"Ford has partnered with VeraSun Energy — a leading
ethanol producer — to build a 'Midwest Ethanol Corridor'
stretching through Missouri and Illinois," Rippon
said. "The corridor will allow FFV owners to travel
from Chicago to Kansas City operating only on E85. Ford
believes that helping our FFV customers to conveniently
find and use E85 is the right thing to do."
E85 is typically less expensive at the pump than gasoline.
However, a gallon of E85 contains about 25 percent less
energy than a gallon of gasoline, resulting in fewer
miles to the gallon. So the benefits of using ethanol
may not come immediately in the form of savings at the
pump (unless gasoline prices rise considerably or ethanol
production becomes more efficient as it becomes more
prevalent). But increased use of ethanol can help free
the U.S. from what President George W. Bush called "our
addiction to oil."
"Studies have shown that it may be possible to
replace up to 30 percent of U.S. gasoline with ethanol
from various sources including biomass," Rippon
said. "No other near-term alternative fuel has
that kind of potential."
In terms of global warming, the use of biofuels like
ethanol can reduce CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions, one
of the main suspected culprits in the earth's temperature
changes.
Research at the Argonne National Laboratory's Center
for Transportation Research indicates that on a per-gallon
basis, today's corn ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions
by 18 to 29 percent; ethanol produced from cellulose-based
feedstocks such as agricultural wastes, grasses and
woods offers an even greater benefit with an 85 percent
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Both issues — energy impendence and global warming
— are becoming more urgent as events unfold. Last year,
both the U.S. House and Senate passed the Energy Policy
Act of 2005, which includes several important ethanol
provisions. This energy bill contains a Renewable Fuels
Standard that will double America's production of ethanol
to at least 7.5 billion gallons annually by 2012. (Source:
Ford
Motor Company)
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