It doesn't trip off the tongue like some of the famous roadways that have become part of American lore: Route 66, the Beartooth Highway, Alligator Alley.
But the Biofuels Corridor — the stretch of Interstate 65 from Gary, Ind., to Mobile, Ala. — is emerging as a part of America's new energy culture. The reason: You can get E85 ethanol and B20 biodiesel from beginning to end.
For example, a driver now is no more than a quarter of a tank's drive from a station carrying E85.
It didn't happen by chance.
In 2005, the federal government kicked in $1.3 million to help gasoline and diesel retailers upgrade to handle the alternative fuels. With the completion of this project this month, 31 refueling stations are easily accessible from I-65.
To mark the occasion, project officials and partners from the private sector and the states of Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama launched a Fall Corridor Drive last week, Oct. 7-9.
One group started in Mobile and drove north, while another headed south from Gary. They met Thursday in Clarksville, Ind.
E85 has up to 85 percent ethanol and no more than 15 percent gasoline.
B20 is made up of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum-based diesel.
