TECHNICAL AND ECONOMICAL CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS FOR PERSONAL AUTOMOTIVE TRANSPORTATION

The principal objective of this paper is to identify feasible and practical alternative automotive fuels (i.e., non-petroleum fuels) that may be derived from domestic energy sources other than petroleum. Feasibility means more than the technical feasibility of producing enough of an alternative fuel to permit a test vehicle fleet to be driven. Thus, additional objectives are to identify when, how much, and at what cost for each of the alternative fuel possibilities. The first step is to select alternative fuels with a reasonable chance of being feasible and practical within the key 1985-2000 time-frame from the long list of combustible materials that could be used to power vehicles if practicality were not an issue. Cost, potential availability, compatibility with engines likely to be available in 1985, physical properties, safety and toxicity were among the criteria used for screening. An unsatisfactory rating on a relative or an absolute basis is sufficient reason for eliminating a given fuel unless there is reason to believe that the deficiency can be overcome within the foreseeable future. The selective approach permits concentration on cost, availability, and performance which are the factors that will ultimately determine whether a potential alternative fuel reaches the marketplace in significant quantities and, hence, will have a real impact on the nation's supply of transportation fuels. The evaluation of these factors requires the assessment of technology already available or under development and also of gaps that will have to be filled by research. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Proceedings 9th Intersociety Engergy Conversion Engineering Conference, San Francisco, 26-30 August 1974.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Mechanical Engineers

  Two Park Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10016-5990
• Authors:
  • Hagey, G
  • Parker Jr, A J
• Conference:
  • Proceedings 9th Intersociety Engergy Conversion Engineering Conference, San Francisco, 26-30 August 1974.
• Publication Date: 1974

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 941-951

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Costs; Economic factors; Energy; Feasibility analysis; Fuels; Performance; Physical properties; Research; Safety; Supply; Technology; Toxicity
• Uncontrolled Terms: Availability
• Old TRIS Terms: Economic considerations; Substitutes
• Subject Areas: Economics; Energy; Finance; Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00095353
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 29 1975 12:00AM