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General Motors Announces Collaboration With State Of Ohio And Kroger Stores To Help Bring More E85 Ethanol Fuel To Key Areas Of The State


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GM Provides Ohio with E85-Capable Chevrolet Tahoe for Educational Use

2006-07-06, COLUMBUS , Ohio – General Motors today announced that it has facilitated plans for the addition of several new E85 ethanol fueling sites in central Ohio thanks to a collaborative partnership with Kroger Stores and the State of Ohio. GM has been the catalyst behind several similar partnerships across the country as part of a broader, national campaign to boost the use and awareness of ethanol-based E85 fuel in the United States. The announcement was made today at the 7000 East Broad Street Kroger Fueling Station in Columbus, where the first of these planned E85 ethanol pumps will be installed next month.

Ohio Governor Bob Taft presided over the event, during which he signed House Bill 245 into law in front of a new FlexFuel Chevy Tahoe. The new law will provide financial assistance to retailers adding or converting pumps to carry ethanol and biodiesel.

“We’re working hard to make Ohio a leader in the production and deployment of alternative fuels to reduce our dependence on imported oil and focus on fuels we produce here in our state,” said Gov. Taft. “In February, I announced a goal of tripling the number of E85 pumps in Ohio from six to 18 by the end of the year. Thanks to partnerships like this one with GM and Kroger, we expect to achieve that goal.”

Commenting on today’s announcement, Ed Wall program manager, FreedomCar and Vehicle Technology, U.S. Department of Energy said, “We congratulate General Motors, Kroger and Governor Taft in the formation of this partnership to bring renewable biofuel to consumers at more retail locations. The Department of Energy is dedicated to developing energy efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles and fuels to meet the needs of all Americans. The efforts of today’s partnership will help our nation to wean itself from its addiction to oil by providing consumers with domestically grown and produced fuel choices like E85.”

Kroger is making the station improvements needed to offer E85 in Ohio and plans to offer E85 at more Kroger locations as consumer demand grows. Specific locations throughout central Ohio, Dayton, Cincinnati and Toledo will be announced as they come on line.

“Kroger is proud to offer its customers and the many Ohio motorists greater access to E85 ethanol fuel in this state,” said Bruce Macaulay, president The Kroger Co., Great Lakes Division. “We appreciate the support of Gov. Taft and GM in promoting availability and consumer awareness of this viable alternative fuel.”

General Motors will continue to spend significant advertising and promotion dollars to help generate awareness of E85 flexible fuel vehicles—and where consumers can purchase E85 ethanol—with consumer marketing initiatives and dealer outreach. The effort is similar to announcements GM has already made with other state government, oil industry, ethanol producers, and retail partners in California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota and Texas. Since May 2005, GM has announced partnerships with states and fuel providers around the country to locate, to date, up to 160 new E85 ethanol fueling locations by the end of 2006.

“GM already has more than two million vehicles on the road today that are capable of using E85 ethanol fuel,” said Elizabeth Lowery, GM vice president of environment and energy. “We appreciate that Kroger is joining our efforts to make this great fuel alternative available to more people in Ohio. “We also appreciate the support of Gov. Taft and the State of Ohio as we continue to promote the use of E85 ethanol and its many benefits for the environment, the economy and consumers.”

Last year, GM presented Gov. Taft with a one-year loan of an E85-capable Chevy Tahoe to help promote E85 in the state as part of an ongoing campaign by GM and the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition (GEC), a bipartisan group of governors devoted to the promotion and increased use of ethanol. This collaborative effort, which was launched in early 2005, is designed to increase awareness of ethanol and flexible fuel vehicles, and to promote the increased use of E85 as a renewable, alternative transportation fuel that is able to meet the demands of today’s drivers. GM is continuing the program through 2006 and today presented the Ohio Corn Growers Association with a new E85 flexible fuel vehicle to continue its promotion of ethanol and E85-capable vehicles.

Accepting the E85-capable Chevrolet Tahoe on behalf of the Ohio Corn Growers Association, Dwayne Siekman said, “We appreciate GM’s support of cleaner-burning alternative fuels like ethanol and its promotion of E85, which helps reduce tailpipe and greenhouse gas emissions, while supporting the economy and increasing our nation’s energy independence.”

E85 flexible fuel vehicles can run on any combination of gasoline and/or E85 ethanol, a fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. E85 ethanol can contribute to energy independence because it diversifies the source of transportation fuels beyond petroleum, and it provides positive environmental benefits in the form of reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Today, ethanol is primarily made from corn.

Corn is one of the top crops of Ohio’s $73 billion a year agriculture industry and five ethanol plants are currently being planned for the state, with three breaking ground now. Once completed, the five plants are expected to collectively produce up to 270 million gallons of ethanol each year, requiring 100 million bushels of corn each year.

GM currently employs over 19,000 Ohio residents and operates ten plants in the state. There are over 100,000 GM flexible-fuel vehicles in Ohio, with two million on the road across the country.

GM is a leader in flexible-fuel vehicle production and sales. For the 2006 model year, GM offers nine E85 flexible fuel vehicles, including the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Yukon XL, Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, Chevrolet Avalanche, Chevrolet Impala, and the Chevrolet Monte Carlo. GM also plans to add more than 400,000 E85-capable vehicles to the fleet in 2006. At the same time, worldwide production of ethanol is increasing every year, and is expected to triple by 2020.

About GM:

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world’s largest automaker, has been the global industry sales leader for 75 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 327,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33 countries . In 2005, 9.17 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com.

About Kroger:

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kroger is one of the nation’s largest retail grocery chains. At the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2006, the Company operated (either directly or through its subsidiaries) 2,483 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states under two dozen local banners including Kroger and Kroger Marketplace, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less, King Soopers, Smith’s and Smith’s Marketplace, Fry’s and Fry’s Marketplace, Dillons, QFC and City Market. Kroger also operated (directly or through subsidiaries, franchise agreements, or operating agreements) 783 convenience stores, 424 fine jewelry stores, 593 supermarket fuel centers and 42 food processing plants. For more information about Kroger, please visit www.kroger.com.



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