A new, environmentally friendly automotive fuel has been introduced at a Ball Park Mobil service station in Lansing, Mich. The business is offering customers E85. The fuel is 85% ethanol, which is made from corn. It also contains 15% gasoline. When blended with gasoline, an acre of corn can fuel four cars for a year. The use of ethanol eliminates $900 million worth of imported oil yearly.
"Currently, only about 40 service stations across the country, including one in Detroit, are selling E85, but more are coming," says Earl Collier, president of the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan (CMPM). "We're confident that number will start to climb sharply as more Flex Fuel vehicles are on the roads."
Keith Muxlow, executive director of CMPM, says widespread use of E85 offers farmers an important new market. "Making E85 from corn provides a significant use for corn and other grains and a major new market," says Muxlow.
CMPM is a nine-member group of farmers appointed by the governor to oversee a program through which Michigan corn producers contribute one cent per bushel of corn sold to be used for research, market development, and education.
For more information on the CMPM, call 517-323-6600.
