GM President, Mr. Fitz Henderson said;

"Taken together, these technologies represent what we see as the best in the cellulosic ethanol future and cover the spectrum in science and commercialization," GM President Fritz Henderson said. "Demonstrating the viability of sustainable non-grain based ethanol is critical to developing the infrastructure to support the flex-fuel vehicle market."

GM leads the auto industry in offering vehicles that can run on either ordinary gasoline or E85 - a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline - or any combination of the two. There are more than 7 million flex-fuel vehicles on U.S. roads, 3 million of which are GM cars and trucks.
"
Mr. Henderson said that the Mascoma investments in leading-edge firms, supports belief that ethanol has the greatest near-term potential as a clean-burning, renewable fuel that can help reduce oil dependence. The Mascoma corporation has in recent years raised significant funding from venture capital investments, and has secured more than $60 million dollars in state and federal grants. This includes the recent awarding of a $26 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.