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URBANDALE,
Iowa - Chrysler Group announced last week that it will
fuel its new diesel-powered Jeep® Grand Cherokees with B5,
a blend containing 5 percent biodiesel. The Jeep Grand Cherokee
CRD is the Chrysler Group’s first diesel-powered, full-sized
sport utility vehicle offered in the United States.
“Vehicle manufacturers are responding to consumer demand
for more fuel efficient vehicles,” says Grant Kimberley,
market development director for the Iowa Soybean Association.
“The new Jeep® Grand Cherokee is an excellent example
of new generation clean diesel engines.”
The 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee features a 3.0-liter common rail
turbo diesel (CRD) engine built by Mercedes-Benz. Clean diesel
technology improves fuel economy by an average of 30 percent and
reduces carbon dioxide emissions by up to 20 percent. The Grand
Cherokee will be manufactured at the Jefferson North Assembly
Plant in Detroit and will arrive at Jeep dealerships in the first
quarter of 2007.
“It’s very exciting that an internationally-respected
company like Daimler-Chrysler is taking a leadership role in protecting
the environment and reducing dependence on petroleum by factory
filling the Cherokee with biodiesel, a domestic, renewable, cleaner
burning fuel grown here in Iowa,” adds Kimberley.
Factory filling demonstrates that engine and auto manufacturers
are accepting biodiesel. At this time, the state of Iowa has more
than 50 retail pumps where you can purchase a biodiesel blend,
and that number continues to grow weekly. There are currently
six biodiesel manufacturers, six more under construction, and
10 in the feasibility and planning stages. Within the next year
and a half, Iowa’s biodiesel production capacity will be
more than 250 million gallons per year.
In addition, Iowa lawmakers recently passed the Iowa Renewable
Fuel Standard, which has many provisions that benefit biodiesel,
such as a three-cent-per gallon tax credit.
“Biodiesel can play an important role in our future energy
security,” says Kimberley. “Our state is poised to
be the leading producer of biodiesel in the United States.”
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