An aerial promotion campaign for ethanol in the Sunshine State took off this past weekend over the racetrack at Sebring, the theme parks in Orlando and the beaches of Fort Meyers.

The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council will be flying this banner over cities from Miami to Jacksonville in the next few weeks to get the message out that Florida Needs Ethanol.

According to EPIC, ethanol is currently blended in 46% of our nation’s fuel supply with the majority of the fuel blended with 10% ethanol. But in many major cities, such as Tampa, consumers currently do not have access to purchase even a 10 percent ethanol blend, although it can be used in any of today’s cars.

“Ethanol’s performance and environmental benefits resonate with consumers,” said Reece Nanfito, EPIC’s senior director of marketing. “It may take time, but ethanol-enriched fuels need to be a part of Florida’s energy future.”

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson agrees. “As we develop cellulosic technology in Florida, I think that’s what we are going to be the most well-known for,” said Bronson. “We working with the University of Florida to find out which crops will be most beneficial to produce ethanol.”

Bronson is working to get the Florida Legislature to fund more incentives for biofuels production and research in Florida. He also sees a bright future for biodiesel production in the state. “Research I have seen on blue-green algae says that may be the very one that’s going to take over biodiesel because you can make so much diesel out of that blue green algae and we can grow a lot of that in Florida. So I think we are going to lead the nation in that.”

Listen to an interview with Commissioner Bronson from Katherine Bush with Southeast Agnet. Charles Bronson (2 min MP3)