Green highways

Interstate 65, which goes through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama, is being touted as America's first "biofuels corridor."

As the result of a $1.3 million federal project, E85 ethanol (a gasoline blend with 85 percent ethanol) and B20 Biodiesel (a blend with 20 percent biodiesel) is  available the entire length of the interstate, from Gary to Mobile.

A driver is now no more than a quarter-tank's drive from a fuel retailer carrying E85, which can be used in "FlexFuel" vehicles. (This is something you'd have found out when you bought the car. If you have one, you probably know it; if you don't think you have one, you probably don't. If you want to be sure, check www.biofuelsindiana.com) Biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine.

Of course, there will be much hoopla, centered around a trip along the highway that starts tomorrow. One set of officials will start in Gary and head south, the other in Mobile, headed north. They'll have news conferences along the way and meet for a final celebration at 3 p.m. Thursday in Clarksville, Indiana.

Interesting that this first highway is in the nation's heartland, where corn used to make ethanol is a big crop.

Meanwhile, plenty of debate remains about whether corn-based ethanol is beneficial. Critics have blamed corn-based ethanol for higher food prices and shortages in countries and cultures that have diets heavily dependent on corn.

Researchers are developing a myriad alternative sources, from sugar cane to algae.

There's also concern about the amount of natural land being converted to crop land to grow stock for biofuels. The New York Times wrote about two interesting studies last February.

Click here to learn more about biofuels from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The U.S. Department of Energy also has a good site about its biomass program.

You can see daily industry updates here, at the website for the Daily Biofuels New Digest.