To the Editor:
I really enjoyed the article “A New Moonshine Runner.” Like Tim Mathews, I am a convert to E85 ethanol fuel made from corn. I get my E85 at a station in Toledo across from the GM Powertrain plant. I’m running it in a 2006 Chevy Silverado that I leased so I could burn this fuel.
Because E85 is 85 percent ethanol and only 15 percent gasoline, I’m actually greener driving a truck than someone driving a compact hybrid vehicle that uses 100 percent gasoline. On the back window I have a sticker that says “Powered By E85, 85% Ethanol,” that I obtained from the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition.
Their Web site lists every make and model of vehicle that can burn E85 fuel and gives driving directions to every E85 fueling site in America. There is also a lot of good information about E85 ethanol fuel.
I find that I get about 20 percent less miles per gallon with E85 than I do with gasoline. It is about thirty cents per gallon cheaper than gas where I buy it. I’m not saving money but I am helping save the environment with less air pollution. I’m also making it possible for America to consume less foreign oil which might prevent conflicts and war over oil in the future.
Using E85 helps support American farmers in Ohio and Michigan who grow corn to make ethanol. That feels good. I know there are several ethanol refineries being built and others being planned for Ohio and Michigan.
I think the more people start using and demanding E85 fuel, the more it will take hold. The next time there is a gasoline shortage, due to hurricanes in the gulf of Mexico, it should still be possible for many of us in the midwest to drive around if we are burning E85 fuel.
Hey Mathew, good on you for using and promoting E85. I’ll be looking for one of those special cars you are painting and selling that promote E85 ethanol fuel. It’s a fuel of the future that is here now.
Ernest RyanTemperance, MI
