Tullahoma Station is First in Coffee County Tennessee to Offer E85 Ethanol

The Shell Quik Mart on the corner of 41A and Hwy 55 is now offering a new fuel alternative for the Coffee County area. For the first time, flexible-fuel vehicle owners and fleet operators looking to refill their tanks in Tullahoma will have the choice to refuel their vehicles with E85 ethanol, a fuel blend of unleaded gasoline and up to 85 percent ethanol.

“We are pleased and excited to be the first and only station in Coffee County “Our customers who own flexible-fuel vehicles have been asking for it, and now they have a choice to refuel their vehicles with a product that reduces air pollution, lowers our dependence on foreign oil, and helps support American farmers.” to offer a renewable fuel alternative for conscientious consumers,” said Edwards Oil Company President Jonathan Edwards.

Family-owned since its founding in 1945, Edwards Oil Company of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, has had an interest in renewable fuels since the 1970s. They have operated a convenience store with gasoline on the corner of 41A and Hwy. 55 (South Jackson Street) since 1980. Over the years, the family has kept an eye on opportunities to offer their customers more choices in refueling their vehicles with alternative products that are kinder to the environment and put more dollars back into local economies.

Over the last few years, oil futures saw one of its most dramatic increases leading to skyrocketing gasoline prices. At the height of the gasoline price-spike, drivers across the nation had no choice but to pay as much as $4 per gallon or more. This quickly led to an increased number of calls for alternative fuel choices including ethanol and biodiesel.

In 2008, Edwards Oil successfully responded to the challenge by offering E85 ethanol at Quik Mart #14 on Nashville Highway Columbia and at Quik Mart #10 on North Ellington Parkway in Lewisburg, Tennessee, while rolling out B20 biodiesel at the Columbia store and at Quik Mart #9 on Lane Parkway Shelbyville, Tennessee. That same year, the family underwent the process of converting their entire network of stations to a blend of traditional gasoline and up to ten percent ethanol.

With the two Tennessee sites and one in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, this is Edwards’s fourth E85 fueling station.

“More and more stations across Tennessee are offering their customers a choice of E85 and B-20. We are excited to see Edwards Oil leading the way in Coffee, Marshall, Maury and Bedford counties by offering alternative fuels to their customers” said Atha Comiskey, Coordinator of Clean Cities of Middle Tennessee Coalition. “Seeing businesses such as Edwards Oil now offering renewable fuel choices is a good thing for those of us wanting to use alternative fuel.”

Tennessee has seen a remarkable increase in the development of ethanol and biodiesel infrastructure in the state. “It wasn’t that long ago that no one had heard of alternative fuels, let alone depend on them for their daily driving, but all that is changing,” said Comiskey. Tennessee now has 33 E85 and 32 B20 pumps located across the state.

source: wdef