Alternatives to Diesel Fuel in California - Fuel Cycle Energy and Emission Effects of Possible Replacements Due to the TAC Diesel Particulate Decision

Limitations on petroleum-based diesel fuel in California could occur pursuant to the 1998 declaration by California's Air Resources Board (CARB) that the particulate matter component of diesel exhaust is a carcinogen, therefore a toxic air contaminant (TAC) subject to the state's Proposition 65. It is the declared intention of CARB not to ban or restrict diesel fuel, per se, at this time. Assuming no total ban, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) explored two feasible ''mid-course'' strategies, each of which results in some degree of (conventional) diesel displacement. In the first case, with substantial displacement of compression ignition by spark ignition engines, diesel fuel is assumed admissible for ignition assistance as a pilot fuel in natural gas (NG)-powered heavy-duty vehicles. Gasoline demand in California increases by 32.2 million liters (8.5 million gallons) per day overall, about 21 percent above projected 2010 baseline demand. Natural gas demand increases by 13.6 million diesel liter (3.6 million gallon) equivalents per day, about 7 percent above projected (total) consumption level. In the second case, ressionignition engines utilize substitutes for petroleum-based diesel having similar ignition and performance properties. For each case we estimated localized air emission plus generalized greenhouse gas and energy changes. Fuel replacement by di-methyl ether yields the greatest overall reduction in NOx emissions, though all scenarios bring about PM10 reductions relative to the 2010 baseline, with greatest reductions from the first case described above and the least from fuel replacement by Fischer-Tropsch synthetic diesel. Economic implications of vehicle and engine replacement were not formally evaluated