Pearson Fuels to Double Network of Flex-Fuel Stations

SAN DIEGO -- Pearson Fuels wants more consumers to "Feel Good Fueling Up." The company announced today it was granted $1.35 million from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to expand its retail flex-fueling network.

Pearson will use the funds to install E85, a high blend of ethanol and gasoline, into 19 traditional retail gasoline stations strategically located from San Diego all the way north to South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

"There are hundreds of thousands of flexible-fuel vehicle owners in California who have been burning imported oil in their vehicles for years while a domestically produced, renewable and cleaner burning fuel is available," said Mike Lewis, Pearson Fuels' general manager. "The problem continues to be a significant shortage of retail stations where the public can buy the fuel, with less than 45 retail E85 flex-fuel stations in the entire state. The CEC's funding, matched with our own and that of the retail fuel station owners, will go a long way toward addressing that shortage."

Pearson estimates that this project, made available through the CEC's Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, will displace over 2.75 million gallons of gasoline per year while reducing greenhouse emissions by approximately 25,082 tons per year.

E85 is a blend of 85-percent ethanol and 15-percent gasoline. Major technological improvements in the California Imperial Valley have contributed to more advanced production plants, agricultural waste products and other non-food sources, the company noted.

According to Pearson Fuels, it is the world's first alternative fuel depot that specializes in bringing alternative fuels to the public. The depot brought the first E85 station to the U.S. west coast and is now California's largest wholesale E85 distributor.