In the news: General Motors together with Meijer have joined to celebrate the opening of Meijer's 20th E85 ethanol fueling station in the state of Michigan. The said event marked the completion of 20 new E85 ethanol pumps following a joint commitment entered into by the following companies: General Motors, Meijer, Clean FUEL USA and the State of Michigan.
The opening of the new E85 fueling station was witnessed by Mitch Irwin, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture. In a speech he said, "This partnership and others like it will fuel Michigan's future. Strong public policy support and private industry expertise are key ingredients to establishing a thriving renewable energy market, but it is innovation and commitment that will position our state as national leader."
As part of the collaborative effort, local GM dealers are also helping to promote the new fueling stations to customers that purchase FlexFuel vehicles. General Motors will likewise continue to boost awareness of E85 ethanol as a renewable, alternative fuel to meet demands of present day drivers. Meijer for its part has been selling ethanol at all of the 20 locations for 10 cents less than the price of the unleaded gas. By giving discounts, Meijer is hoping to encourage more drivers to use ethanol as their primary source of fuel.
Meijer is a Michigan company with headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This company aims to provide the newest product to its customers and the E85 ethanol happens to be one of its fresh products. The ethanol fuel provides a cleaner burning fuel alternative and seen as a way to break free from petroleum dependency.
According to Hank Meijer, Co-Chairman of Meijer, Inc., "Meijer too a first, but large step toward creating real choices for its customers at the pump when we committed to opening 20 E85 ethanol stations across the state. Fulfillment of this commitment is the foundation of Meijer's overall focus on environment stewardship for the future."
The State of Michigan has also become a home to one of the largest concentrations of GM's E85 flexible fuel vehicles in the country, with a total of 140,000 in use. The Meijer's 20 E85 ethanol pumps will give Michigan drivers the opportunity to fill up their engines with alternative, renewable fuel.
Elizabeth Lowery, GM Vice President of Environment and Energy said, "At GM, we believe that the biofuel with the greatest potential to displace petroleum-based fuels in the US is ethanol, and we have made a major commitment to vehicles that can run on E85 ethanol---with over two million of our FlexFuel vehicle son the road today. We're pleased to join Meijer in celebrating its twentieth E85 ethanol pump in the state and we commend Meijer on joining our efforts to make E85 ethanol available to more Michigan motorists."
General Motors believes that by promoting alternative sources of energy, issues surrounding energy availability are given solution. Producing the E85 FlexFuel vehicles is just one part of GM's strategy to reduce the use of petroleum and lessen the level of harmful emissions. Also part of the automaker's strategy is to improve the efficiency of the traditional internal combustion and to create an especially designed to match the needs of the FlexFuel.
