Meijer and GM Partner to Promote E85 Fuel in Michigan

WALKER, Mich. -- Meijer Inc. and General Motors Corp. plan to cooperate to make ethanol-based fuel available at the discount chain's gas stations, reported the Associated Press. The E85 fuel will be available at about 20 Meijer stores in Michigan.

"We are rising to the challenge," Gov. Jennifer Granholm said in the report. "We are going to be the alternative energy capital of the world."

Today, five Michigan service stations now sell E85, according to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition. Supporters of E85 say it can reduce oil imports, cut emissions and help farmers, reported AP. Michigan now has one ethanol plant, in Caro, and four more are planned within two years.

Meijer and GM will work with CleanFuel USA, a maker of E85 fueling equipment, to decide which stores will carry E85. Under first consideration are stores in Jackson, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Warren, Pontiac, Detroit, Rochester and Brighton, according to the report.

"We're hoping to have several sites open by the end of 2006," Meijer spokeswoman Judith Clark told the Detroit Free Press for a story Tuesday.