Increase Production and Availability of Alternative Low-Carbon Fuels

March 3, 2008

Reducing our nation’s dependence on carbon-based fossil fuels requires a dramatic increase in the production and use of bio-based fuels including E85 (85 percent ethanol/15 percent gasoline) and a swift shift to even cleaner cellulosic biofuels and electricity.

To achieve these goals, we propose that low-carbon alternative fuels, including electricity, supply 25 percent of our nation’s transportation fuels by 2025. We propose two measures to ensure these alternative fuels, over their lifecycle of production to consumption, generate fewer greenhouse gas emissions and are sustainably produced: a low-carbon fuel standard to reduce lifecycle emissions from transportation fuels by 10 percent by 2020; and a renewable fuels certification program with transparent sustainability labeling.

To ensure the fueling infrastructure is in place to accommodate this change, we propose a pump-or-plug mandate that requires 15 percent of fuel “pumps” (including dedicated electricity charging stations for plug-in hybrid vehicles) provide low-carbon alternative fuels in any county in the U.S. where 15 percent of vehicles can run on these alternative fuels.

For more information on the Center for American Progress' comprehensive strategy for creating a low-carbon economy, please see:

• Capturing the Energy Opportunity: Creating a Low-Carbon Economy, by John Podesta, Todd Stern, Kit Batten