U.S. Automakers Stepping up Ethanol-Use Programs

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eneral Motors and Ford Motor Co. are forming partnerships with energy companies on projects that could make ethanol a more mainstream fuel, USA Today reported Thursday.

he projects would work to make so-called E85 — a blend of 85% ethanol, an alcohol usually made from Midwest corn, and 15% gasoline — more of a mainstream fuel, the paper said in a front-page story.

President Bush said in his State of the Union speech Jan. 31 that alternate fuels like ethanol — in the United States usually made from corn — could help reduce U.S. dependence on petroleum-based fuels.

he automakers made their announcements at the Chicago Auto Show, the paper said. They plan to plan to boost the number of U.S. E85 outlets; only about 500 of 180,000 gas stations now sell the alternate fuel.

Although diesel is the trucking industry’s main fuel, with about 665 million gallons per week burned, according to American Trucking Associations estimates, the industry’s trucks also burn about 290 million gallons of gasoline every week.

GM and Ford are ahead of Asian rivals in developing and marketing E85-compatible vehicles, called flex-fuel vehicles, USA Today said.

About 5 million of the vehicles are already are on the roads, and Ford and GM plan to build another 600,000 this year, the paper reported.