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Alternative fuel vehicles can play an important role in addressing the challenges of climate change, energy security, urban air pollution and the continued growth in demand for transportation services. The successful commercialization of alternative fuels for vehicles is contingent upon a number of factors, including vehicle cost and performance. Among fuel infrastructure issues, adequate refueling availability is one of the most fundamental to successful commercialization. A commonly cited source reports 164,300 refueling stations in operation nationwide. However, from the perspective of refueling availability, this nationwide count tends to overstate the number of stations required to support the widespread deployment of alternative fuel vehicles. In terms of spatial distribution, the existing gasoline station networks in many urban areas are more than sufficient. We characterize a sufficient level of urban coverage based upon a subset of cities served by relatively low-density station networks, and estimate that some 51,000 urban stations would be required to provide this sufficient level of coverage to all major urban areas, 33 percent less than our estimate of total urban stations. This improved characterization will be useful for engineering, economic and policy analyses.

Alternative fuel vehicles can play an important role in addressing the challenges of climate change, energy security, urban air pollution and the continued growth in demand for transportation services. The successful commercialization of alternative fuels for vehicles is contingent upon a number of factors, including vehicle cost and performance. Among fuel infrastructure issues, adequate refueling availability is one of the most fundamental to successful commercialization. A commonly cited source reports 164,300 refueling stations in operation nationwide. However, from the perspective of refueling availability, this nationwide count tends to overstate the number of stations required to support the widespread deployment of alternative fuel vehicles. In terms of spatial distribution, the existing gasoline station networks in many urban areas are more than sufficient. We characterize a sufficient level of urban coverage based upon a subset of cities served by relatively low-density station networks, and estimate that some 51,000 urban stations would be required to provide this sufficient level of coverage to all major urban areas, 33 percent less than our estimate of total urban stations. This improved characterization will be useful for engineering, economic and policy analyses.

During the first decades of the 20th century, a variety of gasoline refueling methods supported early US gasoline vehicles and successfully alleviated consumer concerns over refueling availability. The refueling methods employed included cans, barrels, home refueling outfits, parking garage refueling facilities, mobile stations, hand carts and curb pumps. Only after robust markets for gasoline vehicles had been firmly established did the gasoline service station become the dominant refueling method. The present study reviews this history and draws analogies with current and future efforts to introduce hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles. These comparisons hold no predictive power; however, there is heuristic value in an historical review of the first successful and large-scale introduction of a vehicle fuel. From an energy policy perspective, these comparisons reinforce the importance of a long-term and portfolio approach to support for technology development and innovation.

During the first decades of the 20th century, a variety of gasoline refueling methods supported early US gasoline vehicles and successfully alleviated consumer concerns over refueling availability. The refueling methods employed included cans, barrels, home refueling outfits, parking garage refueling facilities, mobile stations, hand carts and curb pumps. Only after robust markets for gasoline vehicles had been firmly established did the gasoline service station become the dominant refueling method. The present study reviews this history and draws analogies with current and future efforts to introduce hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles. These comparisons hold no predictive power; however, there is heuristic value in an historical review of the first successful and large-scale introduction of a vehicle fuel. From an energy policy perspective, these comparisons reinforce the importance of a long-term and portfolio approach to support for technology development and innovation.

Tire purchasing and disposal impose considerable cost and waste burdens on private vehicle owners and fleet managers. This research investigates tire maintenance management practices and tire-related vehicle technologies that have the potential to relieve some of these burdens. We investigate behavior, attitudes, and practices of fleet personnel and individual drivers as they relate to tire attributes and technologies. Based on this research, we analyze and recommend critical practices that could improve tire purchasing, tire management, average tire life within existing vehicles in vehicle fleets. We evaluate the tire wear and energy use of various tire technologies and improved fleet tire management and find several fleet practices that offer substantial potential improvements in tire-related energy and waste consequences. Advancements in three particular areas – tire pressure monitoring, nitrogen as a tire inflation medium, and the selection of tires with lower rolling resistance – are commercially available and promising in terms of their potential benefits. Additionally, to demonstrate and empirically test the potential impact of nitrogen as an inflation medium for tires, we deploy several technologies on fleet vehicles, including data acquisition systems for retrieval of information from fleet vehicles and nitrogen inflation equipment at the California Department of General Services vehicle fleet facility. We develop the accompanying experimental design for testing the impact of nitrogen inflation on these fleet vehicles. This experiment is created in such a way that the fleet personnel can undertake the experimental testing and statistically evaluate the impact of nitrogen inflation on their vehicle fleet. From our findings, we develop best practices recommendations, which are meant to serve as a guide for improving tire practices in vehicle fleets.

Tire purchasing and disposal impose considerable cost and waste burdens on private vehicle owners and fleet managers. This research investigates tire maintenance management practices and tire-related vehicle technologies that have the potential to relieve some of these burdens. We investigate behavior, attitudes, and practices of fleet personnel and individual drivers as they relate to tire attributes and technologies. Based on this research, we analyze and recommend critical practices that could improve tire purchasing, tire management, average tire life within existing vehicles in vehicle fleets. We evaluate the tire wear and energy use of various tire technologies and improved fleet tire management and find several fleet practices that offer substantial potential improvements in tire-related energy and waste consequences. Advancements in three particular areas – tire pressure monitoring, nitrogen as a tire inflation medium, and the selection of tires with lower rolling resistance – are commercially available and promising in terms of their potential benefits. Additionally, to demonstrate and empirically test the potential impact of nitrogen as an inflation medium for tires, we deploy several technologies on fleet vehicles, including data acquisition systems for retrieval of information from fleet vehicles and nitrogen inflation equipment at the California Department of General Services vehicle fleet facility. We develop the accompanying experimental design for testing the impact of nitrogen inflation on these fleet vehicles. This experiment is created in such a way that the fleet personnel can undertake the experimental testing and statistically evaluate the impact of nitrogen inflation on their vehicle fleet. From our findings, we develop best practices recommendations, which are meant to serve as a guide for improving tire practices in vehicle fleets.

Innovative technologies are required to offset increasing consumption and declining stocks of non-renewable resources. This study examines a possible enhancement of waste management and transportation by integrating two emerging technologies: municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), by fueling FCVs with hydrogen produced from gasified MSW. Material and energy flows were modeled in four MSW management scenarios (incineration, landfill, gasification, gasification with recycling) and four transportation scenarios (hybrid gasoline-electric, methanol FCVs, hydrogen FCVs using hydrogen from natural gas or municipal solid waste). Technological performance deemed feasible within 2010–2020 was assumed. Greenhouse gas emissions and non-renewable energy use were used to assess overall system performance. Gasification with hydrogen production performs as efficiently as incineration, but is advantageous compared to landfilling. Taking into account additional environmental criteria, the model suggests that hydrogen from MSW gasification for FCVs may provide benefits over conventional MSW treatment and transportation systems., QC 20100415