Gasoline and diesel are the number one air pollutants. Fuel additives and tailpipe emissions have been linked to a wide range of health problems, including cardiovascular disease and cancer, and is linked to 6 million deaths per year.
We don’t need to wait to fix the air pollution problem. The U.S. already has the resources necessary to transition to cheaper, cleaner, American-made fuels for our transportation needs. Learn about the benefits of ethanol, methanol, natural gas and electricity and how they can help clean the air we breathe, today:
Ethanol:
The American Lung Association has named E85 as an official “Clean Air Choice” because it reduces tailpipe emission of nitrogen oxides, VOCs and particulates by 10-20%.
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- Ethanol can reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 85%.
- Ethanol reduces tailpipe carbon monoxide emissions by as much as 30%, toxics content by 13% (mass) and 21% (potency), and tailpipe fine particulate matter (PM) emissions by 50%.
- Using ethanol in place of gasoline helps to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by up to 30-50%.
- The American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago credits ethanol-blended gasoline with reducing smog-forming emissions by 25% since 1990.
- Ethanol will eliminate the need to add the toxic octane enhancers to gasoline called BTX, which is more than 20 percent of the volume of fuel today.
- Ethanol will enable cleaner-burning, higher-compression engines which will get much higher miles per carbon (and per dollar).
- Ethanol can be produced from a variety of feedstocks, many of which are renewable.
Methanol:
Methanol is naturally biodegradable with a very short half-life. A methanol spill wouldn’t require expensive lawsuits or a “super fund” effort to clean it up. Read about a methanol spill you probably didn’t hear about.
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- Methanol emits fewer pollutants and burns cleaner than gasoline.
- Methanol does not need to be refined. Methanol is created with a simple chemical process called gasification, which does not have the byproducts of petroleum refinery and can be done in almost any scale.
- Methanol is a low-carbon, high-octane, oxygenated fuel which combusts at a lower temperature than gasoline, resulting in a fraction of NOx, CO and particulate emissions.
- Methanol can be produced from an array of abundant, renewable feedstocks.
- Methanol will eliminate the need to add the toxic octane enhancers to gasoline called BTX, which is more than 20 percent of the volume of fuel today.
- Methanol will enable cleaner-burning, higher-compression engines which will get much higher miles per carbon (and per dollar).
- Methanol is versatile and can also be added to diesel trucks.
- Methanol can be produced from a variety of feedstocks, many of which are renewable.
Natural Gas:
Natural gas burns cleaner than gasoline, reducing urban smog and the associated health effects. According to EPA, the Honda Civic CNG is rated the nation’s greenest car and has cleanest internal combustion engine.
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- Natural gas reduces carbon monoxide emissions by 70-90%.
- The main products of the combustion of natural gas are carbon dioxide and water vapor, the same molecules we exhale when we breathe.
- Use of natural gas helps mitigate environmental issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, air quality and acid rain.
Electricity:
Hybrid vehicles can reduce smog pollution by 90% or more in comparison to the cleanest conventional vehicles.
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- Zero to very low vehicle emissions help to improve air quality in cities and large metropolitan areas.
- Hybrids and electric vehicles reduce the demand for greenhouse gas-intensive oil extraction.
- Electricity will cut CO2 emissions by up to half.
