First Auto Dealership-Owned Biofuels Station Opens in Texas
28 March 2008
A Texas GM dealer has opened the first public biofuel filling station in the US owned by a new car and truck dealership.
Classic Chevrolet/HUMMER in Texas, which sold more Chevrolet trucks than any dealer in the nation in 2007, spent more than $500,000 to install nine pumps dedicated to E85, E10 and biodiesel at the new Classic Clean Fuels station adjacent to its Mr. Good Wrench Quick Lube Plus and HUMMER dealership in suburban Dallas.
We sell a lot of trucks capable of running on alternative fuels like E85, and even though there has been some increased availability, we saw a need for more E85 pumps where drivers could fill up.
—Charles Martin, general manager at Classic Chevrolet/HUMMER
CleanFUEL Distribution of Georgetown, Tex., provided a turnkey program to create the new station and supply the fuel. CleanFUEL also is converting the dealership’s onsite pump to E85, meaning all FlexFuel vehicles sold at Classic will start with a tank of E85.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which operates a rental branch within the Classic dealership, will dedicate a quarter of its fleet at the branch to GM FlexFuel models that will be filled at Classic Clean Fuels. It is the eighth FlexFuel Enterprise outlet in the country.
GM has pledged to double flex-fuel production by 2010 and make half its portfolio E85-capable by 2012.
As part of that commitment, GM’s HUMMER Division revealed the 2009 E85-capable H2 SUT at Classic Hummer on Friday, one of more than 15 FlexFuel models GM will offer for the 2009 model year. The H2 also will be E85 capable for 2009.
Biofuels are a stupid idea. The price of gas will be coming down soon in the US:
http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/next-energy-news2.13s.html
Bad news for the peak oil conspiracy kooks.
Posted by: terry | 28 March 2008 at 05:47 PM
Yeah well looking in the short term doesnt really help much when the price will eventually go up again and never come back.
Posted by: George | 28 March 2008 at 07:18 PM
What happened with that report anyway, the news you posted is from February 13th...
Posted by: George | 28 March 2008 at 07:23 PM
LOL terry, leave the peak oil discussion to those who understand that it is about flow rates and decline rates, not the resource base. Peaking net exports will drive up prices even if peak oil does not occur in the short term. Total world liquid exports have been flat since 2004, and excluding OPEC have declined. Regardless of production, that itself will continue to drive prices upwards unless the trend is reversed.
Posted by: DC | 28 March 2008 at 09:01 PM
If I were a car company or dealer, I would not want to be dependent on the oil companies or the world oil market for my future. I would try to sell cars and the fuel to run them if I could. Make money on the initial sale and make money for years after on more than just service. That is smart business.
It is good to see people working together after such a long period of caring only about themselves. They still care mostly about themselves, but have rediscovered that if you work together with others, you all end up better off.
Independent fuel stations could sell CNG, biodiesel and E85, but they are dependent on the fuel distributors who are dependent on the oil companies and refiners for their supply. You do not want to ruin your business by making them angry, so you do business as usual and consumers have fewer choices.
Posted by: sjc | 29 March 2008 at 01:12 PM
It looks like the oil boys may have to "bunt" into lower petro rates real soon as cellulosic at $1.00/gallon is fast approaching. This dealer/fuel station is just the first in an ad hoc E85/b-diesel infrastructure model that will find eager biofuel investors.
http://www.greenfuelsforecast.com/ArticleDetails.php?articleID=462
http://www.greenfuelsforecast.com/ArticleDetails.php?articleID=411
E85, for all the complaints here is still a transitional fuel that moves the vast fleet of NA vehicles from petro to PHEV to BEV. If ever there was a time ripe for building independent "Energy Centers" featuring biofuel pumps and fast-charge electric islands - it's now. Are you VC guys listening?
Posted by: gr | 29 March 2008 at 06:05 PM
terry,
of course you are crazy to think that with a potential of $$9 TRILLION at stake at today's pricing, the oil boys won't figure out a drilling strategy to make this oil field produce. The play is they gotto get it out of the ground fast enough to catch the last of the guzzler ICE sales. Which provides for a damned good incentive.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/01/bakken-and-torquay-formations-saudi.html
What the greens need to get behind is the rapid expansion of the E85/biodiesel infrastructure to provide downward pressure on petro prices which in turn *increases* the ROI cost of drilling/refining. It's a $9 trillion dollar behemoth which can only be countered with faster growth in the alternative fuels sector. If you really want a renewable energy future - quit squawking about biofuels and start supporting them.
Then again that big old Bakken and Torquay field is a tempting opportunity for US/Canada fossils to "drink each others' milkshake."
Posted by: gr | 29 March 2008 at 06:52 PM
Venture capital money has always seemed like a hard way to fund new companies. Many VCs use money from public pension funds. Those funds would like to see responsible investing, but they want to see high returns also. They call it risk capital because it is high risk, but can be high return.
Venture funds review lots of business plans, but fund very few. Many times they fund the same companies or types of companies that other funds invest it. It creates a flood of new companies that all compete and eventually fail, merge or go public.
I would like to see a better way for new companies in renewable energy to be funded. I do not know what that is, but the present method seems inadequate. Leaving something as vital as biofuels to the decision makers in a few private venture funds seems questionable. What if they like investments elsewhere? Then biofuel companies go unfunded and we wait until someone does fund them.
Market types will tell you that when it becomes profitable enough, money will flow in. That may be many years later when a flood of money comes in to fund any company that they can find and there is a scramble for scarce resources to start them. This delayed boom and bust cycle seems wasteful and not is providing the methods that we need to get things going.
Posted by: sjc | 01 April 2008 at 08:25 AM
When you decide to work with us you don’ t have to stress out anymore. You don’ t have to deal with contractors for weeks or months because of rehab and repairs. You don’ t have to spend months waiting, wondering if your house is going to sell on the retail market. No realtors that are hosting open houses, no ads, no signs, no curious people. There will be no expensive fees or commissions, closing costs.
Posted by: lease option | 27 April 2008 at 12:06 PM