As gas prices fall, state touts options

As gas prices fall, state touts options
Huntsville Times - Huntsville,AL,USA
As gas prices continue nudging down toward $2 a gallon, the state is promoting biodiesel and ethanol as clean-burning alternative fuels in the state. ...

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Huntsville pumps averaging $2.20; was $2.83 year ago

As gas prices continue nudging down toward $2 a gallon, the state is promoting biodiesel and ethanol as clean-burning alternative fuels in the state.

As of Friday evening, the lowest gas price in Huntsville was $2.05 per gallon, according to gasbuddy.com. Several stations advertised gas for $2.09. In Decatur, prices dipped under $2 at a few stores. The state's cheapest price was $1.87, reported at Fort McClellan near Anniston.

The average price Friday in Huntsville was $2.20 per gallon, according to AAA Alabama. A year ago in Huntsville, the average price was $2.83. The average price in Alabama on Friday was $2.21; the national average was $2.33.

The retail price of gasoline has plunged by about 50 cents, or 17 percent, over the past month nationwide. And according to one survey, almost half of all Americans believe that the November elections have more influence than market forces.

Meanwhile, Gov. Bob Riley announced a grant of $24,990 on Friday that will be used to encourage fuel retailers and fleet managers to offer biodiesel and ethanol fuels to motorists.

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System, which received the grant, also will use the money to conduct workshops and encourage other agencies to use the alternative fuels in their vehicles.

"As President Bush noted during his visit to Alabama this week, alternative fuels reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create additional markets for American farmers," Riley said. "Biofuels can be both a boost for our economy and a safeguard for our environment."

During a visit to Hoover on Thursday, Bush and Riley praised the city for using E85 as fuel for 137 city-owned vehicles. E85 is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

Biodiesel is produced from soybean and other crops that produce oil and can be used in conventional compression-ignition engines such as diesels without engine modifications. Ethanol is a distilled alcohol-based fuel that is derived from starch crops such as corn. Ethanol is mixed with gasoline to fuel vehicles.

According to a new Gallup poll, 42 percent of respondents agreed with the statement that the Bush administration "deliberately manipulated the price of gasoline so that it would decrease before this fall's elections." Fifty-three percent of those surveyed did not believe in this conspiracy theory, while 5 percent said they had no opinion.

Retired farmer Jim Mohr of Lexington, Ill., rattled off a tankful of reasons Friday why pump prices may be falling, "But I think the big important reason is Republicans want to get elected."

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