Fuel Economy

The Alternative Fuels Program promotes the State’s energy security and air quality by supporting public and private partnerships that deploy clean-burning alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) and build their associated fueling infrastructure.  The Alternative Fuels Program demonstrates the positive environmental impact, technical feasibility and energy efficiency of domestically produced alternative fuels.  Originally this program was designed to assist state agencies operate more of their fleets on alternative fuels but, through SECO’s innovative thinking and expanded initiatives, schools, local governments and private fleets are now involved.  The Alternative Fuels Program thrives on strong local initiatives and a flexible approach to building alternative fuels markets, providing participants with options to address problems unique to their cities and fostering partnerships to help overcome them.

Surprisingly, given its history with the oil and gasoline industries as the largest petroleum refiner in the U.S, Texas also produces more than three times the natural gas than any other state and boasts the second largest number of alternative fuel vehicles on the road today. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has become a national leader in fleet management for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs).

What Are Alternative Fuels?
Alternative fuels are substantially non petroleum and yield energy security and environmental benefits. As defined by the Energy Policy Act of 1993 (EPAct) DOE currently recognizes the following as alternative fuels:

• Mixtures containing 85% or more by volume of alcohol fuel, including methanol and denatured ethanol
• Natural gas (compressed or liquefied)
• Liquefied petroleum gas (propane)
• Hydrogen
• Coal-derived liquid fuels
• Fuels derived from biological materials
• Electricity (including electricity from solar energy)
• 100% Biodiesel (B100)

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