The award proposes that the parties build and supply 55 public E85 ethanol-fueling stations across California over the next 42 months. The stations will be located in areas with the highest concentration of flexible-fuel vehicles. The DOE estimates the initiative to help displace about 3.5 million gallons of petroleum per year.
“We are excited about the grant award, and we look forward to working with Pearson Fuels to bring our next-generation cellulosic ethanol to consumers,” AE Biofuels Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Eric McAfee said. “California has over 300,000 flexible fuel vehicles already on the road today, but only a handful of E85 pumps at the state’s 9,000 stations. This grant will allow us to bring cellulosic E85 fuel to drivers around the state and meet the demand for carbon reducing fuels.”
Pearson Fuels General Manager Mike Lewis said “I am excited to see that we are now in a stronger position to bring alternative fuel infrastructure to the hundreds of thousands of flexible fuel vehicles already on the California roads while measurably reducing the State’s dependence on foreign oil imports.”
