Sen. Talent Pressures Oil Industry to Increase Fueling Stations for Ethanol & Biodiesel
Sen. Talent Pressures Oil Industry to Increase Fueling Stations for Ethanol & Biodiesel
At a Senate Energy Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Jim Talent (R-Mo.) said the oil industry should take steps to increase fueling stations that dispense renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel, including an 85 percent ethanol-blend known as E-85.
Sen. Talent, who steered the Renewable Fuels Standard through the Senate adding 7.5 billion gallons of renewables to the nation's fuel supply by 2012, said the oil industry needs to make adjustments at the pumps for consumers in Missouri and around the country.
"One of our biggest challenges now is increasing the infrastructure to get the fuels to the consumers," Sen. Talent said. "We are constantly increasing the number of E-85 fueling stations, but we need to do more to support the 6 million flexible fuel vehicles currently on the road. The oil industry needs to do more to make ethanol and biodiesel more available at the pumps for consumers."
In the Energy bill, Senators Talent and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) sponsored a tax provision to provide tax credits to encourage fueling stations to switch from traditional petroleum- based gasoline to E-85.
Ford Motor Company also has been working to promote the use of ethanol and to encourage stations to offer E-85.
At the hearing, Susan Cischke, Vice President of Environmental and Safety Engineering for Ford Motor Company, testified that Ford is committed to renewable fuels. Ford recently introduced Escape Hybrid E85, a research vehicle that features both hybrid electric power and the capability of operating on 85 percent ethanol. Ford currently has two hybrid electric vehicles on the road today including the Ford Escape Hybrid, manufactured at the Ford Claycomo assembly plant in Kansas City, and the Mercury Mariner Hybrid.
"These incentives and industry partnerships will go a long way toward making this domestic fuel more available across the country and helping reduce our dependence on foreign oil," said Sen. Talent. "The oil industry should recognize that renewable fuels are at the heart of economic growth and jobs for the future; at the heart of energy independence from foreign energy producers; at the heart of environmental quality; and at the heart of value-added agriculture for our family farmers and producers."
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