Petroleum Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Selected Alternative Fuels

1997PDFResearch PaperAlternate fuelsMotor fuelsExhaust gasesGreenhouse gasesNatural gasGasoholReformulated gasolineEthanolMethanol fuelsHydrogen fuelsDiesel fuelsPetroleum fuelsAlternative fuelsComparative studiesVehicle emissionsUnited StatesUnited States. Dept. of TransportationUnited States. Dept. of TransportationIntelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program OfficeTo future generations of transportation planners and policymakers, the 1990s will be viewed as a decade of transition. In the first five years of this decade, nearly everything about how the United States meets its transportation needs, from how traffic is managed to how construction projects are financed, has been scrutinized and reconsidered. Necessity is the driving force of this change. At a time when revenues at the federal and state levels are declining and budgets are being cut, ever growing numbers of vehicles are squeezing onto an aging infrastructure. Unlike the 1950s when the U.S. Department of Transportation began construction of the Interstate highway system and revolutionized the movement of people and goods, the United States cannot build itself out of this problem into a new era of prosperity. In many urban and suburban areas, highways are already built to the limits of existing rights of way. Over the past decade, the number of vehicles using the Interstate system has risen by more than 30 percent, and demand is expected to grow by another 50 percent in the next generation. We need to find solutions which utilize roadways more efficiently