According to the US Energy Information Association, there were more than 600,000 alternative fueled vehicles (AFVs) in operation in the US in 2006. The US Government has been keeping track of how many AFVs there are in each state for years. They have also been breaking their count down by some of the major alternative fuels used. But they may have missed counting that many or more.
Unfortunately, their numbers are based on a very small number of actual surveys completed and a very large dose of mathematical extrapolation. They also do not cover all the major alternative fuel groups, and certainly do not get down to the fuel subgroup level.
Whether or not they're ever going to be able to get a fairly accurate count is anyone's guess, but it is an important goal to aim at for several reasons. As the petroleum economy is breaking down, spotting it's successor, or successors and setting up the infrastructures to support them will have huge economic implications.
On a personal level, many people who are sitting on the fence waiting to see what kind of alternative fuel will be the winner could be actually helping to find the next fuel now. It's hard to blame them for their indecision though.
There are three major categories of alternative fuels in use now, biofuels, electric power and hydrogen power. Each of these categories has products and applications in several subcategories. There are electric battery cars vs. plug in hybrids, for example, hydrogen fuel cell vs HHO on demand and biodiesel vs ethanol. You can break some of these down further still. Biodiesel is made from a number of different sources including waste vegetable oil (wvo), corn sugar cane or soybeans. New biodiesel fuels are also being made from algae.
Then there's the difficulty of tracking just who is converting their vehicles and how. The EIA has surveyed private fleet owners, quasi-government and local, state and national government bodies to get the basis for their calculations. However, there are plenty of automakers, large and small, around the world coming out with different variations of all these cars as well.
Then there are the individuals who are taking matters into their own hands and converting their vehicles themselves. Individuals have produced hybrid cars and vehicles running completely on all of these alternative fuel sources. One company that sells the instructions and maintains a worldwide support group for people doing their own HHO fuel conversion reported that more than 11,000 people bought their product last year. A couple of their competitors claimed sales of about half their figures.
Similar companies exist and sell plans, parts lists, and instructions for converting a car to run on electric power (mostly of the plugin variety). Books and instructions on how to build biodiesel kits and recipes for growing algae biodiesel also are easy to find online.
None of these companies has yet disclosed any sales figures, but their fuels represent much larger pieces of the alternative fuel market. The EIA report for 2006 included less than 200 hydrogen fueled vehicles.
The size of this individually produced marketplace of AFVs may never be officially counted or calculated. However, it's clear that the shift from petroleum to the next generation of fuels has already gathered a lot of momentum. It's also clear that individuals from around the world are not waiting for big automakers, or their governments, to decide what fuels they should use.
Liz Micik is a 28 year marketing veteran and freelance writer. At WeMakeHybrids.com she shares stories and videos of the alternative fueled vehicles [http://wemakehybrids.com/alternative-fuel-vehicles-afvs/alternative-fueled-vehicles-afv-our-collective-name] (AFVs) being built by ordinary people and small companies around the globe. She invites you to share your story, or use the stories of others and the resources the site provides to build your own alternative fuel success story.
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