Published: November 07, 2009 02:43 am      

ECONOMY: County’s 2nd set of E85 pumps opens on High and South Transit

There are only two locations in Niagara County where motorists can fill their gas tanks with E85 ethanol fuel. One of them is now open at the corner of High and South Transit streets.

Wilson Farms unveiled its new gas station Friday, complete with E85 ethanol fuel. The new pumps join the Wilson Farms at 1060 Niagara Falls Blvd. in North Tonawanda, which opened a year ago as the first E85 ethanol location in the county. There are five locations with ethanol throughout New York state.

The arrival of E85 both in Lockport and North Tonawanda is a joint enterprise by Wilson Farms and Reid Petroleum, which is based in Lockport. Reid President Paul Quebral said bringing E85 ethanol to the area was important, and thanked Lockport for the support.

“This is our hometown,” he said. “This is a big day for us. Sometimes big things happen right before our eyes and we don’t even know it

until years down the road. This may be one of those days.”

E85 is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent conventional gasoline. Other than the increased amount of ethanol, the E85 fuel does not differ greatly, except that the fuel has fewer emissions and burns cleaner than regular gas. It is also a renewable resource, because ethanol is made primarily from corn. Some of the ethanol used is produced in Orleans County, where a $90 million ethanol plant started production in 2007 in the Town of Shelby.

Ethanol fuel has less fuel economy than regular gasoline, but also costs less. Friday the average price of E85 was about $2.25 a gallon nationwide, compared to the average national price of gasoline, at about $2.64.

However, not all vehicles can take E85. Some older vehicles would suffer serious damage to the engine if they’re not E85-compliant. The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition Web site lists the “flex fuel equipped” vehicles that can use E85 are models by Chrysler, Ford/Lincoln/Mercury, General Motors, Isuzu, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan and Toyota. Drivers are encouraged to check their owner manuals to see if their vehicle is flex-fuel compliant.

Quebral said there is a high concentration of drivers in the general Lockport area with flex-fuel-equipped vehicles. The number of flex-fuel vehicle owners in Western New York is growing, he added. The response to the ethanol pumps in North Tonawanda has been a plus, Quebral said.

“The feedback has been very good, very positive,” he said.

State Assemblywoman Jane Corwin, R-Clarence, was on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. She said the arrival of E85 fuel signals progress Lockport has made and the importance of energy independence for the area, state and country.

“Lockport really is becoming more and more business-friendly,” she said.

Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.