ALTERNATIVE FUEL

The U.S. Department of Energy

(DOE) defines an alternative fuel
as a product that is substantially
nonpetroleum which yields energy
security and environmental
benefits.

The Energy Policy Act of 1993

(EPAct) DOE currently recognizes
the following as alternative fuels:

Mixtures containing 85% or

more by volume of alcohol fuel,
including methanol and
denatured ethanol

 Natural gas (compressed or

liquefied)
Liquefied petroleum gas
(propane)
Hydrogen
Coal-derived liquid fuels

 Fuels derived from biological

materials
Electricity (including electricity
from solar energy)
100% Biodiesel (B100)

Pure biodiesel (B100) is considered

an alternative fuel under EPAct. But
lower-level biodiesel blends are not
considered alternative fuels

What are the characteristics of alternative fuels?

Primary
Components
Biodiesel

Compressed
Natural Gas
(CNG)
Ethanol (E85)

Liquefied
Natural Gas
(LNG)
Liquefied
Petroleum
Gas (LPG)

Methanol
(M85)

Vegetable oil,
animal fats, or
recycled restaurant grease
Methane

Denatured
ethanol and
gasoline
Methane that
is cooled
cryogenically
Propane

Methanol and
gasoline

Main
Fuel
Source
Soybean oil

Liquid
or
Gas
Liquid

Underground
reserves
Corn, grains, or
agricultural
waste
Underground
reserves

Gas

A by-product of
petroleum
refining or
natural gas
processing
Natural gas,
coal, or woody
biomass

Liquid

Liquid

Liquid

Liquid

ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLES

Compressed
Natural
Biodiesel(B20)
Gas(CNG)
Any vehicle that
Many types of
runs on diesel today- vehicle classes.
no modifications are
needed for up to 5%
blends. Many
engines also
compatible with up
to 20% blends.

Electricity
Neighborhood
electric vehicles,
bicycles, light-duty
vehicles, medium
and heavy-duty
trucks and buses.

Ethanol(E85)
Light-duty vehicles,
medium and heavyduty trucks and
buses - these vehicles
are flexible fuel
vehicles that can be
fueled with E85
(ethanol), gasoline,
or any combination
of the two fuels.

ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLES

Hydrogen
No vehicles are
available for
commercial sale
yet, but some
vehicles are being
leased for
demonstration
purposes.

Liquified Natural Gas

(LNG)

Liquified Petroleum
Gas (LPG)

Methanol (M85)

Medium and heavy-duty Light-duty vehicles,

Mostly Heavytrucks and buses.
which can be fueled
duty buses are
with propane or
available.
gasoline, medium and
heavy-duty trucks and
buses that run on
propane.

Ethanol
Ethanol is an alcohol-based alternative fuel
produced by fermenting and distilling starch
crops that have been converted into simple
sugars. Feedstocks for this fuel include
corn, barley, and wheat.

Ethanol can also be

produced from
"cellulosic
biomass" such as
trees and grasses
and is called
bioethanol. Ethanol
is most commonly
used to increase
octane and improve
the emissions
quality of gasoline.

Natural Gas
Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons, mainly
methane, and is produced either from gas wells or in
conjunction with crude oil production. Natural gas
is consumed in the residential, commercial,
industrial, and utility markets.
Natural gas can either be stored onboard a vehicle
as compressed natural gas (CNG) or as liquefied
natural gas (LNG). Natural gas can also be blended
with hydrogen.

Natural Gas
The future holds great potential for natural
gas because it can potentially be used in
fuel cell vehicles to make hydrogen.
Researchers found that fuel cell vehicles
using hydrogen produced from natural gas
could present an attractive solution for
cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Propane
Propane or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is
a popular alternative fuel choice for
vehicles. Propane is produced as a byproduct of natural gas processing and
petroleum refining so there is already an
infrastructure of pipelines, processing
facilities, and storage for its efficient
distribution.

Hydrogen
The simplest and lightest fuel is hydrogen
gas. Hydrogen may contain low levels of
carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide,
depending on the source.

Hydrogen
Hydrogen can be produced using diverse,
domestic resources including fossil fuels,
such as natural gas and coal, nuclear; and
biomass and other renewable energy
technologies, such as wind, solar,
geothermal, and hydro-electric power.

Hydrogen
Hydrogen will play an important role in
developing sustainable transportation in the
United States, because in the future it may
be produced in virtually unlimited
quantities using renewable resources.

Hydrogen
Hydrogen is being explored for use in
combustion engines and fuel cell electric
vehicles. The energy density of hydrogen is
very low under ambient conditions which
presents greater transportation and storage
hurdles than for liquid fuels. Storage
systems are being developed to address
these problems.

HCNG
DOE's Natural Gas Vehicle Technology is
supporting a project to develop heavy-duty
HCNG engines and transit buses. The
HCNG (20% hydrogen / 80% CNG)
engines demonstrated lower emissions than
similar engines fueled by CNG alone. This
blend provided no significant change in fuel
efficiency.

Electricity
Trucks with a
hybrid-electric
powertrain combine
a diesel engine and
electric motor to
drive the vehicle.

Electricity
Batteries capture and
store energy
providing a source of
stored electric power
for the motor during
future acceleration.

All electrical
charging of the
battery is provided
by the hybrid electric
powertrain, and no
external electrical
infrastructure, such
as a power cord or
electrical outlet, is
needed.

Electricity

The balance between

conventional and
electric technology is
an innovative method
to improve
environmental
performance and
decrease fuel use while
eliminating the need
for high electricaldemand infrastructure
costs.

Electricity

Methanol is
produced from
natural gas in
production plants
with 60% total
energy efficiency.
Methanol can be
made with any
renewable resource
containing carbon
such as seaweed,
waste wood and
garbage.

Methanol

Methanol offers the

greatest hope for
early and broad
introduction of fuel
cells that will make
Electric Vehicles
practical within the
next few years.

Methanol

Whether reformed to
provide hydrogen for
conventional fuel cells
or used directly in the
latest liquid fed cells,
methanol will
overcome the greatest
remaining obstacle to
commercialization, by
offering the only
economical way to
transport and store the
hydrogen needed for
fuel cells.

Methanol

Methanol fuel cells

will greatly reduce
carbon dioxide
emissions for
vehicles and
virtually eliminate
smog and
particulate
pollution.

Methanol

Biodiesel
Biodiesel contains no petroleum,
but it can be blended at any level
with petroleum diesel to create a
biodiesel blend. It can be used in
compression-ignition (diesel)
engines with little or no
modifications.

Biodiesel
Biodiesel can be used as a pure fuel or
blended with petroleum in any
percentage. B20 (a blend of 20 percent
by volume biodiesel with 80 percent by
volume petroleum diesel) has
demonstrated significant environmental
benefits.

Biodiesel
Biodiesel is registered as a fuel and fuel
additive with the EPA and meets clean
diesel standards established by the
California Air Resources Board (CARB).
Neat (100 percent) biodiesel has been
designated as an alternative fuel by the
Department of Energy (DOE) and the US
Department of Transportation (DOT).

Biodiesel
The National Biodiesel Board has released the
following sales volume estimates for the US:

2005 -- 75 million gallons

2004 -- 25 million gallons
2003 -- 20 million gallons
2002 -- 15 million gallons
2001 -- 5 million gallons
2000 -- 2 million gallons
1999 -- 500,000 gallons

PROBLEMS
ASSOCIATED WITH
ALTERNATIVE FUELS

How to
convert
gases to
gallons for
tax
calculations?

Will taxing
model have
to be
modified in
the future?

Difference in
definitions?
For example,
EPA says B100
is alternative
fuel, but a
blend is not.

How to
measure
electricity,
solar power,
and wind
power?

OPTIONS
Use Department
of Energys
Gasoline Gallon
Equivalent.

A gasoline gallon equivalent

(GGE) is the amount of fuel
required to equal the energy
content of one liquid gallon of
gasoline. A GGE is a way of
comparing equivalent volumes
of fuel based on the energy
content in British thermal units
(Btu).

OPTIONS
Jurisdictions
could assign
set MPGs

Resources
U.S. Department of Energy Energy and
Efficiency and Renewable Energy
http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/altfuel/altfuels.html

National Biodiesel Board

http://www.biodiesel.org

American Coalition for Ethanol

http://www.ethanol.org/

American Hydrogen Association

http://www.clean-air.org/