What Is the Potential of Alternative Fossil Fuels?
Petroleum products from conventional crude oil constitute more than 95 percent of all energy used in the U.S. transportation sector. Almost 60 percent of liquid fuels are imported. Moreover, emissions from transportation fuels account for approximately 33 percent of national carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Both high import payments for petroleum motor fuels and concerns about CO2 emissions are spurring interest in possible fuel substitutes. A RAND Corporation report assesses the potential of coal-to-liquids (CTL) fuels and synthetic crude oil produced from Canadian oil sands, comparing the costs of these fuels to conventional petroleum fuels in 2025 and considering the possible impacts on fuel costs from potential future limitations on CO2 emissions. The study also considered local environmental impacts from fuel production and high water demand in production from oil sands. The study found that the alternative sources of fossil fuels have significant economic promise. More specificall
