Frozen Corn! E85 Comes to Warroad, Minn.

The new “blender pump” at the Farmers Union Oil station at 418 State Avenue SW in Warroad has brought more than cleaner-burning fuel to the Minnesota town of 1,772 residents. It also brings a new claim to fame: the station is thought to be the northernmost of the more than 2,000 E85 retailers in the United States (the southernmost is in Miami).

Blender pumps can offer gasoline blended with varying amounts of cleaner-burning ethanol from the 10 percent (E10) blend all vehicles can use, to higher blends (E20, E30, E50 and E85) that can be used only by flex fuel vehicles.

The Farmers Union Oil is celebrating its new fuel options with “Christmas Tree discounts” beginning Wednesday, December 9th and culminating with “Full Service Friday” on December 12. Motorists who buy eight gallons or more of the following fuels receive discounts off the price of the live Christmas trees sold at the station: E85 = $8.50 discount; E50 = $5 discount; E30 = $3 discount; E20 = $2 discount; and E10 = $1 discount.

Using E85 instead of gasoline in a flex fuel vehicle can reduce as much as four tons of lifecycle greenhouse gases and other air pollutants annually, according to the American Lung Association in Minnesota, which administers a state program to help offset the costs of adding blender, E85 or biodiesel pumps at retail fuel stations. The Environmental Protection Agency recently declared greenhouse gases “a threat to human health,” and many delegates to the global climate conference now underway in Copenhagen are being transported in E85-powered limousines.

There are about 60 blender pumps throughout Minnesota, which leads the nation in E85 outlets at 350+. For a complete listing of all E85 retailers in Minnesota, as well as a list of all flex fuel vehicles that can use it, visit www.CleanAirChoice.org.