"It is clear the solution to America 's energy challenges will need to
come from advances in fuels and vehicle technology. The fact is, without
the whole-hearted involvement of the oil industry, we cannot move forward
far enough and fast enough," said Sue Cischke, Ford's vice president of
environmental and safety engineering. "We obviously need key partners like
the oil industry to invest in developing and marketing renewable fuels,
like E85."
Only 600 of the 170,000 retail gas stations in the country currently carry
E85 ethanol, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. Cischke said
expanding the availability of E85 will be critical to moving America
toward energy independence.
"For ethanol to be a real player in the transportation sector and lessen
America's dependence on foreign oil, we need a strong, long-term focus on
policies that increase U.S. ethanol production and accelerate E85
infrastructure development," Cischke said. "We need national research
efforts to pursue producing ethanol from more energy-efficient cellulosic
materials like rice straw, corn stover, switch grass, wood chips or forest
residue."
Advocating an integrated approach between government and industry
stakeholders, Cischke called for an expanded role for federal and state
government, including tax credits for research and development and tax
incentives for consumers and businesses to use renewable fuels.
"We fully support government incentives to encourage and accelerate this
investment," she said.
Ford has put more than 1.6 million ethanol-capable, or flex-fuel, vehicles
on the road in the last decade, Cischke said. Ford's portfolio consists of
advanced technology vehicles to meet the various needs of consumers,
including hybrids, flexible fuel vehicles, advanced clean diesels,
hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines and fuel cells.