Central Coast Clean Cities Coalition (C5)

3940-7 Broad St. #120, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 | 805-781-5912

Emissions for any fuel type fall into two categories: "Tailpipe" emissions are the emissions that result from consuming the fuel in a vehicle or engine. "Lifecycle" emissions describe all the emissions associated with a fuel as it is generated, grown or extracted, refined, distributed and consumed. Electricity, for example, has no tailpipe emissions but most electricity in the US is currently produced by burning fossil fuels. The emissions rated here are tailpipe emissions only as produced by a clean, modern, commercially available vehicle today for any given fuel.

Energy Independence addresses the source of the fuel - is it produced overseas or on US soil? Most fuels come from both within the United States and foreign sources. The energy independence of biofuels depends on whether they can be produced on US soil in quantities that satisfy domestic demand.

Renewable fuels are those which can be produced without depleting natural resources or degrading the environment. Fossil fuels, for example, are not renewable and can are depleted completely. Biofuels are renewable in theory but may require more energy to produce than they contain. Large-scale biofuels production may also have significant environmental inmpacts.

Current Technology described the availability of vehicles, engines, parts, service and maintenance, fuel and fueling infrastructure for a particular fuel today in SLO County and California.

Fuel Types	Fuel	Emissions	Energy Independence	Renewable	Current Technology
Biofuels	Biodiesel (B100)	Good	Good	Maybe	Good
	Vegetable Oil (WVO, SVO)	Fair	Good	Maybe	Fair
	Ethanol	Good	Good	Maybe	Fair
Fossil Fuels	Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)	Excellent	Fair	No	Fair
	Propane (Liquified Petroleum Gas, LPG, LP Autogas)	Good	Fair	No	Fair
	Gasoline*	Fair	Poor	No	Best
	Diesel*	Poor	Poor	No	Excellent
Electricity		Best	Best	Maybe	Poor

*Listed for reference only

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