Credit for New Qualified Alternative Motor Vehicles (Advanced Lean Burn Technology Motor Vehicles and Qualified Hybrid Motor Vehicles)
1/13/2006
On January 13, 2006, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance regarding the tax credits for light-duty (less than 8,500 lbs. GVWR) lean-burn and hybrid electric vehicles. The guidance establishes the procedures that manufacturers must use to certify that their vehicles qualify for the tax credit. The IRS plans to issue additional guidance at a later date to address procedures for qualifying alternative fuel vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, and heavy-duty hybrid vehicles.
The guidance provides procedures whereby a manufacturer may certify to the IRS that its vehicles qualify for the tax credits enacted in EPAct 2005. The guidance also provides procedures for reporting on the total number of qualifying vehicles that have been sold. Upon receiving the required information, the IRS will issue an acknowledgement. A manufacturer that has submitted the proper certification and received an acknowledgement from the IRS may then certify to customers/puchasers that the vehicles qualify for tax credits. For taxpayers to claim the credit, they must place the vehicle in service after December 31, 2005. The taxpayer also must be the original user of the vehicle (first purchaser or lessee) and the vehicle must be predominately used in the U.S.
New York City Transit Hybrid and CNG Transit Buses: Interim Evaluation Results
1/2/2006
This report focuses on compressed natural gas (CNG) and diesel hybrid electric bus propulsion systems in New York City Transit buses. Both of these propulsion systems are alternatives to standard diesel buses and allow for reductions in petroleum use and emissions (usually focused on reductions of particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen). CNG propulsion is an alternative to diesel fuel use, and diesel hybrid propulsion allows for increased fuel economy, which, in turn, is a reduction in petroleum use.
Authors: Chandler, K.;Eberts, E.;Eudy, L.
Steam Reforming of Ethanol at Elevated Pressures for Distributed Hydrogen Production
1/1/2006
Ethanol is an attractive renewable fuel because, as a liquid fuel, it has a high energy density, it is easy to transport, and it is environmentally more benign than petroleum-derived fuels. The hydrogen produced by reforming needs to be purified and compressed to the appropriate storage and dispensing pressures. Compressing hydrogen is energy intensive and can consume a significant fraction of the fuel's heating value. A promising option for producing hydrogen from ethanol is by conducting the ethanol steam reforming reaction at an elevated pressure, since injecting liquid feeds (ethanol and water) into a pressurized reactor requires very little energy.
Authors: Lee, S.; Papadias, D.; Ahluwalia, R.; Ahmed, S.
FAA Inherently Low Emission Airport Vehicle Pilot Program
1/1/2006
This document is the Federal Aviation Administration's final report for the Inherently Low Emissions Airport Vehicle Pilot Program (ILEAV). The report describes the current level of ILEAV project activity based on information provided by participating airport sponsors in their progress reports of Sept. 30, 2005. The ILEAV program produced a total investment of over $14 million in airport low-emission technology, including federal grant and local matching contributions. The lessons learned from the ILEAV program have been valuable to the FAA and its development of new air quality initiatives.
Ten Years of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Operations at SunLine Transit Agency, April 2003 - December 2004
1/1/2006
SunLine Transit Agency operating in and around Palm Springs, California, started operation of compressed natural gas (CNG) transit buses in 1994 by converting its entire operating fleet to CNG overnight. Now, more than 10 years later, SunLine is still committed to CNG transit bus operations as well as testing other future technologies. The objective of this report is to capture some of the lessons learned and experiences gained at SunLine over the past 10 years.
Authors: Chandler, K.
Transportation Air Quality Selected Facts and Figures
1/1/2006
In response to the Clean Air Act (CAA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established National Ambient Air Quality Standards for various pollutants, known as criteria pollutants, that adversely affect human health and welfare. This report focuses on the three major transportation-related criteria pollutants: ozone and its precursors, volatile organic compounds (VOC) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx); particulate matter; and carbon monoxide. This report contains historical measurements and data concerning transportation-induced pollution.
The Harmful Effects of Vehicle Exhaust: A Case for Policy Change
1/1/2006
Most people assume that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is sufficiently protecting air quality by setting limits for chemicals released from vehicles, requiring newer engines to be less polluting, and restricting levels normally found in outdoor air. While the government monitors pollutants at fixed stations, these measurements bear little resemblance to the pollutiuon you and your family experience while moving through daily life. This report examines a variety of harmful effects from air pollution, including that caused by vehicle exhaust. The report focuses on Connecticut.
Authors: Wargo, J.; Wargo, L.; Alderman, N; Brown, D. R.
Ethanol, the complete energy lifecycle picture
1/1/2006
Brochure presents a colorful story of the complete energy lifecycle of ethanol from corn to fuel. The model developed by Dr. Michael Wang of Argonne National Laboratory's Center for Transportation Research, is called GREET -- Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation. The brochure includes graphs showing the energy benefits of ethanol fuel and the low emission of greenhouse gases.
Authors: Wang, M.
Ethanol Can Contribute to Energy and Environmental Goals
1/1/2006
To study the potential effects of increased biofuel use, we evaluated six representative analyses of fuel ethanol. Studies that reported negative net energy incorrectly ignored coproducts and used some obsolete data. All studies indicated that current corn ethanol technologies are much less petroleum-intensive than gasoline but have greenhouse gas emissions similar to those of gasoline. However, many important environmental effects of biofuel production are poorly understood. New metrics that measure specific resource inputs are developed, but further research into environmental metrics is needed. Nonetheless, it is already clear that large-scale use of ethanol for fuel will almost certainly require cellulosic technology.
Authors: Farrell, A.E.; Plevin, R.J.; Turner, B.T.; Jones, A.D.; O'Hare, M.; Kammen, D.M.
Hydrogen Infrastructure Transition Analysis
1/1/2006
The analysis done in fiscal year (FY) 2005 built upon the FY 2004 work described in the March 2005 report, Analysis of the Hydrogen Infrastructure Needed to Enable Commercial Introduction of Hydrogen-Fueled Vehicles1. The FY 2005 project: Identified existing hydrogen production facilities and alternative fuel stations; Identified highway traffic volumes throughout the U.S. interstate system; Selected specific north/south and east/west routes as a focus for the project; Incorporated existing hydrogen production facilities, hydrogen and natural gas fueling stations, railroads, traffic volume, and county population data; Placed stations on the U.S. interstate network according to population density and station distances; and identified a significant potential to co-locate refueling with federal government partners. In FY 2005, analysis focused on using the basic refueling station network proposed in FY 2004 to evaluate various scenarios for transition. These strategies and analyses are described in this report.
Authors: Melendez, M.; Milbrandt, A.
Ethanol in Gasoline: Environmental Impacts and Sustainability Review
12/1/2005
This study concerns the use of ethanol as a gasoline (petrol) additive, at levels around 10% byvolume (?E10?) as well as an 85% blend (?E85?). By detailed reviews of the peer-reviewed andtechnical literature, five environmental aspects of ethanol enrichment are examined: (1) its purportedreduction in air pollutant emissions; (2) its potential impact on subsurface soils and groundwater; (3)its purported reduction in greenhouse gas emissions; (4) the energy efficiency of ethanol; and (5) theoverall sustainability of ethanol production. The study indicates that E10 is of debatable air pollutionmerit (and may in fact increase the production of photochemical smog); offers little advantage interms of greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency or environmental sustainability; and willsignificantly increase both the risk and severity of soil and groundwater contamination. In contrast,E85 offers significant greenhouse gas benefits, however it will produce significant air pollutionimpacts, involves substantial risks to biodiversity, and its groundwater contamination impacts andoverall sustainability are largely unknown.q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Keywords: Gasoline; Ethanol; Energy; Groundwater; Air pollution; Environmental management
Authors: Niven, R.K.
Emission Testing of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Natural Gas and Diesel Transit Buses
12/1/2005
In 2004, DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory led an evaluation of the emissions of transit buses operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The goal of this project was to evaluate the emissions of natural gas transit buses and the improving baseline emissions of comparable diesel buses with advanced emission control technologies. The buses were tested for numerous regulated and unregulated emissions, including hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, and various toxic emissions. The analysis demonstrated the emissions advantage of CNG buses as well as promising fuel economy results for the CNG buses compared with the diesel buses.
Authors: Melendez, M.; Taylor, J.; Zuboy, J.; Wayne, W.S.; Smith, D.
Operating Experience and Teardown Analysis for Engines Operated on Biodiesel Blends (B20)
11/1/2005
The work described in this paper provides quantitative in-use data on the operating cost and engine durability impacts of B20 use in U.S. Postal Service (USPS) vehicles. This was accomplished through teardown analysis of engines and fuel systems removed from these vehicles and comparisons of wear characteristics to standard diesel vehicles operated in the same service. Engine- and fuel-related maintenance costs were also compared.
Authors: Fraer, R.; Dinh, H.; Proc, K.; McCormick, R.; Chandler, K.; Buchholz, B.
Development and Demonstration of Hydrogen and Compressed Natural Gas (H/CNG) Blend Transit Buses
11/1/2005
One approach being put forth for the advancement of hydrogen fueled vehicles is to blend hydrogen with compressed natural gas (H/CNG) for use in state-of-the-art internal combustion engine vehicles. Current natural gas engines and vehicles can be modified to operate on H/CNG with available technology. This report reviews a small-scale study of this concept. The project demonstrated that with minor engine and vehicle modifications, the 20/80 hydrogen/CNG blend can be used in revenue service fleets with similar operational performance as CNG. However, additional optimization of the H/CNG engine calibration is necessary to attain equivalent fuel economy, or alternatively increased fuel economy at equivalent NOx emissions.
Authors: Del Toro, A.; Frailey, M.; Lynch, F.; Munshi, S.; Wayne, S.