Vilsack offers gas stations grants for ethanol pumps

Des Moines Register
By PHILIP BRASHER • pbrasher@dmreg.com • October 22, 2010

Washington, D.C. — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is offering new financial incentives for the biofuel industry, including grants for new gas-station pumps, while urging Congress to pass a short-term extension of the existing subsidy for corn ethanol.

Vilsack used a National Press Club speech Thursday to call for accelerating development of next-generation biofuels that would be made from crop residue, switchgrass and other feedstocks besides corn. "This industry needs more time to mature and more investments to grow," he said.

The new service-station pumps dispense varying mixtures of ethanol and gasoline and are intended to ensure that there is a market for the biofuel as production increases.

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