The new Zarco offers cheaper fuel to Lawrence

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

A cheaper, alternative fuel is now available at the new Zarco 66 at Ninth and Iowa Streets.

It’s called Ethanol, and at the E85 grade, it is about 40 cents cheaper than regular unleaded gasoline, but not all cars can use the newly available fuel. There are two different grades of ethanol available at the new gas station: E10 gasoline and E85 ethanol. According to Zarco 66’s Web site, any car manufactured after 1980 can use the E10 gasoline, but only vehicles with flexible fuel engines can use the E-85 ethanol.

Kristin Hoppa

Jonan Feddema, professor of geography, pumps Ethnol based fuel at the new Zarco 66 at 9th and Iowa yesterday. Any vehicle can run on the E10 fuel but only vehicles with flexible engines can run on E85, which is cheaper than regular fuel.

According to Crown Chevrolet sales manager Kenny Merschbrock, without a flexible engine, any gasoline that contains more than 10 percent ethanol could cause severe damage.

“If anyone uses anything above a 10 percent blend, it could ruin their vehicle’s engine, which wouldn’t be covered under warranty,” Merschbrock said.

E10 contains 10 percent ethanol and costs the same amount as regular fuel but is cleaner for the environment said Steve Martin, manager at the new Zarco.

“Because 10 percent of what you’re burning isn’t fossil fuel, it’s 10 percent cleaner to use,” he said. “But it still costs the same as regular gasoline.”

According to Zarco 66’s Web site, the first tank of E85 ethanol could cause an engine to run slightly rough because the ethanol will consume water that has accumulated in the fuel tank, but once the water is absorbed in the first tank, it should run normally.

E85 Ethanol also contains 27 percent less energy than gasoline, but gas mileage only decreases 5 to 12 percent because of the increased octane rating, according to the company’s Web site. The decrease in fuel efficiency is almost unnoticeable for E10 gasoline.

While E85 ethanol is more environmentally friendly and cheaper for consumers, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s cheaper for everyone said Ilya Tabakh, research associate for the Transportation Research Institute.

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“Ethanol is more expensive to produce than regular gasoline,” he said, “but because the government subsidizes it, it’s cheaper for consumers.”

Tabakh said that while it may be more expensive now, ethanol is a good transitional fuel because companies are learning a lot more about the infrastructure that’s necessary to handle alcohol-based fuels.

—Edited by Nick Mangiaracina

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