Assessment of Capital Requirements for Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Under the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles Program

Abstract

An assessment of the capital requirements associated with six different fuels in light-duty vehicles being developed by the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles to achieve tripled fuel economy is presented. The six fuels include two petroleum-based fuels (reformulated gasoline and low-sulfur diesel) and four alternative fuels (methanol, ethanol, dimethyl ether, and hydrogen). Estimates of the cumulative capital needs for establishing fuel production and distribution infrastructure to accommodate the fuel needs of tripled fuel economy (3X) vehicles are developed. Two levels of fuel volume—11 000 m³ (70,000 barrels) per day and 254 000 m³ (1.6 million barrels) per day—were established for meeting 3X-vehicle fuel demand. As expected, infrastructure capital needs for the high fuel demand level are much higher than for the low fuel demand level. Between fuel production infrastructure and distribution infrastructure, capital needs for the former far exceed those for the latter. Among the four alternative fuels, hydrogen bears the largest capital needs for production and distribution infrastructure.