• Energy Research
• 12. Responsible consumption close
• Transport Research close
• University of North Texas close

Former gasoline stations that are now classified as brownfields can be good sites to sell alternative fuels because they are in locations that are convenient to vehicles and they may be seeking a new source of income. However, their success as alternative fueling stations is highly dependent on location-specific criteria. First, this report outlines what these criteria are, how to prioritize them, and then applies that assessment framework to five of the most popular alternative fuels--electricity, natural gas, hydrogen, ethanol, and biodiesel. The second part of this report delves into the criteria and tools used to assess an alternative fuel retail site at the local level. It does this through two case studies of converting former gasoline stations in the Seattle-Eugene area into electric charge stations. The third part of this report addresses steps to be taken after the specific site has been selected. This includes choosing and installing the recharging equipment, which includes steps to take in the permitting process and key players to include.

Biomass is uniquely able to supply renewable and sustainable liquid transportation fuels. In the near term, the Biomass program has a 2012 goal of cost competitive cellulosic ethanol. However, beyond 2012, there will be an increasing need to provide liquid transportation fuels that are more compatible with the existing infrastructure and can supply fuel into all transportation sectors, including aviation and heavy road transport. Microbial organisms are capable of producing a wide variety of fuel and fuel precursors such as higher alcohols, ethers, esters, fatty acids, alkenes and alkanes. This report surveys liquid fuels and fuel precurors that can be produced from microbial processes, but are not yet ready for commercialization using cellulosic feedstocks. Organisms, current research and commercial activities, and economics are addressed. Significant improvements to yields and process intensification are needed to make these routes economic. Specifically, high productivity, titer and efficient conversion are the key factors for success.

This report details the petroleum savings and vehicle emissions reductions achieved by the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities program in 2010. The report also details other performance metrics, including the number of stakeholders in Clean Cities coalitions, outreach activities by coalitions and national laboratories, and alternative fuel vehicles deployed.

The continued growth of highway traffic in the United States has led to unwanted urban traffic congestion as well as to noticeable urban air quality problems. These problems include emissions covered by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) and 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), as well as carbon dioxide and related {open_quotes}greenhouse gas{close_quotes} emissions. Urban travel also creates a major demand for imported oil. Therefore, for economic as well as environmental reasons, transportation planning agencies at both the state and metropolitan area level are focussing a good deal of attention on urban travel reduction policies. Much discussed policy instruments include those that encourage fewer trip starts, shorter trip distances, shifts to higher-occupancy vehicles or to nonvehicular modes, and shifts in the timing of trips from the more to the less congested periods of the day or week. Some analysts have concluded that in order to bring about sustainable reductions in urban traffic volumes, significant changes will be necessary in the way our households and businesses engage in daily travel. Such changes are likely to involve changes in the ways we organize and use traffic-generating and-attracting land within our urban areas. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the ability of current analytic methods and models to support both the evaluation and possibly the design of such vehicle travel reduction strategies, including those strategies involving the reorganization and use of urban land. The review is organized into three sections. Section 1 describes the nature of the problem we are trying to model, Section 2 reviews the state of the art in operational urban land use-transportation simulation models, and Section 3 provides a critical assessment of such models as useful urban transportation planning tools. A number of areas are identified where further model development or testing is required.

The primary constraints and incentives affecting the viability of increased anthracite production for use as a utility boiler fuel are related to: (1) inherent advantages and disadvantages of anthracite versus bituminous coal, (2) geographical considerations, and (3) the existing and future state and federal regulatory framework. Anthracite is inherently low in sulfur content (a nominal 0.7% versus 2.0% for bituminous coal) and thus is capable of providing energy in a more environmentally beneficial manner than alternative coal resources. In addition, anthracite is characterized by a higher energy output (5% higher per pound) than bituminous coal. On the other hand, anthracite is difficult to mine because of its hardness and the geological environment where it occurs, and thus incurs an initial cost disadvantage relative to alternative fuels. Anthracite has a higher ignition and burning temperature than bituminous coal and thus requires more costly boilers. Additionally, anthracite requires more costly particulate-removal systems than does bituminous and is somewhat more costly to tranport by rail. A potential major negative factor is the variability of sulfur content within anthracite deposits. The geographic location of the anthracite region creates a number of economic and environmental advantages that influence the viability of increased anthracite production. Anthracite fields in Pennsylvania are within 150 miles of approximately one eighth of the US population, making anthracite more favorable for mine-month power generation than bituminous coal. The anthracite region is currently economically drpressed and unsuitable for most nonmining uses. Thus, anthracite production carries with it a potential for local beneficial environmental and socioeconomic benefits.

This report presents a method for evaluating relative environmental impacts of coal transportation modes (e.g., unit trains, trucks). Impacts of each mode are evaluated (rated) for a number of categories of environmental effects (e.g., air pollution, water pollution). The overall environmental impact of each mode is determined for the coal origin (mine-mouth area), the coal or coal-energy product destination (demand point), and the line-haul route. These origin, destination, and en route impact rankings are then combined into a systemwide ranking. Thus the method accounts for the many combinations of transport modes, routes, and energy products that can satisfy a user's energy demand from a particular coal source. Impact ratings and system rankings are not highly detailed (narrowly defined). Instead, environmental impacts are given low, medium, and high ratings that are developed using environmental effects data compiled in a recent Argonne National Laboratory report entitled Data for Intermodal Comparison of Environmental Impacts of Inland Transportation Alternatives for Coal Energy (ANL/EES-TM-206). The ratings and rankings developed for this report are generic. Using the method presented, policy makers can apply these generic data and the analytical framework given to particular cases by adding their own site specific data and making some informed judgements.more » Separate tables of generic ratings and rankings are developed for transportation systems serving coal power plants, coal liquefaction plants, and coal gasification plants. The final chapter presents an hypothetical example of a site-specific application and adjustment of generic evaluations. 44 references, 2 figures, 14 tables.« less

This report details the petroleum savings and vehicle emissions reductions achieved by the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities program in 2011. The report also details other performance metrics, including the number of stakeholders in Clean Cities coalitions, outreach activities by coalitions and national laboratories, and alternative fuel vehicles deployed.