Because transportation is such a large contributor to global warming, both globally and in the United States, climate and energy experts say finding clean alternatives to gasoline is also key to replacing fossil fuels and slowing global warming. Just as there is debate and competing research about which type of alternative transportation fuel should be developed to produce electricity, however, there is also competition among possible new transportation fuels. So far, in the United States, significant funding has been put into two transportation technologies—ethanol and hydrogen fuel cells. Many energy commentators say cars powered by electric batteries are the technology closest to mass production capability, however. (more…)

At present, in the United States and worldwide, motor vehicles are fueled almost exclusively by petroleum based gasoline (or reformulated gasoline) and diesel fuels. Since the first oil price shock in 1973, efforts have been made to seek alternative fuels to displace gasoline and diesel fuels and achieve energy and environmental benefits. Some of the alternative fuels that have been researched and used are liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), methanol (MeOH), dimethyl ether (DME), Fischer– Tropsch diesel (FTD), hydrogen (H 2 ), ethanol (EtOH), biodiesel, and electricity. Production processes associated with gasoline, diesel, and each of these alternative fuels differ. (more…)

This latter form of new car taxes can actually serve as an impediment to higher fuel economy to the extent that increased energy efficiency is attained with high-cost technology, such as continuously variable automatic transmissions, hybrid electric vehicles drive trains, and variable valve controls, and such taxes add to the cost of these technologies. (more…)

Under both former President Bush and new President Obama, the U.S. government has vowed to reduce reliance on imported oil. The nation is encouraging development of a transportation fleet that uses biofuels, fuel cell vehicles and hybrid electric technologies.

Us Government Program To Reduce Reliance On Imported Oil

To that end, the federal government, in late 2008, put in place new incentives – and extended others – designed to create a strong up-tick in sales of unconventional vehicles. As a result, the U.S. Energy Information Administration anticipates that hybrid cars will grow from 2% of new light-duty vehicles sold in 2007 to 38% by 2030. (more…)

Analysis of future light-duty transportation energy use require estimates of the impact of fuel prices on travel and fleet fuel economy, estimates of the fuel price elasticity of travel, fuel economy, and fuel consumption are ubiquitous in the literature. However, there is substantial disagreement about the magnitude of these elasticities because travel volumes, fuel economy, and fuel consumption are dependent on several variables other than fuel price and because fuel prices have tended to be volatile during the past few decades, thereby complicating attempts to estimate long-run elasticities. Thus, the magnitude of the effect of changes in fuel taxes in US on fleet fuel economy and on travel volumes and fuel consumption is also subject to considerable disagreement. (more…)

Do we have the resources? Rudolf Diesel developed the diesel engine which ran on biodiesel vegetable oil in the late 1800s. At the time, he speculated that his discovery seemed insignificant, but later could prove to be as important as mankind’s uncovering of future energy uses for petroleum and coal tar. Given the U.S.’ rapid expansion into biofuels, it would appear his vision was correct due to the drawbacks of biofuels. But widespread adoption of biomass-based fuels is not a foregone conclusion. Two questions haunt its progress. First, will it truly reduce U.S. reliance on fossil fuels? And second, is there enough farmland to accommodate widespread production, without jeopardizing food supplies? (more…)

In recent years, there has been a greater understanding of the role of automotive emissions as environmental pollutants. Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide degrade the earth’s atmosphere and are health hazards. Carbon dioxide adds to the atmospheric buildup of greenhouse gases and in turn accelerates the process of global warming. (more…)

The increase in the prices of major fuels, like gasoline and diesel fuel products is a major global problems recently. Those prices are increase associated with the global economic crisis. Now, it is the ideal time to move all the focus and effort to alternative fuels for vehicles. There are different types of alternative energy sources for fuel to choose from. But the hard fact is that the areas of alternative fuels have not passed many real qualitative and quantitative surveys and breakthrough research. (more…)

The gradual change in the energy consumption pattern of the United States from 1860 to 1990. In the mid-1800s, biomass, principally woody biomass, supplied over 90% of U.S. energy and fuel needs, after which energy biomass consumption began to decrease as fossil fuels became the preferred energy resources. For many years, a safe illuminant had been sought as a less expensive substitute for whale oils. (more…)

Prior to the Clean Air Act of 1990, environmental issues regulations were aimed at reducing emissions as they left the exhaust system. The catalytic converter has been the primary means of attacking air pollution in this way. After 1990, regulations for the first time undertook to alter the composition of the fuel itself. Reformulated gasoline applies to gasoline that is sold in the nine metropolitan areas designated by the EPA with the highest level of ozone in air pollution problems. About 48 million people reside in areas where ozone concentrations exceed federal standards. (more…)