Grassley: Automakers Must Rev Up Ethanol Effort

By EMILY KLEIN

Sen. Charles Grassley,

R-Iowa, is hoping that automobile manufacturers will join his efforts to increase the amount of ethanol used in American vehicles.

On April 1, he sent letters to Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler asking the companies to do their part in the country’s movement toward greater renewable-fuel usage. The letters state that Grassley believes a cooperative effort between the private and public sectors is the best way to achieve this ultimate goal.

Currently, E10, a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent regular gasoline, is approved in the United States for use in all modern vehicles. E85, which is made from 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent regular gasoline, is only recommended for flexible fuel automobiles.

“The E10 market could be saturated as early as 2012, or when production reaches 12 to 14 billion gallons a year,” the letters state. “For this reason, a number of my colleagues and I wrote President Bush on the necessity to begin testing higher blends of ethanol and gasoline.”

Grassley states that the group also asked the Environmental Protection Agency to approve higher blends of ethanol after appropriate testing.

A yearlong study by the state of Minnesota and the Renewable Fuels Association looked into materials compatibility, drivability, and emissions associated with E20. The study’s results indicate that E20 provided similar power and performance to 10 percent ethanol blended fuel throughout the entire calendar year.

It also showed that the effects of 20 percent ethanol blended fuels do not present problems for current automotive or fuel- dispensing equipment.

The emission testing still is ongoing and the results will be released as soon as the comprehensive testing is complete.

“Based on the materials compatibility and drivability testing results of this scoping report, there are no issues that would prevent moving forward with the comprehensive testing required to certify E20 as a federally approved motor fuel,” an executive summary of the study states.

Grassley makes mention of the study in his letters to the auto manufacturers.

Non-flexible fuel vehicles in Brazil have been running on higher blends of ethanol than E10 for some time without problems, his letters also state. Some of the manufacturers he wrote to even sell vehicles in Brazil.

“Given that Honda sells automobiles in the Brazilian market, it seems your company could provide relevant, real-world data on the effects of intermediate ethanol blends in non-flex-fuel vehicles and engines,” the letter to Honda states.

Grassley also asks each auto company whether it is conducting research or doing testing on non-flexible fuel vehicles with higher ethanol blends for the U.S. auto market.

The letters close with a request for a prompt response.

Klein’s e-mail: eklein@wcinet.com

Originally published by EMILY KLEIN TH staff writer/eklein@wcinetcom.

(c) 2008 Telegraph – Herald (Dubuque). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.