Gas-electric hybrid engines will be available in half the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury lineup by 2010, Ford Motor Co. Chairman and CEO Bill Ford said Wednesday.

The nation’s second biggest automaker plans to produce more vehicles capable of running on fuel-efficient ethanol and will offset the emissions from hybrid production by investing in renewable energy efforts, said Ford, pictured above.

“We know that our customers are increasingly concerned about energy,” he told employees in a speech on innovation and environmental leadership. “Our job is to help alleviate some of their concerns with viable options in their personal transportation.”

Ford said the automaker will be able to produce 250,000 hybrids in the next five years, 10 times the number it produces now.