Ethanol is still a highly controversial subject in the automotive world, and as such is a subject fleet needs to know much more about to stay informed. That's why the October meeting of NAFA's St. Louis Gateway Chapter took place at the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center on the campus of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
Host John Caupert explained that the Federal government was, in the late 1990s, willing to fund ethanol research, which led to the facility opening in 2003. The center is basically a miniature version of a complete ethanol production facility built on the "Bio-Refinery Concept." This means it can produce other products as well as fuel, and can do so with other organic material, not just corn.
Jeff Ingalls from the Renewable Fuels Association gave us a brief history of the Bio-Fuels market, how it is developing, and explained how the oil refiners had been using Methyl tert-butyl ether as an oxygenator to increase octane. When it was found to be contaminating ground water, its use was halted in 2005. 
Cal Kretsinger, CAFM® from Ameren and Chris Wenom from the City of Kirkwood, Missouri had a rather spirited discussion with Jeff; the main topic being price. Both Cal and Chris said that they would encourage the use of E85 for their respective fleets but the price vs. mileage numbers would not support it. Simply put, they said the price of E85 was too high. Jeff and John both countered that the stations were not charging the market rate but simply setting the price where they wanted. The question, "What does it cost to produce ethanol?" was asked. Jeff answered, "Not nearly as much as 20 years ago." He went on to explain that it now takes a third of the energy they put in 1 BTU but get 2.5 in return.
The big question, "Why corn instead of other feed stocks?" The answer is that the infrastructure is in place for corn and it is cheap in Illinois, but they haven’t stopped experimenting with others. Jeff also said that three cellulosic ethanol plants, the kind that can process corn stalks and other plant fibers, have come online in the last eighteen months.
After the presentations and discussion attendees were given a tour of the facilities.