GASOLINE: THE UNCLEAN FUEL?

The article focuses on President Bush's plan for improving air quality by seeking to replace it in smoggy cities with cleaner fuels. The plan would do this by creating a special market for clean fuels and helping the best competitor win. Proponents of the plan say it could sharply cut back on the release of volatile hydrocarbons, which combine with nitrogen oxide to make ozone. The leading candidate, because of its low retail price and the low cost of adapting cars to its use, is methanol, a clear, odorless liquid produced mainly from natural gas and sold as a chemical feedstock. It has a low vapor pressure of 4.7 pounds per square inch, indicating that it evaporates at a much slower rate. The disadvantages of the fuel are also noted. According to the President's plan, it would be phased in slowly, beginning with a fuel called M85, a mix of 85% methanol and 15% gasoline, and a shift to pure methanol, or M100 after 5 years. Oil industrialists see several problems in the plan.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00368075
• Corporate Authors:

  American Association for Advancement of Science

  1313 H Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20005
• Publication Date: 1989-10-13

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 199-201
• Serial:
  • Science
  • Volume: 246
  • Issue Number: 4927
  • Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • ISSN: 0036-8075
  • Serial URL: http://science.sciencemag.org/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternate fuels; Gasoline; Methanol; Ozone; Smog
• Subject Areas: Energy; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00492168
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 31 1990 12:00AM