Wal-Mart Could Change Ethanol's Future

There’s been a lot of buzz about ethanol lately, but for the most part Americans have a hard time finding a local gas station that sells it. Retail giant Wal-Mart is thinking about changing all that by selling E85 — a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline — at its 1,200-plus owned or affiliated fueling stations at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Clubs stores. Currently only 800 out of the nation’s 168,000 gas stations sell E85.

But even those 800 stations are having a hard time meeting demand for E85, which has seen a ton of promotion this year thanks to rising gasoline prices. Ford, GM and Chrysler make flex-fuel vehicles that can run on either E85 or regular gasoline. These vehicles cost and run virtually the same as any other car or truck on the road.

Wal-Mart wants to see more supply, though, and a switch to a more efficient refining process — by using biowaste to produce ethanol and forgoing the current use of corn — before it dives head first into the ethanol business.

If all that happens, we could see Wal-Mart dominating the ethanol market and perhaps spurring the wider use of E85 all by itself.

[Why Wal-Mart Wants to Sell Ethanol, CNNMoney.com]