Fuel efficiency standards

It is important to recognize that short term measures, while essential, will not bring a total solution. While the Bush administration is supporting measures such as hybrid vehicle tax credits, ethanol production, and revisions in fuel efficiency standards, these interim strategies will not ultimately reverse our dependence on foreign oil or address environmental problems as hydrogen can. 

The Plan delays any action to close the SUV loophole or raise fuel efficiency standards proposes a tax credit for hybrid-electric and fuel cell vehicles and takes no action to improve pubhc transit or support smart growth development that would reduce the need to drive. 

Most new gas and oil-fueled furnaces and boilers have similar efficiencies. The range of efficiency has narrowed with the introduction of minimum efficiency standards for new products sold since 1992. New gas and oil heating equipment currently available in the marketplace have /knnual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) ratings of at least 78 to 80 percent. /VFUE is a measure of how efficient a furnace operates on an annual basis and takes into account cycling losses of the furnace or boiler. It does not include the... 

In these calculations, the fuel and combustion air were both at the standard temperature of 25°C. If the temperature of either had been below 25°C, then AllK would have acted to decrease the theoretical flame temperature. If either had been above 25°C, the effect would have been to increase the theoretical flame temperature. One energy conservation technique sometimes used in furnace design is to use waste heat to preheat the combustion air. This has the effect of increasing the theoretical flame temperature, and as will be seen later, increases the fuel efficiency. 

SAE has established a Fuel Cells Standard Forum that is chartered with the establishment of standards and test procedures for fuel cell powered vehicles. The committee was established in 1999. The standards will cover the safety, performance, reliability and recyclability of fuel cell systems in vehicles with emphasis on efficiency and environmental impact. The standards will also establish test procedures for uniformity in test results for the vehicle/systems/components performance, and define interface requirements of the systems to the vehicle. Task Groups have been formed in the areas of safety, performance, reliability, emissions, recyclability, interface and miscellaneous. 

Congress attempted to correct that deficiency and other air pollution problems in a series of amendments to the 1963 act passed in 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1969. The 1965 amendments, for example, authorized the secretary of health, education and welfare to establish nationwide standards for automobile exhaust emissions. This legislation and later amendments also authorized the surgeon general to study the effects of air pollutants on human health, expanded local air quality programs, set compliance deadlines for meeting new air quality standards, established air quality control regions (AQCRs), and authorized research on low emission fuels and more fuel-efficient automobiles. 

Fuel specifications also serve a very valuable service as a means of standardizing fuel properties, which facilitates trade and commerce of that fuel. For example, if each producer were allowed to produce fuels that varied in properties, the chances of vehicle manufacturers producing vehicles with acceptable and uniform performance, driveability, and fuel efficiency would be next to impossible. The fuel distribution system is based on the concept of fuel fiingibility, i.e., the ability to trade fuels within a wide region without fear of problems due to variations in fuel properties. 

Fuel Efficiency Becomes a Key Selling Element/Stiff Emissions Standards Adopted in Several States... 

In contrast to the inaction at the federal level, 20 American states and the District of Columbia require the utilities within their states to use some renewable energy. In addition, 17 states are working on tailpipe emission standards that would force car manufacturers to increase the fuel efficiency of their cars. California and 16 other states want to raise the average mileage in their states to 43 mpg, which new standard would affect half of the automobiles in America. Currently 25 states support mandates for renewable energy and 18 states want to cap industrial carbon emissions. 

Because of this inaction, as of 2002 the fuel economy of the average vehicle on American roads was at its lowest level in two decades and likely to get worse.43 The fuel economy laws have a loophole allowing suvs and light trucks to average 20.7 mpg, 25 percent lower than the standard for new cars. This has allowed overall vehicle efficiency to drop as the suv share of new vehicle sales has grown. Ford, for instance, has backed off a voluntary commitment to increase suv fuel efficiency, and, in fact, its 2003 model year suvs will be less fuel efficient than those of the previous year.44 Moreover, companies known for fuel efficiency, such as Honda and Toyota, both of which have introduced hybrid vehicles into the U.S. market, have also introduced gas-guzzling suvs. 

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