It serves as a beacon for better times as gas prices shift between $2.50 and $3 a gallon.
But ethanol gas is not a buzzword for far-off changes in the U.S. It's an answer, some say, to the country's fuel dependency problem and the world's major environmental concerns that politicians, automotive companies and scientists are taking very seriously.
The often-referenced ethanol gas is E85, which consists of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
Ethanol is a fuel created from organic substances. In Brazil, where ethanol is produced from sugar cane, the country is nearly gas-fuel independent.
In the U.S., however, ethanol production has so far been limited to corn.
The fuel burns cleaner than gasoline and doesn't devastate the environment when spilled the way oil does, experts say. It can be produced domestically, and with further development, may reduce greenhouse gases.
There are many existing car models called flex-fuel vehicles, which can run on either E85 or gasoline. There are flex-fuel models of the Ford Taurus, and all Chevy Tahoe and Impala models run on either fuel.
While making the transition to E85 offers big incentives, it also has big obstacles.
Before E85 becomes more widely used than gasoline, scientists will have to improve its production and distribution, said Bruce Dale, MSU professor of chemical engineering.
"That's part of the chicken and egg problem (of E85)," he said. "You don't just build a multi-billion dollar industry overnight."
Even if 100 percent of land used to grow corn was used for ethanol production, only 20 percent of the U.S. energy demand would be met, Dale said.
He said the U.S. uses 25 percent of the world's petroleum supply, partly because the U.S. has the most cars per people in the world.
"The ownership of cars in China is where the U.S. per capita was in 1910," Dale said.
Research at the MSU Biomass Conversion Research Laboratory and a handful of similar laboratories at other universities is working to develop a method of producing E85 from grass, or "grassoline" as Dale calls it, to solve that problem.
Unlike corn, grass can be grown anywhere, and there is more of it, Dale said. Ethanol fuel made from grass would produce 80 percent less greenhouse gases than gasoline, Dale said. Ethanol gas made from corn produces about the same amount of greenhouse gases as gasoline, he said.
As scientists work to improve ways of producing E85, some government officials work to increase the number of people who can purchase it.
Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for Gov. Jennifer Granholm, said the state is partnering with General Motors Corp., Meijer Inc. and CleanFUEL USA to put E85 pumps in at least 20 more gas stations in southeast Michigan during the next few years.
Four ethanol plants are being built, which will at least quadruple Michigan's E85 production, Boyd said. The city of Caro holds the state's only plant currently producing the fuel.
Boyd said Michigan's agricultural and technological backgrounds should allow the state to lead the way in shifting from gas to ethanol.
"We are the state that put America on wheels — we should be the state that ends this country's dependency on foreign oil," she said.
There are ten gas stations in Michigan that have E85 pumps, including Pacific Pride at 1939 Cooper St. in Jackson and Sunoco Gas at 21435 W. 8 Mile Road in Detroit. On Monday, prices for E85 at Pacific Pride were $2.55 per gallon, less than the $2.77 per gallon price of regular unleaded gasoline.
Since E85 is about 25 percent less fuel efficient than gasoline and less expensive, consumers get roughly the same miles per dollar with either fuel.
Researchers and politicians alike are aiming to have E85 down to $1 per gallon in five years, and Dale said the prediction is realistic given the current research.
Dave Barthmuss, GM manager of public policy, environment and energy issues for North America, said the company began making engines of some vehicle models compatible with E85 in 1999 in order to diversify people's fuel choices and keep up with other countries' advancement in alternative fuel.
GM has six 2007 models to add to its nine existing flex-fuel models, including the minivan Uplander and the full-size van Express.
Barthmuss said E85 is the most immediate way to be environmentally friendly while hydrogen fuel and hybrids are further developed.
"We haven't cracked the hydrogen code yet," Barthmuss said. "This is one thing we can do in the meantime — develop as many alternative fuels as we can."
Dale, however, said he doesn't see hydrogen fuel, which comes in a gas form, replacing liquid fuel as the primary source of gas because the country already has a huge infrastructure for liquid fuel.
Bob McCann, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, said if more cars in the Metro-Detroit area ran on E85, it would reduce the smog — or thick, dirty air — that has become a problem during summer months.
"Ethanol tends to burn cleaner than traditional oil-based fuel," McCann said. "While current trends have already been reducing emissions, ethanol would continue to reduce that."
