Granite State Clean Cities CoalitionWelcome to the home of the Granite State Clean Cities Coalition...Promoting the use of alternative fuel vehicles in New Hampshire |
Biodiesel. Biodiesel is a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics. For more information visit the following websites: For information on how biodiesel is produced visit: For additional information: For information on the use of biodiesel in cold weather: For information on Bioheat: For Biodiesel organizations in NH visit: Past Events and Presentations on Biodiesel NH Alternative Fuel Projects, including Cranmore Mountain Resort & Keene biodiesel projects Electricity. Electricity can be used as a transportation fuel to power battery electric and fuel cell vehicles. When used to power electric vehicles, or EVs, electricity is stored in an energy storage device such as a battery. EV batteries have a limited storage capacity and their electricity must be replenished by plugging the vehicle into an electrical source. The electricity for recharging the batteries can come from the existing power grid, or from distributed renewable sources such as solar or wind energy. For more information visit the US Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center or the Electric Drive Transportation Association website. Ethanol. Ethanol is a clean-burning, high-octane fuel produced from crops such as corn. At its most basic, ethanol is grain alcohol. Ethanol can also be made from cellulosic biomass (grass, wood, agricultural and forestry wastes.) These feed stocks have significantly lower raw material cost and expand the potential for ethanol to blend with and displace gasoline with a cleaner, renewable, domestically produced liquid fuel. For more information visit the official website of the American Coalition for Ethanol, the US Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center, or the Renewable Fuels Association. Hydrogen. The simplest and lightest fuel is hydrogen gas (H2). Although still in development, hydrogen vehicles represent an attractive option for reducing petroleum consumption and improving air quality. Hydrogen vehicles are powered by fuel cells that produce no air pollutants and few greenhouse gases. For more information visit the US Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center. Methanol. Methanol is methane with one hydrogen molecule replaced by a hydroxyl radical (OH). It is also known as wood alcohol and can be used as an alternative fuel in flexible fuel vehicles that run on M85 (a blend of 85% methanol and 15% gasoline). However, it is not commonly used because automakers are no longer supplying methanol-powered vehicles. For more information visit the US Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center Natural Gas. Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons-mainly methane (CH4)-and is produced either from gas wells or in conjunction with crude oil production.Methane gas can also be produced as a renewable fuel fromlandfills, manure, and other organic sources and is referred to as Biomethane.(For more information on biomethane, search google.com for "Biomethane". The interest in natural gas as an alternative fuel stems mainly from its clean burning qualities, its domestic resource base, and its commercial availability to end users. Because of the gaseous nature of this fuel, it must be stored onboard a vehicle in either a compressed gaseous state (CNG) or in a liquefied state (LNG). For more information visit the US Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center. the Natural Gas Supply Association, or the Natural Gas Vehicles for America websites. Propane. Propane, or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is a by-product from two sources: natural gas processing and crude oil refining. Most of the LPG used in the United States is produced domestically. It is a popular alternative fuel choice for vehicles because there is already an infrastructure of pipelines, processing facilities, and storage for its efficient distribution. For more information visit the US Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center. Emerging Fuels Universities and the US Department of Energys National Laboratories are conducting continuing research on a number of potential alternative fuels. The US Department of Energys Alternative Fuels Data Center offers the latest information on these technologies.
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