Archive for Tuesday, July 1, 2008
EPA pumped up about new Zarco station
State and federal officials were in town Monday to celebrate the Zarco 66 Earth Friendly Fuels, 2005 W. Ninth St. From left are state Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, Adrian Polansky, Kansas secretary of agriculture, and U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan.
July 1, 2008
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Zarco 66 'Earth Friendly Fuels'
Scott Zaremba, president of Zarco 66, discusses the original Zarco station No. 1, and what it meant to his family, and the community.
Scott Zaremba sells a variety of so-called "flex" fuels, illuminates his fuel pumps with compact fluorescent light bulbs and grows grass that doesn't require mowing on the roof of his soon-to-open coffee shop at Ninth and Iowa streets.
Next up in his environmental drive: installation of solar panels to go on top of the canopy. And an electricity-generating wind turbine is on order.
"If all of us do a little, we can make a big difference," Zaremba said outside his latest venture, Zarco 66 Earth Friendly Fuels, 2005 W. Ninth St.
Turns out Zaremba is doing more than anybody else, and on a national scale, when it comes to offering renewable fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol blends with an increased eye toward environmental sustainability and pollution prevention.
John Askew, regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, said as much Monday as he and other officials - Lawrence city commissioners, state representatives, federal administrators and a U.S. congressman - applauded Zaremba's commitment to "green" operations during an event that was part award ceremony and part environmental revival.
About 200 people crowded onto the site of the station, which opened in February to much fanfare and today remains the only one of its kind nationwide. Joining the site's information-loaded pump displays, specially designed pumping systems and other features Monday were several alternative-fuel vehicles, including an ethanol-powered Indy race car.
The EPA is working with Zaremba to track both how his energy-efficient systems perform and how his alternative fuel offerings sell. The results will be used to see what works in a market that is thirsting for more options, and potentially give station operators real guidance for how they can respond and succeed, Askew said.
"This has national attention," said Askew, who presented Zaremba with a Blue Skyways Award, honoring his leadership in "green" operations.
Zaremba said the new station cost him about 30 percent more to develop and equip than one of his traditional stations, of which his family has seven in Lawrence, Olathe, Ottawa and Paola.
Customer response has increased "every day" since opening in February, he said, and he's confident that the "Earth Friendly" operation one day will surpass volume at some of his traditional stations. It's simply a matter of educating the public about the fuels' performance and benefits.
"This is where we're going," he said.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan., said that while Zaremba's operation might seem small in a world driven by demand for petroleum, that's a sense that shouldn't last for long.
"One little place can't make a huge difference," said Moore, who carpooled to Monday's event with Askew from Kansas City, Mo., "but you multiply this by 50,000 around the country and that can start to make a big difference."
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1 July 2008
at 7:42 a.m.
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Ragingbear (Anonymous) says…
While not everything being done here is 100% realistic, it is definitely a huge step in the right direction. Just think, for example, if all lights in the U.S. were replaces by super efficent LEDs.
1 July 2008
at 7:56 a.m.
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Larzia (Jake Esau) says…
Probably the best way to start the conversion to earth friendly fuels is to get all public transit systems using them first because they generally get their fuel at a central location. I wonder if the T uses bio-diesel…
1 July 2008
at 7:58 a.m.
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JSDAD (Anonymous) says…
yea, I want scott to make me a cup of coffee in a building that was formerly a bathroom that was too nasty for even the transient to use. yummm.
1 July 2008
at 8:30 a.m.
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corey872 (Anonymous) says…
It's neat to see this happening in Lawrence and I wish Scott the best. I'm all for supporting american farmers instead of foreign countries. Although I think the long term viability of the station is going to hinge on the cost of the fuel. The last time I was there, E85 was 3.38/gal which is about 10% less than regular gas - but still not enough to offset the drop in MPG which seems to be ~20%.Other stations in Kansas and surrounding states still sell it for less than $3.00, and sometimes even in the low $2.80's per gallon. At that price, it's not only ecological, it's economical! We need some of THAT here as well!
1 July 2008
at 8:39 a.m.
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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…
” At that price, it's not only ecological, it's economical! We need some of THAT here as well!”There is nothing ecological or economical about corn-derived ethanol.
1 July 2008
at 8:56 a.m.
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Rickyonealku (Anonymous) says…
Please don't mix gas with oil, oil with water and ethanol with???? a BP service station.
1 July 2008
at 8:59 a.m.
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BigPrune (Anonymous) says…
Too bad they don't sell compressed natural gas because I was thinking about buying one of those cars on ebay. CNG is much cheaper as a fuel, but we haven't had Obama's buddy Soros and all of his buddies mess with natural gas futures yet like they did with gasoline and diesel.
1 July 2008
at 9:09 a.m.
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Boeing (Anonymous) says…
I do love me some headline puns
1 July 2008
at 9:22 a.m.
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gccs14r (Anonymous) says…
I don't understand why he offers off-road diesel, since there aren't many combines or mining trucks running down Iowa.
1 July 2008
at 9:54 a.m.
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greengenes (Anonymous) says…
Just a moment, bozo. Ethanol from corn is only one of many feedstocks we can use to get us off of petroleum. Cane sugar works much better, economically , but you won't find it around here. Corn is only a stepping stone to get our fueling infrastructure changed around to something else other than unleaded and petro-diesel. Think about it. Nothing has happened for 30 years regarding U.S.refinery capacity because oil was cheap and plentiful, even if it was coming from another place in the world . What we're building now is ethanol processing capacity to make up for years of neglect. Americans demand cheap energy. Since there's not enough reserves under our own soil, or off-shore, we need to come up with some other choices. Ethanol is only one of many choices we need to develop.
1 July 2008
at 10:50 a.m.
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penguin (Anonymous) says…
I am not sure about the city, but KU on Wheels is moving into year two running on biodiesel.
1 July 2008
at 12:21 p.m.
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corey872 (Anonymous) says…
“There is nothing ecological or economical about corn-derived ethanol.”Oh, please. Granted, it may not be your perfect hydrogen fuel that is going to be a pipe dream for decades to come. But of the fuels we have widely available here and now, it's certainly no worse than gasoline.
1 July 2008
at 12:26 p.m.
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jafs (Anonymous) says…
It doesn't seem any better either.Corn is a very resource intensive crop.Ethanol burns less efficiently than gasoline.We may be diverting land and resources that could be used to create food.It affects the environment negatively to build huge ethanol plants.By the time you get through growing the corn, transporting it to the plants and converting it into ethanol, you've used quite a lot of energy/resources.
1 July 2008
at 2:08 p.m.
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KSA_21_3503 (Anonymous) says…
If only he would choose a decent paint scheme…Why does “eco-friendly” have to be ugly these days?
1 July 2008
at 2:25 p.m.
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jumpin_catfish (Anonymous) says…
Too little too late! The all knowing govt. should have been on this and many other issues long ago instead of picking the pocket of the tax payer to benefit big oil.
1 July 2008
at 2:28 p.m.
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75x55 (Anonymous) says…
Well, they certainly have the green marketing down…
1 July 2008
at 9:32 p.m.
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corey872 (Anonymous) says…
“By the time you get through growing the corn, transporting it to the plants and converting it into ethanol, you've used quite a lot of energy/resources.”lol! OK - so paying a foreign country to build some of the largest floating structures on earth, towing them 100's of miles out into the open ocean, drilling 20,000 feet into the earth, pumping oil up to the rig, then on to shore, then into the largest ships on the planet, then carrying it 1/2 way around the world, then offloading it to a plant, refining it into gasoline, and trucking it across the US doesn't use up energy and resources?I think if ethanol were here first, people would laugh until their belly ached at the thought that going to such extraordinary lengths to get oil would ever net any positive energy.Seriously, though energy and ecology aside - if you don't like ethanol, don't use it! Just keep paying your $4.00 per gallon for gas and I'll stick with the $2.80 ethanol!
1 July 2008
at 11:22 p.m.
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tumbilweed (Anonymous) says…
Is there really such a thing as an earth-friendly fuel? I don't see anything earth-friendly in it, frankly, corn-based or otherwise.
1 July 2008
at 11:41 p.m.
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penguin (Anonymous) says…
actually ethanol was around as long as most cars really. The Model T was designed to run on it. http://www.fuel-testers.com/ethanol_f…, it fell out of favor during the the 1930s or so. Needless to say Ethanol has its peaks and valleys in popularity.
2 July 2008
at 10:13 a.m.
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kofi123 (Anonymous) says…
Summer 2008 Kansas Environmental News Page 5First Green Energy Gateway Fuel Station Opens in Lawrenceby Michael Pomes, KDHE Bureau of Environmental Remediation and Dr.Peter A. Sam, Program Manager, Green Energy Gateway Fuel Station Pilot Demo Program, US EPA Region 7 Monday, June 30th, started something new for gas stations across the country. Zarco Earth Friendly Fuels, 2005 West 9th Street in Lawrence,opened as the fi rst Green Energy Gateway Fuel Station in the nation. This Green Energy Gateway Fuel Station will showcase the blending of biodiesel and ethanol fuels at the pumps, demonstrate the generation of electricity with solarpanels and wind turbines, and feature a green roof and rain garden.Starting with Zarco Earth Friendly Fuels, the Green Energy Gateway has developed into a public-private demonstration project with Region VII of the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency, other participating agencies, institutions, and organizations. Region VII EPA intends to evaluate the energy and pollution reductionbenefi ts of this project to develop a framework for other fuel stations that wish to “go green.” Dr. Peter Sam said, “The goal of the Green Energy Gateway Fuel Station is to demonstrate sustainable practices by getting as close as possible to zero-netenvironmental impacts at the site.” Sam is the EPA project manager for the Green Energy Gateway. Besides renewable fuels, zero-net impacts will be demonstratedby energy production through solar and wind power. Roof and rain gardens will reduce the urban heat island effect and storm water runoff, as well as, fi lter pollutantsand greenhouse gases from the air. Pollution prevention practices will be put into place to reduce or eliminate the creation of pollutants. Waste reduction and recycling will be promoted at the Green Energy Gateway. Zarco Earth Friendly Fuels will also be a gateway to environmental education. Customers can watch environmentally-themed public service announcements orview videos on solar and wind power on displays on thegas pumps while they fi ll their cars.