PLEASANT HILL — Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack accepted the donation of an E-85-enabled SUV on July 6, saying the vehicle will be used in the state's efforts to promote ethanol, according to the Globe Gazette newspaper. Standing in front of a cornfield in a Des Moines suburb, the governor accepted the keys to the Chevrolet Tahoe from a General Motors executive. Iowa will use the vehicle for a year, before returning it to GM. Vilsack touted the state's initiatives to expand the production and use of ethanol, a corn-based alternative fuel that is a growing market for the state's corn growers. "It's good for the environment. It's good for the economy. It's good for America," he told the Globe Gazette. E-85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, is available at 18 retail sites in Iowa. E-10, which is 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline, is available statewide. While nearly all vehicles can run on E-10, only flexible-fuel vehicles can run on E-85. This category, which includes mostly trucks and SUVs, can run on either regular gasoline or E-85. Vilsack dismissed a study released last week by Cornell University and the University of California-Berkeley that said ethanol uses much more energy in its production than it generates when used in vehicles. He said most criticism of ethanol's efficiency fails to consider the benefits of converting the production byproducts into sellable products, reported the Globe Gazette. The largest markets for E-85-enabled vehicles are state governments and agriculture advocacy groups. Iowa has nearly 1,400 E-85-enabled vehicles in its fleet.