Wal-Mart May Boost Ethanol

In what would be a major boost to the alternative fuel market, Wal-Mart may sell ethanol at its 383 U.S. gas stations.

According to the Associated Press, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, brought together a group of industry, government and academic experts on alternative fuels in Washington last week to discuss how Wal-Mart could develop a network for supplying gas stations at its stores with E-85 fuel.

Ethanol is an important piece of President Bush's plan to reduce dependence on foreign oil. Ehtanol E-85 is currently available only at scattered independent gas stations. Only about 600 of the nation's about 170,000 retail gas stations sell the ethanol-based blend.

The Wall Street Journal reports Detroit has been manufacturing an increasing number of flexible-fuel vehicles that can accommodate alternative fuels, such as E-85, but the auto companies have declined to ramp up manufacturing until the number of gasoline stations that sell the alternative fuels increase:

General Motors Corp. spokesman Greg Martin said the number of gas stations that sell E-85 needs to increase 20% to 30% to keep pace with the number of cars that could use the fuel. "That would put them nearby most of the population," he said. "We're heartened Wal-Mart is giving alternative fuels serious consideration and see it as a possible viable business opportunity."

[. . .]

"For ethanol to become a true alternative to gasoline in the U.S., we need more retail outlets selling it, more vehicles that use it, and we will need more ethanol," said Matt Hartwig, spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association. "Wal-Mart could play an important role in increasing that infrastructure."

Comments

[StockPromoter07]

We found an interesting article about the problems with Ethanol on ConsumerReports.org:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/03/ethanol-e85.html

"But there are some problems with increasing ethanol blends. Ethanol contains less energy than gasoline, so increasing the amount of ethanol in gasoline will likely result in lower fuel economy. Increasing standard fuel blends from zero to 10 percent ethanol, as is happening today, has little or no impact on fuel economy. In tests, the differences occur within the margin of error, about 0.5 percent. Further increasing ethanol levels to 20 percent reduces fuel economy between 1 and 3 percent, according to testing by the DOE and General Motors. Evaluations are underway to determine if E20 will burn effectively in today's engines without impacting reliability and longevity, and also assessing potential impact on fuel economy."

TheSUBWAY.com would like to invite readers to post their own views and ideas in TheSUBWAY.com's Investor Forum:

http://investor-forum.thesubway.com/

[TheSUBWAY.com]

We found an interesting article about the problems with Ethanol on ConsumerReports.org:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/03/ethanol-e85.html

"But there are some problems with increasing ethanol blends. Ethanol contains less energy than gasoline, so increasing the amount of ethanol in gasoline will likely result in lower fuel economy. Increasing standard fuel blends from zero to 10 percent ethanol, as is happening today, has little or no impact on fuel economy. In tests, the differences occur within the margin of error, about 0.5 percent. Further increasing ethanol levels to 20 percent reduces fuel economy between 1 and 3 percent, according to testing by the DOE and General Motors. Evaluations are underway to determine if E20 will burn effectively in today's engines without impacting reliability and longevity, and also assessing potential impact on fuel economy."

TheSUBWAY.com would like to invite readers to post their own views and ideas in TheSUBWAY.com's Investor Forum:

http://investor-forum.thesubway.com/

[Philip Couture]

In my view ethanol fuel (whether from corn or cellulose) is going to be a major player in breaking free from dependence on oil companies. Many venture capitalist such as Bill Gates, Vindod Khosia and others are investing large sums in biorefineries and processing ethanol. Many car manufactures are already making E85 fuel vehicles. The problem is not with the manufacturing of ethanol or for vehicles equipped to use it, rather it is the need for ethanol only stations to be available in every neighborhood throughout the U.S. These stations would be completely independent of any oil/gas companies either directly or indirectly. Wal-Mart's combination of combining the sale of either gas or ethanol is completely unacceptable because the oil companies still have their hand in the cookie jar. I say cut if off! What I suggest is a group of venture capitalist build or convert independent gas stations which would sell only ethanol and bio-deisel fuel. Such investors should have no active direct or indirect connection with oil companies or their refineries. I believe that such stations could be available in every neighborhood within several years. So venture capitalist what are you waiting for? Now's the time to act!