E85 ArticleArticle: about E85 The Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of America's leading Detroit-based automakers including Richard Wagoner of General Motors, Alan Mulally of Ford Motor Company, and Tom LaSorda of Chrysler Group has recently conducted a meeting with President George W. Bush to help improve the development of alternative fuel automobiles (e.g. ethanol and bio diesel fuel). The three automakers also aim to reduce the country's dependence on petroleum based products and reduce consumption of gas over all.
After the meeting with President Bush, the three CEO's went out side the White House with the President and US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters to discuss some ways on how to improve theconsumer's access to alternative fuels. Here is what the three of them said in a join statement regarding the meeting: "We briefed the President about the more than 6 million flexible fuel vehicles on the road today and we will add over a million FFV cars and trucks in 2008 alone. We explained to the President that if all these vehicles were running on E85, they would displace more than 3.6 billion gallons of gasoline a year. And even more compelling, if all the E85 capable vehicles on the road today along with those that GM, Ford and Daimler Chrysler have already committed to produce over the next 10 years were to run on E85, we could displace 22 billion gallons of gasoline in the United States annually. Also, if all manufacturers made a comparable commitment to make half their annual production capable of running on bio fuels, we could increase the savings to 37 billion gallons of gasoline annually in 2017. Furthermore, we pointed out the benefits of clean diesel technology and that if all diesel vehicles today were fueled with B5 (five percent bio diesel) we could displace1.85 billion gallons of petroleum based fuel per year, and 7.4 billion gallons per year if B20 (20 percent bio diesel) were utilized.
We expressed to the President that we are willing to lead the way, but we need government and fuel providers to increase infrastructure before we can make a meaningful impact. In addition we discussed with the President that as part of an overall national strategy to fully tap the potential of bio fuels to displace petroleum, vehicle production increases must be accompanied by continuing the incentives that encourage the manufacture distribution and availability of bio fuels and the production of flexible fuel vehicles.
E85 and alternative fuelsWe updated the President on our wide range of advanced vehicle technologies that run on alternative fuels such as Ethanol, bio diesel, electricity powered automobiles and hydrogen. Plug-in hybrid vehicles can play a significant role in our transportation future. Increased funding for domestic battery research and development can help accelerate bringing these vehicles to market.Overall, we were pleased with the exchange that we had with the President and all parties came away with an understanding of the significant, positive impact that bio fuels can make on the environment and in reducing our nation's reliance on foreign oil. E85 for the present and futureWe welcome the opportunity to continue working with President Bush, his Administration, and the Congress in a bipartisan manner and to move forward on solutions to these issues whilecontinuing to do our part to ensure America's long-standing leadership in manufacturing and innovation."This statement emphasizes that GM, Ford, and Daimler Chrysler will develop and produce vehicles with flex fuel capability in the next 10 years. About the author:Dwyane Thomas is a part time cook and full-time auto-enthusiast. This 32-year old Civil and Environmental graduate is a consultant at one of the engineering firms in Pennsylvania. http://www.mbpartswarehouse.com
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In order to achieve these levels of petroleum based fuel savings we asked the President to help provide Americans with reasonable access to these fuels at a price that is competitive with gasoline. Right now there are approximately 1,100 Ethanol pumps in the U.S. and 1,000 bio diesel pumps, out of 170,000 gas stations. 
