NCDENR - Division of Air Quality - Alternative Fuels and Vehicle Technologies



Home	Public Notices	Staff Directory	Contact DAQ	Search

Motor >> Alternative Fuels & Vehicle Technologies

Alternative Fuels & Vehicle Technologies
One of the Division of Air Quality's (DAQ) Mobile Sources Section responsibilities is to encourage public and private fleet owners/managers to work towards the goals of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Two of the goals of the Clean Air Act were to reduce dependence on foreign sources of oil and the reduction of harmful vehicle emissions. North Carolina's biggest pollution problem is ozone and its precursors are Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Most VOCs come from natural sources such as trees and grasses so most of DAQ's efforts are aimed at the reduction of NOx emissions. Collectively, highway vehicles account for about one-third of the ozone forming emissions across North Carolina and up to 70 percent in urban areas. Greater use of alternative fuels would help reduce dependence on foreign oil. Currently there are eight types of alternative fuels including: 1) Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), 2) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), 3) Propane (LPG), 4) Ethanol, 5) Methanol, 6) Biodiesel, 7) Hydrogen, and 8) Hydrogen Fuel Cell. The associated costs, benefits, and other information about each fuel type are listed in the two charts below.

Alternative Fuels & Vehicle Technologies

One of the Division of Air Quality's (DAQ) Mobile Sources Section responsibilities is to encourage public and private fleet owners/managers to work towards the goals of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Two of the goals of the Clean Air Act were to reduce dependence on foreign sources of oil and the reduction of harmful vehicle emissions.

North Carolina's biggest pollution problem is ozone and its precursors are Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Most VOCs come from natural sources such as trees and grasses so most of DAQ's efforts are aimed at the reduction of NOx emissions. Collectively, highway vehicles account for about one-third of the ozone forming emissions across North Carolina and up to 70 percent in urban areas.

Greater use of alternative fuels would help reduce dependence on foreign oil. Currently there are eight types of alternative fuels including: 1) Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), 2) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), 3) Propane (LPG), 4) Ethanol, 5) Methanol, 6) Biodiesel, 7) Hydrogen, and 8) Hydrogen Fuel Cell. The associated costs, benefits, and other information about each fuel type are listed in the two charts below.

Fuel	Infrastructure	Other Information
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)	Very Costly	Not Publicly available nationwide
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)	Very Costly	Not Publicly available nationwide
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)	Low Cost	Generally available nationwide
Ethanol	Same as Gasoline *	Not Publicly available nationwide
Methanol	Same as Gasoline *	Used Primarily in racing vehicles
Bio-diesel	Same as regular diesel	Becoming more available nationwide
Hydrogen	Very Costly	Not Publicly available nationwide
Hydrogen Fuel Cell	Very Costly	Not Publicly available nationwide

* The seals and gasket materials used in these vehicles is different than materials used in a gasoline vehicle.

Although EPA and DOE do not consider gasoline/electric hybrids to be alternative fuel vehicles, hybrid vehicle use does help reduce the nations demand for gasoline.
None of the domestic or foreign automakers are currently producing all-electric vehicles for the general transportation market and therefore EPA and DOE do not list it as an alternative fuel.

The Energy Policy ACT (EPACT) of 1992 states that all Federal and State fleets must insure that 75% of orders for replacement vehicles must use alternative fuels. Alternative Fuel Providers percentage is 90%. By 2006 all Municipal and private fleets replacement rate is 40% as directed by the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 490. However, using alternative fuels does not always reduce NOx emissions.

Fuel	NOx Emissions	Cost	Advantages / Disadvantages
CNG	80% Less	20 - 30% < than gasoline	Longer engine life / Higher vehicle cost
LNG	80% Less	20 - 30% < than gasoline	Fuel is stored as a cryogenic
LPG	Slightly > than gasoline	20% less than gasoline	By product of natural gas processing
Ethanol	2% < than gasoline	comparable to gasoline	Contains 25% less energy than a gallon of gasoline and fuel system seals are made from a different material but does help reduce the demand for foreign oil
Methanol	Slightly > than gasoline	slightly less than gasoline	Has 60% < energy than a gallon of gasoline but can be used as a source of hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles
Bio-diesel	1% greater than diesel	Slightly more than diesel	Harmful to natural rubber engine seals
Hydrogen	Zero NOx	Not publicly available	Three times > energy than in gasoline
Hydrogen Fuel Cell	Zero NOx	Not publicly available	Byproduct of fuel cell is H2O

Currently, the alternative fuels with the greatest usage in North Carolina are E-85 ethanol/gasoline blend) and Bio-diesel. The small increase in NOx should not overshadow the net environmental gain from using bio-diesel. Bio-diesel is a viable part of the overall effort to improve our air quality.

Email us

Last Modified: Tue November 25 07:16:41 2008

Top of Page