Jay Berry

Chances are high that your local gasoline retailer is not ready for the ethanol era. The EPA approved E-15 a year ago and the Renewable Fuel Standard continues to mandate more renewable fuel be used in our gasoline supply each year.  But, according to one Indiana ethanol operator, many retail fuel stations are not ready for the ethanol future. Jay Berry, with Central Indiana Ethanol in Marion, says many stations do not have the equipment to handle higher ethanol blends. He told HAT there are no regulations that cover ethanol compliance, “We had a new station open here in Marion, and their tanks and pumps were not compatible with ethanol.” Berry said it does not cost the operator any additional money to build an ethanol compliant facility. He said it will be necessary to make these retail facilities capable of handling higher blends of ethanol like E-20 or E-30.

Berry would like to see a mandate in the next Farm Bill that would require new or renovated stations be ethanol compatible, “It should be mandated that whatever you put in should be ethanol compatible.”  He re-emphasized that there is no added cost to the retail owner and that, according to the RFS, the US will have to have 36 billion gallons of ethanol in our fuel supply by 2022, so we need a system that can handle that.  Berry says he will be in Washington this month to meet with lawmakers to press his case for ethanol compatibility at the pump.

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