The Scoop: Distributor finds E85 fuel slow to catch on

Gene Bernstein's Northville Industries Inc. of Melville, the largest home heating oil distributor to Long Island retailers, has stepped a foot into what many environmentalists hope will be the future: using ethanol to fuel automobiles.

But so far, said Bernstein, a member of the third generation of his family to run the company, sales of what is called E85 have been slow.

"There's not a lot of consumer awareness" of E85, Bernstein said of Northville's efforts to sell the product. His core business involves commodity trading and blending. E85, an alternative fuel, is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. The prime advantage, experts say, is that corn-based ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline. It is also a renewable fuel, made from vegetation.

But aside from the public's lack of awareness, Bernstein noted that E85 cannot be used in all cars. A car with flex-fuel capability is needed. Also, the number of gas stations that offer E85 is small. According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency statistics, New York, California, Texas and Florida have only a few hundred such stations combined. E85 offers fewer miles per gallon, but prices, which fluctuate, tend to be lower than gasoline.

John McDermott, owner of a Sunoco, said his Massapequa station was among the first on Long Island to offer E85 two years ago.

"There's growth in this," McDermott said.

Bernstein said Northville, one of Long Island's oldest and better known companies - partly due to its sponsorship, at one time, of the Northville Classic, a tournament for senior pro golfers at the Meadow Brook Club in Jericho - supplies E85 to 15 to 17 stations, with some others lined up also to offer the fuel.

Measures to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil must be taken, Bernstein said. So far, he said, E85 is less than 1 percent of his business.

But, he added, "it's a new product. It's going to take time. Who knows 10 years from now where E85 will be?"

At a glance:

What: E85

What is it: A blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent ordinary unleaded gasoline

What's it made from: Most ethanol in the United States is made from corn and primarily produced by a process called dry grinding in which the starch portion of corn is fermented into sugar and then distilled into alcohol.

Is it better than gasoline? Ethanol burns evenmore cleanly, reducing the release of gases into the atmosphere that can cause air and water pollution, global warming and smog. Ethanol prices fluctuate on a different cycle than gasoline, meaning that ethanol is sometimes cheaper but sometimes more expensive.

Can any car use E85? No. Ethanol will eat away at the rubber gaskets and hoses in the fuel system. They get brittle and crack. Only cars with flex-fuel systems should use E85.