Thursday was a good day for Indiana corn growers, according to the president of the Indiana Corn Marketing Council. Mike Shuter was one of those celebrating the grand opening of the first Fort Wayne flex fuel pump at the Lassus Handy Dandy Store.
The store benefitted from a grant from ICMC which funds 50 percent of the cost up to $20,000 per pump. This pump offers 5 fuel options including the typical unleaded selections.
“It has an E85 nozzle,” Shuter (2nd from left) told HAT, “and it also has an E30 nozzle that you can use now to get a mid-level blend instead of just the E85. The E30 formulation seems to be where we’re finding the mileage sweet spot on most vehicles, which means it’s probably the optimum fuel economy point. It just seems you don’t lose much mileage with an E30 blend.”
E30 is approved only for flexible fuel vehicles and the cost Thursday at the Lassus store was 25 cents cheaper than 87 octane unleaded. E85 was priced 50 cents lower than the unleaded.
The Flex Fuel Pump Program has awarded 14 grants to six different retailers, so more installations around the state will be unveiled in the coming months. And Shuter says still more grant money is available.
“We still have some funds available. I think there are still funds in the program for 7 or 8 pumps right now, and I’m sure that we’ll be funding this program again in the future.”
Shuter says it’s always a great day when you can witness the opening of a pump that represents one of the many products being produced with Indiana corn.
Todd Lassus, President of Lassus Handy Dandy welcomed Shuter to the grand opening of his new location, along with Tom Henry, Mayor of Fort Wayne, and Kellie Walsh of the Greater Indiana Clean Cities Coalition.
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Hear more from Mike Shuter in the HAT interview, starting with his description of the new pump in Ft. Wayne:
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(Pictures courtesy Megan Kuhn-ICMC)
