Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 21, 1992 TAG: 9201210042
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
GASOLINE'S GRIP EASES...SLOWLY
Facing serious air pollution, America is trying to wean its cars from gasoline. The transition toward a cleaner motor fuel won't be quick, but there are signs that gasoline's grip is loosening.For example, President Bush marked the government's purchase of hundreds of alternative fuel vehicles by taking a spin around the White House driveway last week in a van powered by compressed natural gas.
Automakers are not only beginning to produce more such vehicles but also a limited number of cars, vans and small trucks that run on methanol. And within a few years, auto industry officials say, electric cars will come purring out of showrooms.
Alternative-fuel technology "is here today and it's ready to roll," said Claudia Baker, an executive of the energy commission in California, a state that has vigorously pushed substitute motor fuels to help ease its severe air pollution.
Some energy experts and environmentalists predict that more than 2.5 million vehicles powered by fuels other than gasoline will be on American roads by the end of the decade.
California will require as many as 40,000 electric-powered cars to be sold annually in the state by 1998 and five times that many by 2003. Other states, including New York, are on the verge of enacting similar requirements.
New federal clean air rules also call for 150,000 "clean fuel" vehicles to be sold annually in California - and possibly other states - by 1996 and twice that many two years after that. The law also calls for phasing in alternative-fuel fleet vehicles in urban areas with the worst air pollution. At least six states already have incentives or requirements to shift taxicabs, delivery trucks and other fleets away from gasoline or diesel.
Other signs:
In Sacramento, Calif., a Shell service station, in a joint program with Pacific Gas & Electric, offers not only gasoline but also compressed natural gas. It is among 14 natural gas outlets opened by PG&E, primarily for fleet-owned vehicles, in Northern California.
As many as 2,000 methanol-powered Chevrolet Lumina sedans will be shipped for sale in California later this year. General Motors also says it plans to have an electric-powered passenger car in showrooms in about three years.
The federal government this year will receive 3,125 vans and small trucks that run on compressed natural gas or methanol and will order 5,000 more next year. In five years the government hopes that one of every two of the expected 70,000 vehicles it will buy annually will be non-gasoline powered.
Gasoline powered cars and trucks in most urban areas are generally ranked as the single largest source of air pollution, emitting smog-forming hydrocarbons and toxic chemicals. Most alternative fuels produce significantly less pollution from vehicles, although in some cases their production may still have environmental drawbacks that contribute to global warming.
Generally, the widespread use of alternative-fuel vehicles also would reduce America's dependence on petroleum, since two-thirds of the 17 million barrels of oil consumed each day goes to transportation. A barrel equals 42 gallons of oil.