By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – A study paid for by the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council claims ethanol-blended gasoline, or E-10, saved Missouri drivers more than $158 million last year. But the results are under scrutiny.
John Urbanchuk with the California-based research firm LECG conducted the study.
He estimates use of E-10 will save Missouri drivers nearly 10 cents per gallon in 2008.
"And when you look at that over the number of drivers in the state, that works out to about $73 a driver, (or) about two tanks of gasoline a year, and that's not an insignificant savings for drivers and consumers," Urbanchuk said.
However Pat Westhoff, an agricultural economics professor at the University of Missouri - Columbia, said E-10 may not be as efficient as regular gasoline.
"The question that's important to consider is whether a consumer can go as far on one gallon of blended gasoline as he can on regular gasoline," Westhoff said. "There have been some studies that point to the fact that ethanol only has about two thirds of the energy content of gasoline on a per-gallon basis."
Westhoff said the strong demand for ethanol and other biofuels is contributing to rising food prices around the world. In addition, some economists have blamed ethanol production for driving up the price of livestock feed.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are being asked to consider repealing the state's 10 percent ethanol mandate, which took effect in January.