General Motors Wants More U.S. Ethanol Stations
(NASC Online) General Motors Co. is asking for more U.S. ethanol stations to help fuel its growing fleet of hybrid vehicles, Reuters reports. The car maker is producing more vehicles able to run on ethanol-gasoline blends.
Tom Stevens, GM vice chairman for global product operations, pointed out that more ethanol stations in America will help slash emissions output and lower U.S. reliance on foreign oil. By the 2012 model year, half of all GM vehicles will have the ability to perform on E85 (15 percent gasoline and 85 percent ethanol).
“GM is spending about $100 million a year adding flex-fuel capability to our vehicles. We can’t afford to leave this capital stranded,” Stevens told attendees at yesterday’s Renewable Fuels Association conference. Making the cars able to handle E85 increases the product cost close to $70 per vehicle.
Currently, GM has manufactured more than half (4 million) of the 7.5 million flex-fuel cars now on the road, said Coleman Jones, GM biofuel implementation manager.
…“Today there’s 2,200 (ethanol fuel stations) that are out there but that’s not enough,” said Stevens. “Two-thirds of the pumps are concentrated in 10 states and those 10 states have only about 19 percent of the flex-fuel vehicles that we have on the road.”
…NACS Vice President of Government Relations John Eichberger told the audience that each and every E85 dispenser in the nation is illegal because it is not certified as compatible with that fuel. He stressed that unless Congress acts to change existing laws governing equipment compatibility and protecting retailers from liability associated with consumer misfueling, very few retailers will increase their sale of ethanol blended fuels.
Eichberger stressed that not only will E85 and mid level blends like E15 not likely find their way into many retail facilities, but that without legislation to protect retailers from litigation the overall renewable fuels standard will fail. READ MORE and MORE (Reuters)
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