Ford Pumps-Up Ethanol

MINNEAPOLIS-- Ford Motor Co and a coalition of organizations in Minnesota have added more than 40 E85 fueling stations in the Twin Cities.

E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, can be made from virtually any organic material, although nearly all of the 1.7 billion gallons produced each year currently come from corn. Several projects are already underway to process ethanol from rice straw, sugar cane, wood waste and even landfill waste.

The Minnesota project is the largest E85 infrastructure program in U.S. Before the project began, only seven stations in Minnesota offered E85. Today, 53 stations offer E85 in Minnesota. There is currently an aggressive program in place to have 400 E85 fueling sites available by 2002.

The project provides financial support to independent station operators for installing E85 refueling pumps or converting existing gasoline pumps. The average cost for installing an ethanol fuel pump is $40,000.

“Ford is committed to protecting the environment while providing quality cars and trucks,” said Marty Friedman, Ford business and product strategy director. “We hope people will show their individual environmental commitment by trying out E85.”

The use of E-85 reduces carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles by as much as 20 percent compared to gasoline and may help reduce emission of greenhouse gases.

E85 can only be used be used in flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs), which are specially designed to operate on E85, unleaded gasoline, or any combination of the two fuels in the same tank. More than 120,000 Taurus sedans in the 2000 model year and Ranger pickups with the 3.0-liter 2-valve engines are FFVs.

In addition to Taurus and Ranger, Ford plans to begin offering the flexible fuel option on its popular Explorer sport utility vehicle. In model year 2001, all Ford Explorer Sport models and SportTracs equipped with 4.0- liter V-6 engines as well as the 2002 the Explorer 4-door will be FFVs.

To find out if their vehicles are FFVs, drivers can look for the Ford “Leaf and Road” badge which identifies the vehicle as an alternative fuel vehicle or can check their owner’s manuals. The fuel door also has a label that identifies the vehicle as being ethanol or E85 capable.