Albemarle station debuts E85 alternative fuel blend

An Albemarle County gas station is the first in Central Virginia to offer E85, an alternative fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

The Stop In Food Store, a Shell station at 1220 Seminole Trail, marked the debut of its E85 fuel pump at a ceremony Monday with state officials and local businesspeople.

“This is a positive step toward energy independence,” Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling said as cars and trucks zoomed by on U.S. 29.

As of December, E85 was available at 1,900 gas stations out of an estimated 170,000 conventional gas stations across the country. Advocates say E85 is a renewable energy source that cuts down on oil consumption and releases fewer toxic emissions into the air. Critics, however, say that E85 is not nearly as environmentally friendly as advertised.

Albemarle County’s Stop In Food Store, operated by Petroleum Marketers Inc., is the third service station in Virginia to offer E85, but is the most easily accessible to the general public. A Citgo station at the Pentagon sells the fuel to civilians, but does not allow the public to purchase anything else at its store. An Army & Air Force Exchange Service station in Richmond also sells E85 to the public, but only if the customer has access to a secure military facility.

There are four additional E85 stations open solely to government agencies in Hampton, Portsmouth, Richmond and Yorktown, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Only vehicles capable of running on “flexible fuel” can be filled with E85. The Charlottesville area has Virginia’s second highest concentration of these vehicles, trailing behind only Northern Virginia.

Roy Foutz of Petroleum Marketers Inc., which operates 85 stations in Virginia, said the Albemarle County store will show if the market is ready for E85. If it proves popular with Charlottesville-area motorists, he said, the alternative fuel could be added at more service stations.

There are roughly 6 million flex fuel vehicles on the road in the United States. Many current models manufactured by domestic and foreign automakers can have the capability. Since 2007, such vehicles frequently have a yellow gas cap or a flexible fuel logo attached to the rear. At the event Monday, officials filled up a Tahoe and an Impala with E85.

“What a great day this is,” said Sandy Fewell, chief operating officer of Jim Price Chevrolet. “We’ve had to tell people that there wasn’t anywhere to go [to purchase E85 fuel]. We had to be hush-hush about the E85. That ends today.”

While Monday’s event put a positive spin on E85, there is some disagreement about whether the alternative fuel is better for the environment than conventional gas.

While E85 does burn cleaner than gasoline, production of corn-based ethanol requires more energy than it produces, according to a 2003 study published in the Natural Resources Research journal. A 2005 study in the journal BioScience found that the total ecological footprint of a vehicle in the United States running on E85 was actually greater than a vehicle running on gasoline.

“E85 is probably not that great of an alternative, environmentally speaking,” said Lisa Colosi, a University of Virginia professor of civil and environmental engineering. Colosi and other UVa researchers have been studying the possibility that algae might produce future biofuels.

Colosi added, however, that E85 could be an important step toward promoting renewable energy. If E85 is successful, she said, it might encourage private industry to further invest in environmentally friendly energy projects and research, she said.

Burl Haigwood, executive director of Flex Fuel Vehicle Club of America, said the research questioning E85 is “not reputable” and said Monday’s ribbon cutting of the new E85 pump in Albemarle County marks a “significant change in history.”

E85, he said, is among the best bets for curtailing America’s dependence on foreign oil. Yet for it to succeed, he added, customers must start buying flex fuel vehicles at a greater rate and must fill up their tanks with the alternative fuel.

“This is something, truly, that can make a difference in the amount of oil that we import,” he said.

The Stop In Food Store on U.S. 29 benefited from a grant provided by the nonprofit Virginia Clean Cities, which receives funds from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Virginia Clean Cities offers gas stations in Virginia, Washington and Maryland up to $12,000 to defray the costs of adding E85 pumps. Al Christopher, executive director of Virginia Clean Cities, said the grant was only a small part of a sizable investment by Petroleum Marketers Inc. to start offering E85 to the Charlottesville area.