Alternative Fuel Demonstrations

Demonstration Programs Introduce New Fuels

Gasoline and diesel fuel have long been the primary transportation fuels in the

United States. However, fleet owners across the country are beginning to experiment with other fuels to solve problems ranging from air pollution to tight budgets. As a result of these pilot demonstrations, many vehicles on the road today

are powered by nonpetroleum fuel alternatives.

A small portion of the 190 million cars, trucks, and buses in the United States

run on alternative fuels all or most of the time. This includes about 300,000

vehicles equipped to run on propane (LPG); 30,000 on compressed natural gas

(CNG); about 1,000 on methanol; a few hundred each on ethanol, electricity, and

liquefied natural gas (LNG); and a handful on hydrogen. These vehicles are

operated by fleet owners, private industry, federal, state, and local governments,

transit agencies, and private citizens.

Why Are Alternative Fuel Demonstrations Needed?

Well-designed demonstrations open the door to domestically-produced fuels and

to cleaner, healthier air. While today’s gasoline cars are much cleaner than cars

were years ago, the doubling of vehicle travel since 1970 has offset enough of the

progress to result in continued high pollution levels in most U.S. cities. Alternative fuel vehicles have the potential to produce less air pollution and greenhouse

gases than gasoline and diesel vehicles. Demonstration fleets are a good way to

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY EPA 400-F-92-011

OFFICE OF MOBILE SOURCES

FACT SHEET OMS-9

January, 1993
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Alternative Fuel Demonstrations

introduce these vehicles. Demonstrations also encourage research on alternative

energy made from renewable resources like corn, wood, biomass, and garbage.

Finally, these projects can help reduce our heavy dependence on imported oil by

promoting alternative fuels that diversify the fuel market and are produced

domestically.

Can Demonstrations Lead to Better Alternative Fuel Vehicles?

Yes. Demonstration projects play an integral role in improving vehicle technology

by setting up small-scale tests of newly designed vehicles and alternative fuels.

This is an essential step in evaluating new technology prior to widespread commercialization.

Most alternative fuel vehicles on the road today were designed for gasoline and

were later converted to run on alternative fuels as well. The conversions are

typically performed for economic rather than environmental benefits — CNG

and LPG in particular are often cheaper than gasoline. While these demonstrations help lessen the demand for imported petroleum, converted vehicles rarely

demonstrate the cutting-edge technology necessary to reduce air pollution.

From an air quality perspective, the most important demonstrations today (see

table on page 3) use cars, trucks, and buses designed specifically for alternative

fuels. This allows vehicles to exploit the chemical and physical characteristics of

the fuel they are designed for, achieving maximum performance and efficiency

and minimum emissions. Demonstrations advance cutting-edge vehicle technology by providing on-the-road data from experimental vehicles.

For More Information:

The Office of Mobile Sources is the national center for research and policy on air

pollution from highway and off-highway motor vehicles and equipment. You

can write to us at the EPA National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory,

2565 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105. Our phone number is (313) 668-4333.
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Alternative Fuel Demonstrations

Alternative Fuel Vehicle Demonstrations in the U.S.

There are several hundred thousand alternative fuel vehicles operating in the U S. This chart focuses on

the most significant demonstrations, particularly those that introduce new technology, emphasize clean air,

or include an especially large number of vehicles. All vehicles are “dedicated” to run exclusively on a specific

alternate fuel, unless otherwise indicated. Retrofits are vehicles built to run on gasoline which are later

converted to use a gaseous fuel (CNG or LPG). Flexible-fuel vehicles (FFVs) can operate on either gasoline

or alcohol (ethanol, methanol) or any combination of the two. M85 and E85 are blends of 85% alcohol and 15

gasoline.