Gulf Oil, LP has announced the grand opening of its first e85 fueling station in New England to service commuters with Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFVs). This station is an important milestone to expand Massachusetts and New England's fuel resources, providing greater access to affordable and environmentally friendly alternative fuels.

This new station makes it easier for Massachusetts' drivers to drive on the leading edge of alternative fuel. There are more than 75,000 FFVs registered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, about 4,000 of which are located within a 5-mile radius of the new Gulf Oil e85 fueling station, located at 100 Service Road in Boston, at Logan Airport.

Additionally, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which operates 35 branches in the Boston area, including at Logan Airport, has more than 1,000 FFVs in its fleet throughout the Commonwealth. The U.S. Postal Service has more than 390 FFVs in the Boston area, which include delivery, administrative and inspection service vehicles. Both are participating in today's event, as are representatives from Massport, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, and Massachusetts Congressman Bill Delahunt.

The use of e85 is steadily growing across the country. According to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, there are more than 1,800 E85 ethanol fueling stations in the U.S. E85 is also more affordable and environmentally friendly than conventional gasoline. For instance, drivers across the Nation who filled up with e85 in August paid on average 68 cents a gallon less than their counterparts who used conventional gasoline, according to E85Prices.com. In addition, e85 reduces ozone-forming pollution by 20 percent, green house gases by 30 percent, according to the Argonne National Laboratory.
"We are proud to be among the first to open this alternative fueling location, and we look forward to the day when many more choices -- from e85, biodiesel and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) from primarily domestic sources form the foundation of a new energy future," said Gulf Oil CEO Joseph Petrowski. "We look forward to remaining a market leader in alternate fuel development and are proud that our home of Boston and the Northeast are in the forefront of this transformation." The opening of this alternative fueling location is the result of two strong partnerships that seek to bring alternative fuels to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The first is between Gulf Oil and the station's operator Energy North and its President Mr. Ken Black who is committed to broaden its fuel options from traditional petroleum to a more varied and secure domestic source of biofuel.

The second partnership is between the public and private sectors. Mr. Petrowski continued, "The partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy and the leadership of Massachusetts Representative Delahunt, Governor Deval Patrick, and Energy Secretary Ian Bowles is an important example to the nation of how the public and private sectors can work constructively to solve one of the most important issues of the 21st century: our nation's energy security. Energy security and environmental improvement can be simultaneously achieved. We wish to thank all of the Federal and State officials and private industry executives for having the vision and foresight to help make this fueling station a reality."

According to Canadian news service globeinvestor.com, auto parts giant Magna International Inc. has expanded its push into leading-edge environmental technologies with the purchase of BluWav Systems LLC.

BluWav develops and supplies electric and energy-management systems for hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and battery-powered electric vehicles, which are a key focus of auto makers as they try to meet stringent new U.S. fuel economy guidelines that come into place by 2020.

Magna is targeting those vehicles as a critical area of growth in the next decade.

“BluWav provides technical leadership in multiple product areas for Magna Electronics,” said Carlos Mazzorin, president of that Magna division.

No financial details of the purchase were revealed. BluWav is based in Rochester Hills, Mich., and can be found on the web at http://www.wavecrestlabs.com/

Coal consumption is expected to rise.

Regionally, increased use of coal in non OECD countries is likely to account for 85% of the total growth in world coal consumption.

Although coal currently is the second-largest fuel source of energy relatedcarbon dioxide emissions (behind oil), accounting for 39.2% of the world total in 2008, it is projected to become the largest source by 2010. The two key factors underlying the increase are a more rapid projected growth rate for world coal consumption than for oil consumption and the fact that carbon dioxide emissions per unit of energy output are higher for coal than for oil or natural gas.

Although coal deposits are widely distributed, 67% of the world's recoverable reserves are located in four countries: the United States (27%), Russia (17%), China (13%), and India (10%). Coal consumption is expected to drastically increase in these four countries.