Beating Gas Prices With American Technology

Thursday, March 1, 2001

Beating Gas Prices With American Technology by Phillip J. Lampert, Executive Director National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NAPSA)—Here, for a change, is good news about gas prices. Researchers have found a way to get more miles per gallon of gas— and perdollar. Their solution is a renewable source of energy made up of 85 percent ethanol—a product of corn—and 15 percent gasoline. In addition to being less harmful to the environment than gasoline, this E85, asit’s called, is generally priced five to 50 cents a gallon less than unleaded gasoline throughout the United States. This decreased cost comes from modern biotechnology and dramatic improvements in the ethanol fermentation process. In addition, farmers are increasing yields through the use of conservation tillage and seeds with built-in biotech traits. Seed companies are exploring ways to modify corn plants to yield more high quality ethanol per bushel of corn while future advances in biotechnology are expected to allow us to extract ethanol from industrial, agricultural and urban waste products, including saw dust, corn stalk residues, compost and yard clippings. Even before these advances occur, however, American cornfields produce almost two billion gallons of ethanol each year. Today, the majority of ethanol is blended with gasoline at 10 percent, but 1.5 million flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) on the road today ean run on E85 fuel, as well as Z = oe | Scientists have found a renewable fuel they say is less expensive than gasoline, better for the environment and available right here in the U.S. regular gasoline. These include ears and trucks from Ford Motor Company, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler. There are hundreds of E85 fueling sites in the United States and that number is growing each year. Congress is considering funding the development of hundreds more. The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC) is currently working with fuel retailers across the nation to assist in more pump installations to make fueling with E85 more convenient and cost-effective for consumers. More E85 sites will mean more costeffective choices for consumers each time theyfill up their cars. This homegrown, inexpensive fuel alternative reduces this nation’s dependence on foreign oil, improves air quality and helps the American farmer. You can learn whether your vehicle can use E85 and find the nearest fueling location online at www.E85fuel.com.

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