Eric North, Daily Reporter senior staff writer

Forty is the lucky number for those watching the future of biofuels in Indiana.

Last summer, Indiana Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman set a goal to promote ethanol and soy biodiesel production and use.

On Wednesday, that goal was met six months ahead of schedule in Greenfield.

Greenfield-based GasAmerica marked the milestone Wednesday by officially opening that 40th fuel dispenser of the E85 product – a mixture of 15 percent gasoline and 85 percent corn-based ethanol – at its station near I-70 and Ind. 9 on Greenfield’s north side. The price: $2.77 a gallon.

Conservationists are pushing the fuel because it helps reduce emissions in some applications. And as jitters mount about fuel prices because of unrest in Middle East, fresh attention is focusing on any fuel alternative that will help feed the country’s appetite for energy sources.

“I remember 30 years ago when we introduced gasohol, which has a mixture of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline,” said Jim Gentry, fuel manager for GasAmerica. “Today, with E85, we are not talking about anything exotic or strange; it is just the next step in the process.”

Of the 40 pumps dispensing E85, five are located at GasAmerica stations, with three more in the works.

“There are 11 new ethanol and three new biodiesel plants in the works across the state,” said Skillman during a news conference in Greenfield Wednesday. “The industry will create 600 new jobs and put $17 million in the pockets of Hoosier farmers selling their grain to producers.”

The fuel is still only for a selected but growing group of vehicles that have so-called Flex Fuel systems. They can run on gasoline or any mixture of gasoline and ethanol.

Skillman, tours the state in a Flex Fuel vehicle donated by General Motors.

“This is Indiana’s future, and we are leading the way in its production,” said Skillman. “Maybe we can celebrate our 100th pump in six more months.”
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