Copyright 2006 Dana Buttenhoff
During the State of the Union Address on January 31,2006
President George W. Bush presented a plan to the people of the
United States and to the U.S. Congress to replace more than 75
percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.He spoke
of hybrid cars, hydrogen based fuel cell cars and the expansion
of ethanol fueled vehicles. The ethanol-based technology is
already here, there are already somewhere in the neighborhood of
5 million Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFV) already on the road in
the USA.FFV can run on regular unleaded gasoline or a blend of
85 percent ethanol and 15 percent regular unleaded gasoline
(known as E85) or any percentage of ethanol and gasoline blend
in between.
The expansion of FFV is, in my opinion, an opportunity for
General Motors and Ford to step forward and show the American
people that they can compete by building vehicles that are
friendlier to the environment and not dependent on products
imported to us from the politically volatile Middle East.
Ford showed off an ethanol-hybrid SUV this past January at the
Washington, D.C. auto show, as reported by USA Today writer
James R. Healy. This E85-burning hybrid Ford Escape is part of
"a development program, not a research program," according to
Ford Executive Vice President Anne Stevens. This means that the
American consumer will find these vehicles in showrooms sooner
rather than later.
USA Today writer James R. Healy did a cover story on Thursday
February 2,2006 highlighting the message from the States of the
Union Address indicating that E85 is not the answer because
among other things the infrastructure is not in place, except
for the Midwest, and, if you do not own one of the 5 million FFV
currently on the road you would need to buy a new car that can
use E85. I understand these very valid points but I also must
say that it is February 2006 as I write this article and 2025 is
still 19 years away. The technology is here; we just need to get
on board with the new technology now in order to cut the
dependency on foreign oil imports in the future.
In his USA Today feature article Mr. Healy noted that Ford CEO
Bill Ford states his company will boost FFV production 25% this
year to 250,000. Also noted was that General Motors has pledged
to build more than 400,000 FFV annually, starting this year.
Noting that a barrel of oil is saved for every 37 gallons of E85
that is used.
Mr. Healy's feature article raised an interesting point: most
cars on the road today in the USA require no modifications at
all to run on Gasohol, which is a blend of 90 percent gasoline
and 10 percent ethanol. By taking the first step of using the 10
percent ethanol blend we, as the American driving public, can
accomplish a couple of things. First we can help the environment
by burning a cleaner fuel in our current cars. Second we can
give the automakers the acknowledgement that the American
consumer is serious about alternative renewable fuel. This
perhaps would spur other manufacturers to join General Motors
and Ford in offering expanded choices in the FFV line-up. Third
this would give production facilities time to tool up as well as
a ready and willing market to expand into. Fourth this should
help American farmers by boosting the price of corn that is
widely used in ethanol production. Fifth this would also give
more fuel stations the time to begin making the necessary
additions to their storage facilities to accommodate E85 fuel.
This will not happen over night but instead slowly over time.
The next time you are in the market for a new vehicle a FFV may
be a viable choice for you.
The manufacturers will build the vehicles that are demanded by
the public. If you feel that an E85 fuel vehicle may fit your
needs the next time you purchase a vehicle do your research and
do what is right for you. Remember that the flexibility of an
E85 fueled vehicle does not restrict your travel to only areas
that have E85, because it will also run on regular unleaded
fuel. To get additional information you can visit
www.e85fuel.com for the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition.
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