Fuel policy

The world energy crisis of the 1970s, however, spurred interest once again in ethanol as a transportation fuel source. Brazil adopted the widespread production and use of Alcool, hydrated ethanol, and Gasolina a 78 22 ratio blend of gasoline ethanol as a motor fuel. Other countries developed policies to maintain a fuel grade ethanol industry by conversion of biomass. Also, clean air and reformulated fuel policies have helped to promote the use of ethanol as a viable alternative fuel. 

The Report of the Alcohol Fuels Policy Review", U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C., June 1979. 

A PERSPECTIVE ON U.S. SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL POLICY O. KEENER EARLE... 

The management of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) for U.S. submarines is intimately intertwined with the overall spent fuel policy of the U.S. This paper summarizes the current SNF policy for the U.S. from both a historical perspective and the perspective of the key issues that are shaping the policy and its future direction. SNF policy focuses on what is known as the backend of the nuclear fuel cycle - all those components of the cycle after the fuel is removed from a reactor. It also can and does impact the front end of the fuel cycle (the components necessary to produce nuclear fuel for a reactor). 

The U.S. government is responsible for disposition of the SNF and high level waste. Because of the waste issues discussed above and concerns about nuclear proliferation, spent fuel policy is a politically charged issue. It is also inherently tied to the future success or failine of nuclear power as a future energy option for the U.S. 

U.S. spent fuel policy since it forbade DOE from taking title to SNF until a permanent repository was approved for construction (ref 6.2). In fact, private interim storage facilities have been proposed. A utility consortium signed an agreement with a Utah Indian tribe in December 1996 to build a 40,000 MT storage facility in the desert west of Salt Lake City. Proceedings to license the facility are still on-going (ref 6.3). 

Based on this policy, DOE has initiated new programs that could lead to nuclear fuel cycles that significantly reduce the amount and radio toxicity of spent fuel high level waste. If implemented in practice, this would result in a hybrid spent fuel policy, using both deep geologic disposal and full recycle. This policy could possibly extend the lifespan of Yucca Moimtain by many years. This will be discussed in more detail in the next section. 

It should be noted that U.S. submarine spent fuel policy historically continued as full recycle past 1977 until the end of the 1989 when economics essentially was the key driver for reverting to a once-through policy. 

S. C. Ttinda.de and A. V. de Carvalho, "Transportation Fuels Policy Issues and Options The Case of Ethanol Fuels in Brazd" in D. Sperling, ed, Alternative Transportation Fuels, Quorum Books, New York, 1989, pp. 163—185. 

The United States, contrary to California, has never really had an energy policy it continues to sustain petroleum as the primary transportation fuel without effective market intervention. Except for the few "energy crises" that spurred interest in energy policy needs and created a few programs—crises that so far have been quickly forgotten—air quality concerns have carried the banner for fuel policy program needs. 

It is evident that a careful assessment has not been made of lessons already learned from previous alternative fuel policies. Chapter 12 in this volume by McNutt and Rodgers discusses the consequences in the United States of earlier policies that emphasized using certain niche markets. They suggest that current hydrogen programs would have been designed differently if those lessons had been taken into account. The situation in the E.U. is the same hardly any connection to lessons learned in past policies. 

Third, the incremental benefits of hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles to consumers are likely to be very small relative to conventional technology vehicles and fuels. Policies to value the social benefits of hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles will be needed, or at least considered, to stimulate consumer demand enough to achieve the timetable and scale of transition envisioned. 

Fuel Policy Committee, "Report of the Fuel Policy Committee, Government of India, New Delhi, India, 1974. 

National fuel reserves and fuel policy. Hearings, Eighty-second Congress, 1951. ... 

In order to have one idea on the relative use of oil consumption for fuel, and for petrochemicals. Figure 1 is presented. From this, it becomes evident, any modification in the fuel policy will produce important changes in the refining scheme, with the corresponding impact on the process and catalysts. Until recently the refining scheme... 

Yang, Chi-Jen. Belief-Based Energy Technology Development in the United States A Comparative Study of Nuclear Power and Synthetic Fuel Policies. Amherst, N.Y. Cambria Press, 2009. An excellent study of the importance of political clout as well as technological feasibility in explaining energy choices in the American political process. 

Palmer, J.R., 2015. How do policy entrepreneurs influence policy change Framing and boundary work in EU transport bio fuels policy. Environmental Politics 24 (2). 

Caldecott B, Tooze S (2009) Green skies thinking promoting the development and commercialization of sustainable bio-jet fuels, Policy Exchange, research note... 

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