If you watched the Indianapolis 500 this weekend, you may already know that Indy 500 race cars don’t run on gasoline. They’ve been running on the alcohol fuel methanol for years, and this year they are running on a 90% methanol 10% ethanol blend. Ethanol and methanol can be used in flexible fuel vehicles (if you haven’t read it yet, this is an excellent article by Roberta Nichols of Ford Motor Company on the subject.) Senator Evan Bayh and Jeff Simmons, who drives the Rahal-Letterman No. 17 ethanol car in the IndyCar Series, wrote the following:
“Congress has the opportunity to follow the IndyCar Series example by enacting the bipartisan Vehicle and Fuel Choices for American Security Act, which offers a realistic solution that puts us on the path toward energy independence and reduces our consumption of oil by 7 million barrels a day by 2026.
The legislation includes a variety of proposals to meet that goal by increasing our use of ethanol and other bio-fuels and enacting new tax credits to encourage more fuel-efficient vehicles. And with the backing of 25 senators from across the ideological and geographic spectrum, it has the widespread support needed to move forward in today’s overly partisan Congress.
Unlike an IndyCar, Congress doesn’t move at 220 miles an hour, but we owe it to the American people to pick up the pace before it is too late.”