For U.S. drivers, motoring  has  always been  about freedom.  Now some folks  are saying  pumps that  offer drivers whatever blend of ethanol they like  mixed into motor fuel will increase demand for the  biofuel.  

“The future for the entire country is going to be blender pumps. And that will give the consumer the option to put the blend of ethanol they’d like into their car,” Jeff Broin, the CEO of private ethanol company POET said at  the Reuters Global  Agriculture and Biofuel Summit this week.

Broin, whose company is the top U.S. ethanol producer, said the so-called  blender pumps offer drivers  the choice  of motor fuel mixed  with either 10, 20, 30 or 85 percent ethanol. Currently there are a few blender pumps in his home state, South Dakota, as well as  Minnesota.

But the  great majority of  U.S. drivers only have the option of  filling up with E10, while some fuel stations,  mainly in the  Midwest and Texas,  offer  E85.

Unfortunately for bargain hunters,  ethanol’s lower energy  content compared to gasoline  makes  E85 blends  more expensive  than regular gasoline.   But other drivers may like  to pay up because ethanol has higher levels of octane than gasoline.

More choices could  boost  U.S. demand for ethanol, an industry whose capacity has grown 45 percent this year, amid government mandates and incentives, he said.

Some blends may even be more economical. A  study last month said E20 and  E30 blends give drivers better fuel economy than either E10 or E85.  

And the pumps have powerful friends.   U.S. Presidential hopeful Democrat Barack Obama and several  other Midwest lawmakers  last year threw support behind  more freedom of  ethanol choice.  

While others say regulations would prevent the pumps from spreading nationwide, Broin    holds out hope, in part because the pumps could make him a tidy profit.   “It allows the ethanol plant to haul the ethanol directly to the station… rather than take it to the terminal and pay the extra freight on it… It is a bonus for station owner as well as the producers,” he said.

Of course, to burn anything higher than E10, you need to drive a “flex fuel” car, which  auto makers are producing more of these days.

Would you buy more  ethanol blended fuel if  there were  more choices?