Live Green, Go Yellow!

My purpose in creating this blog is to entertain and inform my readers about the numerous values of globalization, innovation, and international cooperation. Basically, I will discuss new and nontraditional products and services. Hence the title, Outside the Box.

With gas prices increasing, there are numerous options for those who are willing to think outside the box. One option is the new fuel by GM, E85. As you can tell by the name, it is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. As of now, E85 is about 25% less efficient than gasoline; so it isn't cost effective. Also, E85 stations only exist in places like CA and Minnesota.
So, why should you care about E85?

3 Reasons:
1) If the trend in gas prices continues, in a decade or so you will be begging for mercy
2) E85 is an environmentally friendly fuel.
3) Over time, it is very likely that new markets for vegetable fuels will lead to the production of widely available fuels like E85 that will be more cost-effective than gasoline.

What can you do now?

If you are planning on buying a new car in the future, it would be smart to buy one that is not only fuel efficient but also E85 compatible.

GM has a line of cars that are E85 compatible, but these are mostly large trucks:

http://www.gm.com/company/onlygm/energy_flexfuel.html#

Here is a list of all the cars that are E85 compatible:

http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/flexfuelvehicles.php

If the trend continues, many car companies will start producing cars that are vegetable fuel efficient. If I find some more, I'll put them in my blog.

If you don't want to take your chances on an E85 car, you can still get a car that is more fuel-efficient.

Here is a list of the top-10 most fuel efficient cars:

http://cars.about.com/od/helpforcarbuyers/tp/top10_fuel.htm


More about E85:

http://www.gm.com/company/onlygm/livegreengoyellow/index.html