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Alternatives - USA - A new blend arrives to ease cost of driving
Stations in Metro Detroit, eslewhere offer ethanol-blend as flex-fuel vehicles increase
"You don't have to do anything different" - "You just pull up, fill up, and you're done"
Washington,DC,USA -Detroit News, by Jeff Plungis -Nov 6, 2005: -- The Garnett, Kan., house framer doesn't have to buy gasoline. He can use E-85, a blend of ethanol and gas being promoted as an elixir to save oil, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create new markets for farmers... Once the realm of a few researchers and alternative-fuel junkies, flex-fuel cars and trucks, which can run on either ethanol or gasoline, are becoming more common, especially in the Midwestern corn belt... Michigan, the 11th largest corn producer in the country, has one ethanol plant, Michigan Ethanol, in Caro. But four more plants are planned across the state. When completed, Michigan's ethanol output will increase from 40 million gallons a year to almost 250 million gallons a year... The newest part of the debate is figuring out cheaper ways to produce ethanol. Less expensive crops could be used, although the prospect of another market for corn has been one of the driving forces behind strong congressional support... Proponents argue that plants like switchgrass could be grown extensively in parts of the country that don't grow corn. Other types of "cellulosic" ethanol could radically alter the economics of the fuel. So could changes in import laws that would allow the production of ethanol from sugar cane in the Caribbean... The best thing about the flexible fuel approach is it doesn't require sacrifices from the consumer. It's the same vehicles they drive today, except with the option of a potentially cheaper fuel choice...
posted by Unknown @ 3:50 PM
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