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Last summer the nation’s first E15 pumps went in at the Zarco 66 station in Lawrence, Kansas. Since then, retailers have popped up here and there throughout the Midwest.
On January 2, Iowa saw a new station to offer E15 at the Fredericksburg Coop in Fredericksburg. After the Linn Coop in Marion County, the Fredericksburg Coop is the second location in Iowa to offer a 15% ethanol blend at the pump.
Why did it take so long for Iowa to get its 2nd, not to mention its 1st, E15 station?
The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association’s Executive Director Monte Shaw explains.
Shaw says that, even with just two pumps out of roughly 3,000 filling stations in the state. Nearly 25 stations around the country were approved before EPA became distracted by unspecified internal issues caused by ethanol opponents and took a three-month hiatus in approving new stations. Shaw hopes that, by the end of 2013, between 50 and 100 Iowa filling stations will begin offering E15.
