Ethanol '07: Education lifts E85 use - Vera Sun

21 February 2007 01:28  [Source: ICIS news]

TUCSON, Arizona (ICIS news)--Skeptical US motorists will only embrace the 85% ethanol-blended gasoline known as E85 when they are better informed about the biofuel, a major producer and distributor said on Tuesday.

"Putting E85 on US highways means we have to show the mechanics and car enthusiasts how it works," said Bill Honnef, senior vice president for sales and marketing for Vera Sun Energy.

Vera Sun asked consumers what hurdles they faced in using E85, Honnef told the National Ethanol Conference in Tucson, Arizona.

What the company discovered was that consumer needs extended beyond issues like infrastructure and logistics.

Consumers needed to become educated about E85 and other biofuels, to better understand what they are and how to use them, he said. 

Raising consumer awareness through a series of marketing efforts explaining the benefits and the risks of E85 has helped demand for E85 to rise, Honnef said.

E85 is currently sold at about 1,000 gasoline stations, mostly located in the midwest. It is used by flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) specifically designed to run on either gasoline or E85.

For further information about biofuels log on to Simon Robinson's Big Biofuels blog on ICIS.com.
By: Judith Taylor
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