Kroger Debuts Ethanol Sales

CINCINNATI -- Kroger Co., which in March announced a plan to sell ethanol fuel in Texas, launched its first site Monday in Houston. It is the first of 18 planned Kroger fuel stations to offer E85 fuel throughout Dallas and Houston.

Cincinnati-based Kroger is making station improvements needed to offer E85 fuel in Dallas and Houston this summer, and more Kroger fuel centers could offer E85 as consumer demand grows, the company said.

E85 ethanol is an alternative fuel to gasoline and is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. In the United States, ethanol is typically produced from corn and other grain products, although in the future it may be economically produced from other biomass resources such as agricultural and forestry wastes or specially grown energy crops.

The retailer will price E85 ethanol lower than regular, unleaded gasoline, and Kroger Plus Card customers will be able to gain additional per-gallon savings.

The addition of E85 fuel pumps at Kroger fuel centers is being done in collaboration with the state of Texas, Detroit-based General Motors Corp. and St. Louis-based Abengoa BioEnergy.
Kroger operates more than 2,500 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states.

The announcement follows last week's news that grocery chain H.E. Butt would be offering E85 at five of its stations throughout Texas.
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