Alternative Fuels and Nonconventional Petroleum

The National Energy Policy Act plans to quadruple ethanol production by 2012.

Ethanol production from cellulosic biomass is currently a commercially viable process.

Biodiesel can only be made from waste animal fats, not from various crops like rapeseed and soybean oils.

The use of natural gas in transportation globally is consistent at around 5%.

In U.S. municipal bus fleets, natural gas has proven to be a more economical option than diesels with effective exhaust cleanup.

Hybrid vehicles combine a small diesel engine and a battery-powered electric motor.

The existing distribution system is compatible with alternative fuels.

Nonconventional petroleum sources such as oil sands and oil shale have lower energy density than current liquid fuels.

Processing nonconventional petroleum sources to yield "oil" requires large amounts of natural gas and electricity, and emits substantial amounts of greenhouse gases.

Biomass-based fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel emit more carbon dioxide per unit of energy than conventional fuels.

In the U.S., roughly 50 percent of the corn crop is being converted to ethanol.

The recent U.S. legislation mandates the use of alternative fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.