[PDF] Reducing Gasoline Consumption Three Policy Options eBook

Author : Terry Dinan
Publisher : Nova Biomedical Books
Page : 86 pages
File Size : 13,42 MB
Release : 2003
Category : Nature
ISBN :

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Several Members of Congress and public interest groups have recently proposed policies that would reduce gasoline consumption in the United States. Such proposals stem primarily from a desire to enhance the nation's energy security and to decrease its emissions of carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas that affects the Earth's climate. This book compares three methods of reducing gasoline consumption: increasing the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards that govern passenger vehicles, raising the federal tax on gasoline, and setting a limit on carbon emissions from gasoline combustion and requiring gasoline producers to hold allowances for those emissions (a policy known as a cap-and-trade program). Also, the book weighs the relative merits of those policies against several major criteria: whether they would minimise costs to producers and consumers; how reliably they would achieve a given reduction in gasoline use; their implications for automobile safety; and their effects on such factors as traffic congestion, requirements for highway construction, and emissions of air pollutants other than carbon dioxide. In addition, the book examines two more policy implications that lawmakers may be concerned about: the impact on people at different income levels and in different regions, and the effects on federal revenue.

Author : Terry Dinan
Publisher : Congressional Budget Office
Page : 56 pages
File Size : 44,40 MB
Release : 2002
Category : Political Science
ISBN :

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Compares 3 methods of reducing gasoline comsumption in the United States: setting higher Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for passenger vehicles; raising the Federal tax on gasoline; and setting a limit on carbon emissions from gasoline combustion and requiring gasoline producers to hold allowances for those emissions, known as a cap-and-trade program.

Author :
Publisher :
Page : 46 pages
File Size : 24,56 MB
Release : 2002
Category :
ISBN :

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Lawmakers concerned about the United States' dependence on foreign oil and its emissions of carbon dioxide-a key greenhouse gas-have proposed raising the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards that govern cars and light-duty trucks. Improving the fuel efficiency of vehicles would reduce gasoline consumption. Another way to lower gasoline consumption is to raise the price of gasoline. Lawmakers could do that directly by Increasing the federal tax on gasoline. They could also do it indirectly by setting a limit on total carbon emissions from gasoline combustion and requiring gasoline producers to hold rights (or allowances) for those emissions, which they could buy and sell among themselves after an Initial allocation. That policy is known as a cap-and-trade program.

Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 251 pages
File Size : 12,80 MB
Release : 2010-07-30
Category : Science
ISBN : 0309159474

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Technologies and Approaches to Reducing the Fuel Consumption of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles evaluates various technologies and methods that could improve the fuel economy of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, such as tractor-trailers, transit buses, and work trucks. The book also recommends approaches that federal agencies could use to regulate these vehicles' fuel consumption. Currently there are no fuel consumption standards for such vehicles, which account for about 26 percent of the transportation fuel used in the U.S. The miles-per-gallon measure used to regulate the fuel economy of passenger cars. is not appropriate for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, which are designed above all to carry loads efficiently. Instead, any regulation of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles should use a metric that reflects the efficiency with which a vehicle moves goods or passengers, such as gallons per ton-mile, a unit that reflects the amount of fuel a vehicle would use to carry a ton of goods one mile. This is called load-specific fuel consumption (LSFC). The book estimates the improvements that various technologies could achieve over the next decade in seven vehicle types. For example, using advanced diesel engines in tractor-trailers could lower their fuel consumption by up to 20 percent by 2020, and improved aerodynamics could yield an 11 percent reduction. Hybrid powertrains could lower the fuel consumption of vehicles that stop frequently, such as garbage trucks and transit buses, by as much 35 percent in the same time frame.

Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 395 pages
File Size : 43,4 MB
Release : 2013-04-14
Category : Science
ISBN : 0309268524

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For a century, almost all light-duty vehicles (LDVs) have been powered by internal combustion engines operating on petroleum fuels. Energy security concerns about petroleum imports and the effect of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on global climate are driving interest in alternatives. Transitions to Alternative Vehicles and Fuels assesses the potential for reducing petroleum consumption and GHG emissions by 80 percent across the U.S. LDV fleet by 2050, relative to 2005. This report examines the current capability and estimated future performance and costs for each vehicle type and non-petroleum-based fuel technology as options that could significantly contribute to these goals. By analyzing scenarios that combine various fuel and vehicle pathways, the report also identifies barriers to implementation of these technologies and suggests policies to achieve the desired reductions. Several scenarios are promising, but strong, and effective policies such as research and development, subsidies, energy taxes, or regulations will be necessary to overcome barriers, such as cost and consumer choice.

Author : Lawrence Goulder
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 354 pages
File Size : 47,65 MB
Release : 2017-12-26
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0231545932

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Without significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, climate change will cause substantial damage to the environment and the economy. The scope of the threat demands a close look at the policies capable of reducing the harm. Confronting the Climate Challenge presents a unique framework for evaluating the impacts of a range of U.S. climate-policy options, both for the economy overall and for particular household groups, industries, and regions. Lawrence Goulder and Marc Hafstead focus on four alternative approaches for reducing carbon dioxide emissions: a revenue-neutral carbon tax, a cap-and-trade program, a clean energy standard, and an increase in the federal gasoline tax. They demonstrate that these policies—if designed correctly—not only can achieve emissions reductions at low cost but also can avoid placing undesirable burdens on low-income household groups or especially vulnerable industries. Goulder and Hafstead apply a multiperiod, economy-wide general equilibrium model that is distinct in its attention to investment dynamics and to interactions between climate policy and the tax system. Exploiting the unique features of the model, they contrast the shorter- and longer-term policy impacts and focus on alternative ways of feeding back—or “recycling”—policy-generated revenues to the private sector. Their work shows how careful policy design, including the judicious use of policy-generated revenues, can achieve desired reductions in carbon dioxide emissions at low cost, avoid uneven impacts across household income groups, and prevent losses of profit in the most vulnerable U.S. industries. The urgency of the climate problem demands comprehensive action, and Confronting the Climate Challenge offers important insights that can help elevate policy discussions and spur needed efforts on the climate front.