Cars, trucks, buses, and other vehicles use 62 percent of the petroleum consumed in California - which makes transportation especially vulnerable to interruptions in oil supply. To protect economic and political stability, it is crucial to find ways to reduce California's dependence on oil. Coal-derived fuels are often suggested as viable alternative fuels for transportation. This paper summarizes the results of a study to investigate the technical, environmental, and economic viability of using coal-derived fuels for transportation. Since nearly all of California's major urban areas have pollution problems, emphasis is placed on those options which are capable of achieving low exhaust emissions. A broad range of fuels are considered, including solids, gases, and liquids. Methanol, used in heavy-duty engines designed for this fuel, meets California's environmental, economic, and technical requirements for clean coal fuels. The combination has lower exhaust emissions than conventional Diesels - smoke is eliminated and NOx and CO emissions are reduced. Further, thermal efficiencies comparable or exceeding conventional Diesels are possible. A demonstration of this new technology is now underway. Transit buses will be purchased with the objective of demonstrating alternative methanol engine designs. Economic viability in transit operations will be established.
Methanol-fueled transit bus demonstration
Vorfuehrung methanolbetriebener Transitbusse
ASME-Papers ; 1-9
1983
9 Seiten, 4 Bilder, 3 Tabellen, 27 Quellen
Conference paper
English
Californias Experience with Methanol-Fueled Transit Buses
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