Alternative Fuels for Transportation INTRODUCTION The Research Problem

A heavy dependence on foreign sources for transportation fuels continues to characterize an important component of the supply side of the American energy equation. Further, American reliance on foreign sources for transportation fuels is expected to continue to increase as long as crude oil remains the dominant source of transportation fuels in the United States. Additionally, environmental concerns are expected to be manifested in future demands for a curtailment of the use of crude oil based transportation fuels. The successful introduction of the use of alternative fuels for transportation purposes, however, is likely to be heavily dependent up consumer acceptance. Thus, such factors as the cost of use of an alternative fuel and the characteristics of such fuel with

respect to the operational performance of vehicles in comparison to crude oilbased fuels were important considerations in th

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erious than is indicated by the country's net energy imports, as a proportion of total energy consumption. Petroleum accounts for 42 percent of total United States energy consumption. United States production of petroleum accounts for only 60 percent of the country's petroleum consumption. Net petroleum imports, therefore, account for 15.2 percent of total United States energy consumption, and 40 percent of United States petroleum consumption. Pricing, as opposed to product differentiation, has provided the basis for the competitive strategy of American oil companies. The rapid and significant increase in the world price for crude oil which followed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in the summer of 1990, coupled with the massive increase in profits reported by the major integrated oil companies for the fourth quarter of 1990, in the words of Value Line (1991, p. 401), "aroused journalistic (and consumer) concern about excess profits." The oil companies and their apologists, both within and external to the industry, of course, were quick to deny any connection with higher prices and higher profits. Over the longterm, price changes in crude oil are eventually reflected in consumer prices. It is widely suspected, however, that oil
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2940
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)