Alternative Fuels & Vehicles

Alternative fuel/advanced technology vehicles employ any method of powering an engine that does not involve solely petroleum. Often, these vehicles pollute less than their gasoline and diesel counterparts. Implementation of these fuels and technologies is critical to reducing dependence on foreign oil and improving air quality.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel from a wide range of vegetable oils and animal fats. Pure biodiesel or biodiesel can be used to fuel diesel vehicl

Natural Gas

Natural gas is a domestically produced fuel and is readily available to end users through the utility infrastructure. Connected to a standard residential gas service, a home refueling unit can be implemented.

Propane

Propane also known as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), has a high energy density, giving propane vehicles good driving range.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen fuel produced from renewable energy used in fuel cell vehicles holds the promise of virtually pollution-free transportation. Hydrogen is the simplest and most abundant element in the universe and can be produced from biomass and by electrolyzing water.

Ethanol

Ethanol is a renewable fuel made from various plant materials. Ethanol is also increasingly available in E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline that can be used in flexible fuel vehicles.

Hybrid

Hybrid electric vehicles combine an engine of a conventional vehicle with the battery and electric motor of an electric vehicle. These vehicles use regenerative braking technology to convert the vehicle’s kinetic energy into battery-replenishing electric energy.

Hybrid Electric

Plug-in Hybrid electric vehicles combine the benefits of pure electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. They plug into the electric grid and can be powered by the stored electricity alone.
U.S. DOE EERE’s Clean Cities TransAtlas interactive map displays existing and planned alternative fueling stations, and alternative fuel production facilities. Users can customize this map to display, print, and query data. This interactive map uses a Google Maps interface and can be located at

U.S. Department of Energy, Clean Cities Program website.