Author: Naftc

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781933954134

Energy consumption is increasing at a dramatic rate everywhere in the world. The extent of this consumption is directly proportional to a society's economic and industrial development. It is a well-established fact that petroleum is one of the most widely-used fuel resources in the world today. As more and more countries prosper, we will see accelerating depletion of traditional energy sources used for transportation. Energy independence is becoming a crucial factor affecting homeland security, in the U.S. and in other developed countries. An adequate and reliable fuel supply is a critical component of any strategic plan for economic development and national security. In every nation, the choice of fuel has assumed serious economic and environmental consequences, in the forms of budget deficits caused by oil imports and ecological degradation caused by pollution.Air pollution in some metropolitan areas has reached alarming levels. In response to this pollution, environmental concerns have contributed to the improvement of fuel quality. Over the past decade, the possibility of substituting cleaner-burning alternatives for gasoline and diesel has drawn the attention of the automobile industry, as well as of federal, state, and local governments. Even though it is well known that alternative fuels create less pollution and help states and metropolitan areas to meet stringent environmental requirements, gasoline and diesel remain the most common transportation fuels in the U.S. Additionally, alternative fuels have marked benefits beyond air quality: new fuels in the marketplace offer consumers new choices and can decrease the country's dependence on imported oil.Alternative fuel vehicles are becoming more readily available to consumers and fleets. Their widespread use in the near future is not only feasible, but necessary. To enable the transition to alternative fuels, technologies must be refined so that vehicles can achieve optimum performance and emissions characteristics. New infrastructures must be developed and supported.Using less-expensive alternative fuels-including compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and propane-has the potential to significantly reduce an operation's transportation costs.To learn more, go to naftc.wvu.edu