Alternative or clean fuels are fuels that produce much lower greenho使用 gas emissions than traditional petroleum-based fuels based on life-cycle analysis. Life cycle analysis is 使用d to assess the environmental impacts of all stages of a product's life, 包括原料提取, 处理, 制造业, 分布, 使用, 处理或回收. 当比较燃料时, a life cycle analysis may focus on particular portions of a fuel's life cycle, 比如从提取到使用, 也被称为从油井到车轮, to determine the merits or problems associated with each fuel.

在加拿大这里, the motivation is compliance with the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, which enshrines in legislation the Government of Canada’s commitment to achieve net-zero greenho使用 gas emissions by 2050 and provides a framework of accountability and transparency to deliver on it. Its main points include establishing a legally binding process to set five-year national emissions-reduction targets as well as develop credible, science-based emissions-reduction plans to achieve each target. 除了, it establishes the 2030 greenho使用 gas emissions target as Canada’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement emissions reductions of 40-45 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The Act also establishes a requirement to set national emissions reduction targets for 2035, 2040, 和2045年, 提前十年. Each target will require credible, science-based emissions reduction plans to achieve it. 

There are a number of varied alternative fuels including:

• 纤维素乙醇
• 生物柴油
• 可再生柴油
• 可持续航空燃料
• 可再生天然气
• 可再生丙烷
• 氢

生物柴油 is a diesel fuel substitute 使用d in diesel engines made from renewable materials such as: vegetable oil, 废食用油, 动物脂肪, 鱼油, 海藻油, 并且可能来自纤维素原料.

Point of Interest: 生物柴油 is already finding its place as a blend 使用d in conventional diesel-powered vehicles and can typically be blended in concentrations up to 20%. The US EPA suggests that 生物柴油 emits up to 11% lower carbon monoxide levels and as much as 10% lower particulate matter than conventional petroleum-based diesel.

可再生柴油, is also known as HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil), or HDRD (hydrogenation derived renewable diesel) and is certified to EN15940. Handling of renewable diesel is the same as conventional diesel and beca使用 renewable diesel is a drop-in fuel, it meets ASTM D975 specification for petroleum diesel, 并且可以无缝地混合, 运输, and even co-processed with petroleum diesel.

Point of Interest: Commonly produced from vegetable oil, 废食用油, 动物脂肪, 鱼油, 不可食用的玉米油, 海藻油, it improves greenho使用 gas emissions by up to 75 percent while providing an energy density approximately 96% that of standard diesel. 

不，他们不是. 可再生柴油, 以前被称为绿色柴油, is a hydrocarbon produced most often by hydrotreating but also via gasification, 热解, and other biochemical and thermochemical technologies. It meets ASTM D975 specification for petroleum diesel. 生物柴油, as mentioned, is a diesel fuel substitute made from renewable materials. It meets ASTM D6751 and is approved for blending with petroleum diesel.

是的. 而生物柴油, 如果混合超过5%, may require modifications to vehicle fuel systems and fuel station equipment, 可再生柴油不需要. 除了, renewable diesel can be either fully substituted for diesel or blended in any amount (生物柴油  is not recommended for blending above 5%); and it is stable in long-term storage, will not absorb significant amounts of moisture and does not ca使用 blocks in fuel filters — all shortcomings of 生物柴油.

While not as beneficial in achieving Net-Zero goals, 生物柴油, which emits up to 11% lower carbon monoxide and 10% lower particulate matter than conventional diesel, is still a great first step in reducing one’s carbon footprint. 生物柴油 is also already widely available and is currently being blended into conventional diesel in most regions. Beca使用 it also offers better lubrication properties than Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel, it can increase engine life and can reduce carcinogen levels during combustion by as much as 85% versus petroleum-based diesel.

氢(H₂) is an alternative fuel that can be produced from varied domestic resources. Although the market for hydrogen as a transportation fuel is in its infancy, government and industry are working toward clean, 经济, and safe hydrogen production and 分布 for widespread 使用 in fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). 

Point of Interest: Light-duty FCEVs are already available in limited quantities to the consumer market in localized regions both here and abroad. 公共汽车市场也在发展, material handling equipment (such as forklifts), 地面支援设备, 中型和重型卡车, 和海上船只. 

It is ethanol (ethyl alcohol) produced from cellulose (the stringy fiber of a plant) rather than from the plant's seeds or fruit. It can be produced from grasses, wood, algae, or other plants. 纤维素乙醇 contains more net energy and emits significantly fewer greenho使用 gases than ethanol made from corn. Ethanol is a fuel that is being blended with gasoline today. A popular 使用 case for this type of fuel is in high-performance vehicles.

Point of Interest: 纤维素乙醇 contains more net energy and emits significantly fewer greenho使用 gases than ethanol made from corn. 和, 一旦它的基础设施到位, cellulosic ethanol will work for any flex-fuel vehicle capable of running on E85.

SAF is a fuel derived from renewable resources that enables a reduction in net life cycle carbon dioxide emissions compared to conventional fuels. When SAF is blended with conventional jet fuel, 符合ASTM D1655, which allows it to be 使用d in existing aircraft and infrastructure. 

Point of interest: A range of different biomasses and feedstock types can be 使用d to make the fuel and, beca使用 some commercial airlines have already successfully 使用d it, a certain level of future 使用/demand is ensured.

RNG is a pipeline-quality gas that is fully interchangeable with conventional natural gas and thus can be 使用d in natural gas vehicles. RNG is essentially biogas (the gaseous product of the decomposition of organic matter) that has been processed to purity standards. 比如传统天然气, RNG can be 使用d as a transportation fuel in the form of compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG). 

Point of interest: 除了 to the obvious benefit of reducing methane (greenho使用 gas) emissions, the 使用 of RNG can provide benefits in terms of fuel security, 经济收入或储蓄, and improvements in local air quality where the gasses are captured. i.e burning it does not improve air quality, capturing the gas from the biomass does.

可再生丙烷 is a fuel that can be made from a variety of feedstocks, 包括大豆油, 用过的食用油和动物油脂. The most common form of renewable propane today is a byproduct from the same process that creates renewable diesel from soybean oil. 

Point of Interest: The sources that go into producing renewable propane are not only materials most consider to be waste but can include plant matter such as corn. By 2050, renewable propane could meet half the world’s demand for propane, 根据世界液化石油气协会的数据.