Transportation Energy Futures Series: Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Expansion: Costs, Resources, Production Capacity, and Retail Availability for Low-Carbon Scenarios

Technical Report · Mon Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1079728· OSTI ID:1079728

Melaina, Marc W. ^[1]; Heath, Garvin ^[1]; Sandor, Debra ^[1]; Steward, Darlene ^[1]; Vimmerstedt, Laura ^[1]; Warner, Ethan ^[1]; Webster, Karen W. ^[1]

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1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Achieving the Department of Energy target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 depends on transportation-related strategies combining technology innovation, market adoption, and changes in consumer behavior. This study examines expanding low-carbon transportation fuel infrastructure to achieve deep GHG emissions reductions, with an emphasis on fuel production facilities andretail components serving light-duty vehicles. Three distinct low-carbon fuel supply scenarios are examined: Portfolio: Successful deployment of a range of advanced vehicle and fuel technologies; Combustion: Market dominance by hybridized internal combustion engine vehicles fueled by advanced biofuels and natural gas; Electrification: Market dominance by electric drive vehicles in the LDVsector, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles, that are fueled by low-carbon electricity and hydrogen. A range of possible low-carbon fuel demand outcomes are explored in terms of the scale and scope of infrastructure expansion requirements and evaluated based on fuel costs, energy resource utilization, fuel production infrastructure expansion, and retailinfrastructure expansion for LDVs. This is one of a series of reports produced as a result of the Transportation Energy Futures (TEF) project, a Department of Energy-sponsored multi-agency project initiated to pinpoint underexplored transportation-related strategies for abating GHGs and reducing petroleum dependence.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308; AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1079728
• Report Number(s): NREL/TP--6A20-55640; DOE/GO--102013-3710
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
TEF
alternative fuels
analysis
business as usual
combustion
electrification
energy
fuels
futures
infrastructure
low-carbon
portfolio
scenario
transportation
transportation energy futures
vehicle