It may be more than a decade until technologies such as electric vehicles can have an effect on worldwide demand for oil, so General Motors Corp. is putting its near-term energy-saving focus on ethanol, Rick Wagoner, GM chairman and chief executive officer, told attendees Sunday at the North American International Auto Show here.GM is partnering with Coskata Inc., a Warrenville, Ill., company that has developed processes for making ethanol out of many degradable products, Wagoner said. He did not provide details, but a company spokesman said later that GM is a part owner of Coskata.

Ethanol is a “temporary solution” to the need to reduce petroleum use, but with six million vehicles in the United States that could run on E85, it “offers a quick alternative,” he said.

Wagoner said the federal government should do more to develop a unified energy strategy and to encourage ethanol use by helping to increase the number of ethanol fuel stations. “It’s time for the [United States] to address this matter. It’s eminently doable,” he said.

Wagoner said GM would continue its research into fuel cells and other alternative power systems. GM has several gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles on the market and is about to introduce a hybrid Chevrolet Tahoe full-size sport utility vehicle.