CARO, MI - Major ethanol producer Poet, through its biorefining plant in Caro, Mich., has helped two local fuel stations install new ethanol blender pumps. As a result, motorists will have more fuel options at the two Michigan stations -- one in Sebewaing and the other in Elkton.

The Poet plant contributed $50,000 to offset the cost of installing new blender pumps at stations owned by the Cooperative Elevator Company in Sebewaing and Ignash Petroleum in Elkton. In return, Ignash and Cooperative Elevator have agreed to purchase ethanol directly from Poet Biorefining-Caro, Ethanol Producer Magazine reported.

"We know there's a demand from many drivers for more options, and blender pumps are the best way to allow real fuel choice," said David Gloer, general manager at Poet Biorefining-Caro. "Different blends of ethanol provide different cost-saving and performance options, so this will give drivers the chance to use the fuel that best works for their vehicle."

Blender pumps allow motorists to choose among multiple ethanol blend options, such as E10, E30, E50, E85 and more. Use of higher ethanol blends is currently for flex-fuel vehicles only.

Headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D., Poet has a production capacity of more than 1.7 billion gallons of ethanol and about 9 billion pounds of high-protein animal feed annually from 27 production facilities nationwide. Poet also operates a pilot-scale cellulosic ethanol plant, which uses corn cobs and light stover as feedstock, and will commercialize the process in Emmetsburg, Iowa.