand for ethanol, a spokeswoman for the California Energy Commission said. Flex-fuel vehicles account for just 1 percent of the 25 million registered vehicles in the state, according to the commission.
"That's always the challenge with new technologies ... do you bring the infrastructure on first and let the vehicles come after, or do you push for the vehicles first?" asked Susanne Garfield, a spokeswoman for the commission.
In this case, it appears fuel suppliers are waiting for the vehicles to come first.
A Fresno-based ethanol producer said another challenge to more widespread availability of ethanol is getting fuel suppliers on board with selling the product.
"The oil companies aren't all that interested in making it available," said Neil Koehler, CEO of Pacific Ethanol Inc. That could be because, like other alternative fuels, ethanol faces an economic challenge. When ethanol is cheaper than gas, it sells. Otherwise, it gets passed over, according to Mike Lewis, owner of the Pearson Ford Fuel Depot, the San Diego fueling station that sells E85 at the pump.
"People like to talk about being green, but they like the green in their wallet more," Lewis said.
But there is some hope that you might someday soon fill your new car with ethanol from a local station.
More ethanol producers are coming online in California, which will increase in the available supply of ethanol and eventually bring down the price of the fuel, Lewis said.
If it's any consolation, a small amount of ethanol goes in your vehicle whenever you fuel up with regular gasoline. Ethanol has been used as an additive in gasoline in California for several years as a way to achieve cleaner-burning fuel.
A proposal is currently on the table to increase the amount of ethanol in gasoline from 6 percent to 10 percent. Almost all gas-fueled vehicles can run on a blend of up to 10 percent ethanol.
While you wait for ethanol to take hold in California, here are Web sites to help you find where ethanol is sold in other states:
* www.eere.energy.gov/afdc /infrastructure/locator.html
* www.e85refueling.com
Ask The Californian is published in this spot on Mondays. Submit questions to asktbc@bakersfield .com or to Ask TBC, c/o The Bakersfield Californian, P.O. Bin 440, Bakersfield, CA 93302.