Living Without Oil
As war looms, the search for new energy alternatives is all the more urgent
Oddly, U.S. government policies have served as both boon and restraint to biodiesel. The 1992 Energy Policy Act, which encourages a percentage of federal and state government vehicles to run on alternative fuels, was amended in 1998 to give credit for biodiesel use. Sales have exploded 30-fold since 1999 to 15 million gallons. But to get credit, the federal government requires only that the fleets run on a mix of 20 percent biodiesel, 80 percent petroleum. With biodiesel as much as double the cost, and taxed at the same rate as petroleum diesel, governments seldom buy more than the 20 percent mix.
Naturally, this practice reduces environmental benefits. Biodiesel also increases emissions of one smog-producing pollutant, nitrogen oxide, or NOx. Although technical solutions, such as adjusting engine timing, appear to be available, some environmentalists remain lukewarm. Daniel Becker, head of the Sierra Club's energy program, says the "french fry grease hustlers" are not competing with petroleum at all but are vying for market share against an alternative fuel his organization prefers: natural gas.
Gassing up. Big-city residents have seen natural gas buses popping up in their mass transit systems. City governments have found they can move closer to meeting tough new federal antismog standards by converting some of their fleet to CNG, or compressed natural gas. Natural gas is not environmentally benign; it emits greenhouse gases, and exploration and drilling often prove controversial. But CNG engines emit virtually no particulate matter, toxic chemicals, or sulfur and 50 percent less NOx. What's more, 85 percent of natural gas consumed in the United States is produced domestically; nearly all the rest is from Canada. The 130,000 CNG vehicles on U.S. roads last year displaced 124 million gallons of gasoline, and the sector is growing 10 percent a year. Natural gas passenger cars and pickup trucks are now available.
However, cost and inconvenience can be stumbling blocks. The suggested starting price of a Honda Civic GX natural gas car is $20,510, nearly 60 percent more than a gasoline-run sedan and $1,000 more than Honda's hybrid gas-electric Civic. The price tag of the heavy-duty CNG engines is still $20,000 to $50,000 more than that of a traditional diesel engine. Finding a fueling station that pumps out the pressurized gas can be a challenge. When Washington, D.C.'s transit agency, Metro, decided last year to add 250 new CNG buses to its fleet, opponents complained the agency could buy twice as many diesel buses for the $105 million tab of the vehicles and their fueling station. But advocates noted that over time, Metro would save money on fuel. Natural gas is the only oil alternative that has been selling for less than gasoline; the discount last fall was about 25 percent. Also, tax incentives from the federal government and some states help offset capital costs. New solutions also are on the horizon for the fueling problem. FuelMaker, a Canadian company in which Honda has a 20 percent stake, plans this year to begin sales of its "Phill" appliance, which will allow drivers to fill up from natural gas lines at home; expected price: about $1,000.
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