Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today announced that it will begin bio-ethanol trials through its participation in the Tokachi E10 project. The project, the first of its kind in Japan, aims to test the feasibility of E10 fuel, which contains 10% bio-ethanol mix. Early trials will be conducted in the Tokachi region of Hokkaido, beginning April.

If the 10,305 owners of General Motors E85 ethanol-capable vehicles in the Pittsburgh area refueled solely with E85 ethanol fuel, they could save an estimated 6.2 million gallons of gasoline every year.

If the 11,317 owners of General Motors E85 ethanol-capable vehicles in the Miami area refueled solely with E85 ethanol, an estimated 161,671 barrels of oil could be saved annually. And hundreds of thousands of additional barrels of oil could be saved if all owners of flex-fuel vehicles refueled with E85 ethanol.

Ethanol is widely touted as an eco-friendly, clean-burning fuel. But if every vehicle in the United States ran on fuel made primarily from ethanol instead of pure gasoline, the number of respiratory-related deaths and hospitalizations would likely increase, according to a new study by Stanford University atmospheric scientist Mark Z. Jacobson.