LITITZ, Pa. -- The roads in this mid-state borough are lined with cornstalks and soy plants, the ingredients for cleaner-burning transportation fuels.

		On the Net A list of flexible-fuel vehicles is available at www.ethanol.org/e85.htm. More information about ethanol fuel is available at www.E85fuel.com and www.worleyobetz.com.

Gov. Ed Rendell wants to ensure they are in more gasoline tanks by the year 2016.

That's the goal of an initiative he announced yesterday in Lancaster County at the opening of a Worley & Obetz's Wo-Go fueling station, the first in the Northeast to publicly offer E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

The mixture, which is corrosive to most gasoline tanks, can be used in certain flexible-fuel vehicles including late-model Dodge minivans, Chevrolet Impalas, Ford Explorers and Nissan Titans.

The governor's aim is to reduce the state's dependence on foreign oil by producing alternative fuels locally.

He wants to replace 900 million gallons of the state's consumption of transportation fuels with locally produced ethanol, biodiesel or fuels derived from coal. The figure represents the amount of oil projected to be imported from the Persian Gulf 10 years from now.

Mr. Rendell is asking lawmakers to provide $30 million in incentives to producers of alternative fuels over the next six years. That money, fuel tax revenue, is currently used for research and grants that encourage the use of natural gas.

"We have to legislate and set goals and criteria to enhance the production of renewable and alternative fuels," Mr. Rendell said yesterday at the Wo-Go station.

The fuels could be derived from crops, farm waste, wood chips, saw grass and methane discharged from landfills and coal mines, Mr. Rendell said.

Pennsylvania already produces soy-based diesel fuel but has no ethanol producers. Four companies are interested in opening ethanol plants in central and northern Pennsylvania, said Kathleen McGinty, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

"We have put all our eggs in one basket: fossil fuels," she said. "The idea is to be much more secure ... by looking at the full array of energy resources God has blessed us with and put them all to work for us."

Some, though, say the governor's efforts are misplaced.

Instead of addressing the supply side of the energy crisis, Pennsylvania and other states should work to decrease demand by legislating higher fuel efficiency, said David Willett, national press secretary for the Sierra Club.

"We couldn't possibly produce enough ethanol to make up for all the oil we use because there isn't enough space to grow the crops to make it," he said.

Second, some types of ethanol, including corn-based, aren't efficient to produce, he said.

"The problem is you use fossil fuels like diesel to farm the corn, to fertilize the corn, to transport the corn and to process the corn. It takes a lot of energy from fossil fuels to make that ethanol," he said.

Mr. Rendell said switching to alternative fuels reduces the dependence on foreign oil, helps the local economy and decreases global warming.

"We need Americans to commit themselves [to renewable energy] and we need to provide the infrastructure so they can commit themselves," he said. "We need the American public and the Pennsylvania public to understand what the stakes are."

Wo-Go was offering E85 yesterday at a special opening-day price of $1.85 a gallon. Today's price is $2.69, a more typical price and slightly below the going rate for gasoline, said Jeffrey Lyons, president and chief executive of Worley & Obetz.

The price difference is largely offset by E85's slightly lower fuel efficiency, but most consumers won't mind filling up a little more often if they're helping the environment, said Courtney Bozic, of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition.

"One of the most patriotic things you can do is to use less foreign oil, and if it costs a little bit more, I think it's worth it," she said. "The solution to our energy problems is going to take a variety of bold and innovative steps and this is a very significant one."

About 600 of the country's 180,000 gasoline stations offer E85.

There are about 6 million flexible-fuel vehicles on the road nationally and about 250,000 in Pennsylvania. They cost about the same as gasoline-only vehicles, said General Motors employees who attended yesterday's announcement.