It seems Virginia is jumping out in front for E-85 ethanol fuel dispensing. Governor Timothy M Kaine accepted an E85 capable Chevrolet Tahoe today at an event in Richmond Virginia celebrating the opening of Virginia’s new state owned and operated

E85 ethanol fuel dispensing facility. General Motors provided this vehicle as part of their new campaign, Governors’ Ethanol Coalition, to promote ethanol and E85-capable vehicles in the state. They want to open as many new E85 pumps across Virginia this year as possible.

GM now has partnerships to open new E85 ethanol fueling stations with eleven states. GM is going to be replacing their old gas caps with a new Bright yellow one, to indicate an E85 capable vehicle. Their newest slogan to promote vehicles capable of using E85 is “Live Green Go Yellow”. So if you have a GM vehicle with a yellow gas cap you may use E85 fuel in your tank. So far there are over 1000 E85 fuel stations in the US, and growing yearly. The more we as consumers make an effort to choose earth friendly vehicles, the more we can make a difference.

E85 fuel stations can be found in these states so far.

Arizona, California, Colorado, DC, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. For more information go to http://www.ethanol.org/

Vehicles that run on ethanol or an ethanol blend. Ethanol is made from the fermentation of a U.S. grown, renewable feed crop such as corn; often used with FFV (Flexible Fuel Vehicles) that run off of a blend of 85% ethanol with 15% gasoline and is somewhat cleaner burning than gasoline alone.

· Taurus FFV, Explorer 4-door FFV, Explorer Sport Trac FFV, Mercury Mountaineer FFV, Mercury Sable FFV; Ford's Ethanol Vehicles: (run on any combination of standard gasoline and corn or other starch feed stock with 100 refueling stations in U.S.)

www.ford.com/en/vehicles/specialtyVehicles/environmental/ethanol.htm

· GMC has a wide range of alternative fuel Pickup Trucks and SUVs available for fleet use, including trucks with E85 flexible fuel models that run on gasoline or E85 (ethanol) www.gm.com/automotive/innovations/altfuel/vehicles/pickup/