From electric cars and propane vehicles to natural gas-powered buses and trucks that run on biodiesel, today’s options for alternative fuel vehicles are vast. Increasing the use of alternative fuels and vehicles will help reduce consumers’ fuel costs, minimize pollution and increase the nation’s energy security.
Working with universities, private-sector companies and the National Labs, the Energy Department supports research and development of alternative fuels and vehicle technologies to provide consumers with cost-effective vehicle choices. Through the Clean Cities program, the Department helps local communities reduce their oil consumption by deploying alternative fuel vehicles and the infrastructure needed to fuel them.
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That was the subject of a $26 million EU project called Gas On. The four-year project just concluded in March, with more results revealed in May. The goal was to design a gas-only internal combustion engine that reduced carbon-dioxide emissions (and thus fuel consumption) by 20 percent compared to best-in-class 2014 vehicles using compressed natural gas (CNG), with a “gasoline-like vehicle driving range.
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The best engine achieved the targeted 20-percent reduction in fuel consumption (based on WLTP-cycle calculations for a mid-size passenger car), with a peak efficiency of more than 45 percent and more than 40 percent efficiency reached over a wide operating range.
The efficiency gains are a step in the right direction, if the technology ever stands a chance, as gasoline development keeps nudging efficiency upward, battery electrics catch on, and energy experts continue to point to larger utility-scale power production as the best hope for these gaseous fuels.
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From electric cars and propane vehicles to natural gas-powered buses and trucks that run on biodiesel, today’s options for alternative fuel vehicles are vast. Increasing the use of alternative fuels and vehicles will help reduce consumers’ fuel costs, minimize pollution and increase the nation’s energy security.
Working with universities, private-sector companies and the National Labs, the Energy Department supports research and development of alternative fuels and vehicle technologies to provide consumers with cost-effective vehicle choices. Through the Clean Cities program, the Department helps local communities reduce their oil consumption by deploying alternative fuel vehicles and the infrastructure needed to fuel them.
