Ethanol Blends: Pushing to the Finish
By Zoe Schultz, Kansas Corn Intern
Two full days of fast cars, half-mile side-by-side racing, and loud engines. With high-speed engines running on E85 and Unleaded 88 Ethanol Blends, the Indy Airstrip Attack race is a corn producer’s dream. Unleaded 88 (another name for E15, or fuel containing 15% ethanol) burns cleaner, is safe, affordable and a greener choice for engines. Running on E85 gives an engine more power while being cheaper in cost than most race fuels. Josh Roe, Vice President of Market Development and Policy for Kansas Corn was in Indiana for the 5th Indy Airstrip Attack race in August at Marion, IN. Kansas Corn has been building markets for corn in all forms, with ethanol ranking a top use for Kansas corn. Between the 12 ethanol plants across the state, over 600 million gallons of renewable, clean burning ethanol fuel is produced, along with distillers’ grains for livestock feed and CO2 used for beverages and in meat processing facilities.
Kansas Corn’s ethanol campaign, Fueled by Kansas, was one of the 5th Indy Airstrip Attack sponsors. Fueled by Kansas is a campaign that educates and encourges consumers to purchase higher ethanol blends. Kansas biofuels save drivers money, stabilize commodity prices by generating greater local demand for crops, grow jobs and ultimately reduce emissions. Roe reflected on his experience attending the Indy Airstrip Attack race.
“It was refreshing to see so many auto enthusiasts so excited about ethanol. The two million online and in-person audiences were consumers interested in high performance automobiles, which is incredibly different than the typical agricultural and policy-based individuals we generally reach out to,” he said.
E15 is a 15% ethanol blend and can be found at pumps across Kansas marked as Unleaded 88. Throughout the state, there are nearly 47 stations carrying E15; with locations ranging from Casey’s General Stores, Jump Start pumps, general convenient stores and individual cooperatives. In the past two years, the number of stations offering E15 have increased by nearly 45%. So far in 2020, at least 10 new stations began offering E15 and 12 new ones were installed in 2019. Find stations here!
Using corn-based ethanol fuels such as E85 and E88 is a great way to support corn producers in the state, and the Indy Airstrip Attack race in Indiana was an excellent way to showcase the value of biofuels.
“It was truly an amazing opportunity for Fueled by Kansas to be part of the Indy Attack race. If these technical auto enthusiasts prefer ethanol in these high-performance vehicles, it speaks volumes about the performance and safety that ethanol can provide for consumers in their everyday driving automobiles,” Roe said.
To learn more about the Indy Airstrip Attack race, visit airstripattack.com. To learn about Kansas Corn’s ethanol involvement with Ethanol and Fueled by Kansas, contact Josh Roe; Vice President for Market Development at jroe@ksgrains.com