The encouraging news for Americans is that alternative fuels can be produced domestically, reducing dependency on foreign oil. Moreover, most alternative fuels in discussions today are derived from renewable sources and they contribute much less to air pollution upon combustion. The federal government is doing the right thing by offering tax-incentives to consumers for buying alternative fuel vehicles. There are a range of prototypes of these vehicles, each using a particular fuel type. In a gist, these vehicles can use the following alternative fuels for their engines
“Ethanol is produced domestically from corn and other crops and produces less greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels. Biodiesel is derived from vegetable oils and animal fats. It usually produces less air pollutants than petroleum-based diesel. Natural gas is a fossil fuel that generates less air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Propane, also called liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), is a domestically abundant fossil fuel that generates less greenhouse gases. Hydrogen can be produced domestically from fossil fuels (such as coal), nuclear power or renewable resources, such as hydropower. Fuel cell vehicles powered by pure hydrogen emit no harmful air pollutants.” (Daily Herald, 2009,p.6)
The leading fuels for vehicles today are gasoline and diesel, which are both hydrocarbons. It is heartening to learn that new technologies have been invented to convert coal into liquid fuel, by combining its hydrogen and carbon content. The resulting liquid fuel would be comparable in properties to that of methane, ethane, butane and propane. Other possible hydrocarbon outcomes for coal include pentane, hexane, heptane, etc. Not all of these are suitable for internal-combustion engines as they exist today; some of them are not eco friendly as well. The costs likely to be incurred in this conversion process is also a tad high. But the biggest incentive to extracting oil from coal is to reduce dependency on crude oil sources in the Middle East, as well as switching to a more sustainable model of energy consumption. There is an economic incentive as well, as lesser demand for crude oil will bring its prices down, thereby enabling its reach to consumers from low socio-economic bracket. (Hiserodt, 2008, p.17)
The American government’s efforts to promote alternative fuels should be lauded. This is especially true with respect to ethanol consumption. Tax-incentives and other encouragements have been provided in the last few decades. For example,
“After 1978, U.S. energy policy sought to encourage ethanol production to reduce dependence on foreign oil. Federal and state incentives have been credited with increasing ethanol production from 175 million gallons in 1980 to 6.8 billion gallons in 2007. Between 1978 and 2004, the size of the exemption varied from $0.40 to $0.60 per gallon of pure ethanol. The Energy Act of 2005 restructured federal tax incentives for ethanol production to include three income tax credits and one excise tax credit. The Internal Revenue Code contains three income tax credits designed to encourage ethanol use: the alcohol mixture credit, the pure alcohol credit, and the small ethanol producer’s credit. The credits, together with other subsidies, come close to making the price of ethanol competitive with petroleum-based fuels.” (Mann & Hymel, 2008, p.45)
It is believed by experts that ethanol use has the potential to reduce foreign fossil-fuel dependency as well as helping preserve the environment. The government has prudently devised tax incentives to “encourage conservation and discourage driving may be a better way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and oil dependency.” (Mann & Hymel, 2008, p.45) Hence Americans should avail of tax concessions given to them and switch to alternative fuels for their vehicles. At a time when Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) are all the rage despite consuming copious quantities of gasoline per kilometer travelled, Americans would do well to support government energy policies. In this case, supporting would entail making concerted efforts to make ethanol-driven vehicles a practical reality. (Mann & Hymel, 2008, p.45)