EPA Establishes Alternative Fuel Standard by Lisa Ziegler

As part of President George W. Bush's Twenty in Ten initiative that aims to reduce gasoline consumption in the United States up to 20 percent in the next ten years, Bush Administration's established the Alternative Fuel Standard (AFS) that will require companies including car manufacturer's to utilize about 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017.

In regards with this, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also established the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the country's first ever comprehensive renewable fuel standard initiative. The RFS program was presented to the public during a recently press conference held last April 10, 2007 conducted by EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator (NHTSA), along with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Here is what the officials of the three government agencies have to say.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman: "Increasing the use of renewable and alternative fuels to power our nation's vehicles will help meet the President's Twenty in Ten goal of reducing gasoline usage by 20 percent in ten years. The Administration's sustained commitment to technology investment will bring a variety of alternative fuel sources to market and further reduce our nation's dependence on foreign sources of energy."

Meanwhile, Nicole R. Nason, Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said: "While we must look at increasing the availability of renewable and alternative fuels, we must also continue to improve the fuel efficiency of our passenger cars and light trucks. As a part of the President's "20 in 10" energy security plan, we need Congress to give the Secretary of Transportation the authority to reform the current passenger car fuel economy standard."

The main objective of the RFS program is to promote the use of alternative fuels like ethanol and biodiesel that can be abundantly produced from agricultural crops found all over the U.S. including corn, soy beans, sugar cane, and other vegetables. Some of the initiatives, requirements, and other objectives of the RFS program include: motor vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2012 should run on about 7.5 billion gallons renewable fuel mixed with conventional fuel (like diesel or gasoline); reduce the utilization of petroleum-based fuel up to 3.9 billion gallons; reduce the harmful emissions and greenhouse gasses by 13.1 million metric tons by 2012; and reduce gasoline use by approximately 20 percent after the next ten years.

With the RFS program implemented, we might see a Jeep model with quality Jeep steering damper that runs on ethanol or biodiesel fuel.

About the Author

Lisa Ziegler is a 29-year old native of Waldport, Oregon and is currently working as a senior research analyst in a top Automotive Research Consultancy firm.

Bush Pushes Reduction Of Foreign Oil Dependency, Greenhouse Gases by Lauren Woods

US President George W. Bush is pushing his administration proposal which is aimed at reducing foreign oil dependence and decreasing greenhouse gases. This is also aimed at increasing the supply of alternative and renewable fuels around the globe.

Earlier, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established the nation's first comprehensive Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. At the recent press conference, Stephen L. Johnson, EPA administrator; and Nicole Nason, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator, discussed the essence of RFS program which is increasing the use of alternative fuels and modernizing CAFE standards for cars.

"The Renewable Fuel Standard offers the American people a hat trick - it protects the environment, strengthens our energy security, and supports America's farmers," said Johnson. "Today, we're taking an important first step toward meeting President Bush's "20 in 10" goal of jumping off the treadmill of foreign oil dependency."

"Increasing the use of renewable and alternative fuels to power our nation's vehicles will help meet the President's Twenty in Ten goal of reducing gasoline usage by 20 percent in ten years," Samuel W. Bodman, the Secretary of Energy, said. "The Administration's sustained commitment to technology investment will bring a variety of alternative fuel sources to market and further reduce our nation's dependence on foreign sources of energy."

"While we must look at increasing the availability of renewable and alternative fuels, we must also continue to improve the fuel efficiency of our passenger cars and light trucks," said Nicole R. Nason, the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). "As a part of the President's "20 in 10" energy security plan, we need Congress to give the Secretary of Transportation the authority to reform the current passenger car fuel economy standard."

The RFS, as authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, mandates that the equivalent of at least 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuel be blended into motor vehicle fuel sold in the United States by 2012. The program is aimed at slashing petroleum use by up to 3.9 billion gallons and reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions by up to 13.1 million metric tons by 2012. It means that the program is preventing the emissions of some 2.3 million cars.

The RFS is an essential step toward meeting Bush's call to slash the use of gasoline 20-percent within ten years. This could be done by switching to renewable and alternative fuel use to 35 billion gallons by the year 2017. The goal behind the RFS is the promotion of the use of fuels like ethanol and biodiesel. These alternative fuels are largely produced from American crops.

The program is also aimed at creating new markets for farm products. This is also done to increase energy security and promote the formulation of sophisticated technologies to help make renewable fuel cost competitive with the traditional gasoline. Additionally, the program establishes special incentives for producing and using fuels derived from cellulosic biomass. Examples of which include woodchips and switchgrass.

The RFS program requires major American refiners, blenders, and importers to use a minimum volume of renewable fuel annually starting 2007 through 2012. The minimum level or "standard" which is determined as a percentage of the total volume of fuel a company produces or imports, will increase on a yearly basis. For this year, 4.02 percent of all the fuel sold or dispensed to American motorists will have to come from renewable sources and that is approximately 4.7 billion gallons.

The RFS program is based on a trading system that provides a flexible means for industry to comply with the annual standard by allowing renewable fuels to be used where they are most economical. To achieve the goal of Bush Administration's Alternative Fuel Standard (AFS), it is necessary to enforce the RFS. The latter requires the use of 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017. It is nearly five times the RFS target in 2012. The said program necessitates an in-depth study and testing to come up with compatible DC sports cold air intake, engines and more.

About the Author

Given her background on cars as an auto insurance director, Lauren Woods finds the world of cars to be constantly changing.

Alternative Energy, What Is It!? by © Elton DeWése - All Rights Reserved

There's a lot of energy that we can harness if we only seek to research and develop the technologies needed to do so. We can get away from the fossil fuels and the old electrical grids by turning to alternatives to these highly polluting energy sources.

One of these alternative energy sources is wind power. Wind turbines continue to be developed that are progressively more energy efficient and less costly. "Wind farms" are springing up in many nations, and they're being more strategically placed so they will not jeopardizing birds (or aircraft) as former wind turbines did.

Another alternative energy resource is the one that is most well known: solar energy. This involves the manufacturing of solar cells which gather and focus the energy given off directly by the sun, and translates it into electricity or, in some cases, hot water. As with wind energy, solar energy creates absolutely zero pollution.

Ocean wave energy is seen by governments and investors as having enormous energy generating potential. A generator in France has been in operation for many years now and is considered to be a great success, and the Irish and Scots are running experimental facilities.

Hydroelectric power has been with us for a while and where it's set up, it's a powerful generator of electricity and cleaner than a grid. However, there are certain limitations to the availability of the right places to set up a large dam. Many run-of-the-river, or small and localized, hydroelectric generators have been set up mostly or entirely for the communities they were built in due to this limitation.

Geothermal energy is extremely abundant, since it lies directly beneath our feet, just a few miles below the earth's surface. This energy is produced by the heating of water through the actions of earth's fantastically hot molten core. The water turns to steam, which can then be harnessed and used to drive turbine engines which in turn generate electricity. Great amounts of research and development should be put into geothermal energy tapping.

Waste gas energies, which are essentially methane, reverse the usual energy-pollution relationship by creating energy from waste that lies in the dumps and from some air pollutants. This gas is used in fuel cells and can be used in standard gasoline generators.

Ethanol's a gasoline substitute and is created from such things as wheat, sugarcane, grapes, strawberries, corn, and even wood chips and wood cellulose. There's controversy over this fuel with regards to its ever becoming truly economical or practical except in very localized areas. But technologies for its extraction and "admixturing" are continuously being refined.

Biodiesel energy is created out of oils contained in plants. So far, the commercial stores of biodiesel are created using soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower oils. At the time of this writing, biodiesel is typically produced by entrepreneurial minded individuals or those who want to experiment with alternative energy, but commercial interest from companies is on the rise. It burns much cleaner than oil-based diesel.

Atomic energy is created in atomic energy plants using the process of nuclear fission. This energy is extremely efficient and can generate huge amounts of power. However there is concern from many people (including yours truly) about what to do with the vast amounts of waste product atomic energy gives off, since it 's radioactive and takes thousands of years to decay into harmlessness. Food for thought....

About the Author

With "over 3300 items" to choose from his gift store and many more from his audio/video store, Elton DeWése (owner/operator) manages one of the best sites on line for Gift ware, Collectibles and Home and Garden décor items.

Gift Store=>http://www.greenlightmerchants.com

Audio/video Store=>http://www.glmstore.com