Please ask the President to maintain the minimum of 2 percent oxygen required in California by federal law. That represents approximately 25 percent of the ethanol that would be required once MTBE is fully phased out. Ethanol is available right now in 14 of the 36 gasoline terminals supplying California gasoline with coverage to every part of the state. Ethanol blending equipment has been installed in these facilities to allow effective, targeted in-line blending of ethanol. Similar blending equipment and storage could be added to the remaining terminals well before January 2003.
Ethanol is transported to California by either rail or water.
Based on actual experience today, ethanol can be shipped from the Midwest to California by rail in 5-6 days. Shipping time by water is 21-35 days. It is critically important to note, however, that the water logistics are exactly the same whether ethanol, MTBE or alkylate is being shipped from the Gulf Coast. Actual shipping costs have been as low as 12 cents per gallon. Shipping costs for MTBE would be twice as much because it takes twice as much volume of MTBE to meet the same oxygen content as ethanol.