Particularly since President Obama announced the National Clean Fleets Partnership initiative in April, alternative transportation fuels are enjoying the news media and blogosphere spotlights. Nevertheless, discerning which fuels are actually viable feels increasingly like navigating a maze, replete with industry stakeholders shouting at every corner about why their fuel is the best. Fortunately, a new blog (American Fuel Facts) aims to make the picture a bit clearer for alternative energy laypeople.
Managed by Autogas for America, the blog claims to
“…promote truth and accountability in the alternative fuels industry. We believe America’s push for energy security will require a range of different technologies, fuels and strategies – but we understand the importance of clear, accurate information.”
Additionally, the autogas advocacy organization has published their first “Alternative Fuel Fact Brief”. An article from the group states that these papers are “designed to educate readers and alternative energy followers about key aspects of the most popular alternative transportation fuels today. Compressed natural gas (CNG), ethanol, plug-in electric vehicles, biodiesel, propane autogas, and others are scheduled to be part of the ongoing series.”
The first one is titled “American, abundant… and affordable?“, and provides an analysis of CNG as applied to light-duty fleets. The study concludes that while the fuel may be a good choice for heavy -duty applications like 18 wheelers, autogas is the better fit due to lower conversion costs and significantly lower infrastructure costs, as the graph from the paper illustrates.
