A small “one stoplight” town in Indiana is trying to make a new name for itself – Bio Town, USA.

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels recently announced his ambitious plan to make Reynolds, IN the first community in the country that gets all of its energy from biorenewable sources. “BioTown , USA is an aggressive plan that I believe will become a model for rural communities throughout our state and country,” said Governor Daniels. “We are taking challenges and turning them into opportunities by developing homegrown, local energy production to become independent from foreign sources; creating a cleaner environment; finding new solutions to animal waste management issues; and developing new markets for Indiana agricultural products and by-products.”

Phase 1 of the BioTown, USA plan for Reynolds revolves around biofuels. Governor Daniels announced that an E85 (85 percent ethanol) fuel pump would be located in the center of Reynolds to support the flex fuel vehicles already in the town – and more flex-fuel vehicles are coming. The town has committed to convert its fleet of vehicles to E85. The Indiana State Department of Agriculture is working with a vehicle manufacturer to get more flex-fuel vehicles into this town and is also planning to convert many of the remaining cars and trucks in Reynolds into flex fuel vehicles.

Listen to a USDA newsline report about Bio Town, USDA here.