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Ethanol at IndyBy Ken Root I made it to the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial weekend. The 91st running of the 500 mile race was interrupted by a rain delay followed by a crazed restart and ended by another rain that stopped the event. Good for the corn, bad for the cars. The draw is the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of people lining a two and a half mile oval track while drivers, seeking fame and fortune, come by at well over 200 miles per hour. The crowd, the noise and the tradition make it an annual pilgrimage. I also went this year to see how the cars would perform as they converted to ethanol. The crowd's been on it for years and I spent some of my time interviewing reasonably sober people and asking their views about the homegrown fuel that is receiving so much publicity in agricultural circles. First, the cars: There were no blown engines during the race. The fastest lap was run at 223.420 miles per hour as the cool day seemed to boost the speed as the cars moved from a 10 percent blend of ethanol last year to pure joy juice in this race. The gas tanks were shrunk from 37 to 22 gallons, due to increased mileage over the methanol-ethanol blend, and the crews said the fumes in the pits were much less pungent than the previous fuel. Ethanol was never mentioned as an issue as technology merged with capitalism and courage and men and women pushed their machines to the edge of control and beyond. The race fans were another story. The Indy 500 brings in a cross section of America that goes from blue collar factory workers to jet set executives. The race is held in the tract housing town of Speedway where the home owners invite fans to park in their yards all month long for $5 to $50 per vehicle with little regard to grass, trees or flower beds. The tickets for the race are held for generations and doled out to friends and friends of friends who eagerly pay face value plus for a chance to see the race. I stood with my recorder on a street that led out from the third turn. I interviewed people who were walking straight, which took out a sizable portion of the crowd that was exiting during the rain delay. "I'm a farm reporter from Iowa," I said to each one, "I want to ask you about ethanol." That got the first reaction which ranged from a blank stare to a thought about having another cool one. "The cars today ran on ethanol. What do you think of it?" Here are their responses: Doug from Illinois: It is a worthy cause but it won't help our energy crisis. Don't use it. Bob from Texas: Fine, if it conserves fuel. Don't have an opinion. Don't use it, yet. Lady from Indianapolis: Need for race. I don't feel one way or another. I don't think I use it. Man from Indiana: Drive a company truck, just use their credit card and put in gasoline. Man from Indiana: Both good and bad. It has environmental side effects. I don't have a car that will burn it (E-85) have to have a yellow gas cap. Woman from Indiana: I don't look for it, may burn it, don't know. Indiana man: Engine can't handle it. Won't solve problem. Need yellow gas cap car to burn it. Kenny, who was parking cars: Good idea. No, I don't burn 10 percent. It will solve problems and help the economy, bring corn farmers back who couldn't sell their crop. Man from England who has lived in Indiana for 10 years: Don't know much. They don't sell it. I might burn it if they did. What we have here is a failure to communicate. The random answers from the crowd exiting a race that was run on ethanol showed they knew basically nothing about it. They had seen the GM commercials about flex fuel vehicles and the "yellow gas cap" but they did not know if ethanol was available at their gas station. We apparently have been talking to ourselves, even in the Midwest. At the fueling stations in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana that I visited this weekend, and paid them over $3 per gallon for fuel, only Iowa had "contains ethanol" clearly marked on the pump. It was also cheaper by about 10 cents. In Illinois, the lower octane was the cheapest, with 89 octane (normal ethanol enhancement) 10 cents higher. In Indiana, a similar situation as Illinois with the lower octane grades (87 and 89) about the same price. Agriculture has three years to get ethanol recognized as either a better or cheaper fuel. The tax incentives are going to have to be fought for in 2010 and there may not be another Newt Gingrich to reinstate them as he did as Speaker of the House in 1999. The politics of ethanol are sky high right now as every presidential candidate is pro ethanol until the Iowa caucuses are over in January. After that, it's anybody's bet on how much support will come from the new president. In the midst of all this, it is amazing that the public has not reacted to $3 plus gasoline. What if any other commodity had a 50 percent increase in price over the course of a few months? The people I spoke with seemed to have little emotion about high fuel costs and less incentive to change their fuel or their lifestyle. Of course you should consider that I drove 1,070 miles to watch 33 cars go 415 miles. Although I made sure I put in 10 percent ethanol when it was the lowest cost fuel at the pump, I was really no different than the rest of the fat and happy crowd. Editor's note: Ken Root is now celebrating his 34th year as an agricultural professional. His career began as a vocational agriculture teacher then turned to agricultural broadcasting and writing as well as environmental consulting and association management. He was the original host of AgriTalk (1994-2001) and now is lead farm broadcaster for WHO Radio in Des Moines, Iowa. Date: 6/4/07
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