The Open Fuel Standard Coalition is a

bipartisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing Political party, politica ...

group in the United States actively working for passage of H.R. 1687, the "

Open Fuel Standard Act of 2011 Open Fuel Standard Act of 2011 () was a bill in the United States House of Representatives that would have required that a certain portion of light-passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. be alternative fueling vehicles capable of running on something ...

." The OFS Coalition views this legislation as the solution to the current

energy crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant Bottleneck (production), bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particu ...

by the implementing of alternative energy sources into our fuel transportation market sector, thereby breaking our dependence on

foreign oil United States energy independence is the concept of eliminating or substantially reducing import of petroleum to satisfy the nation's need for energy. Some proposals for achieving energy independence would permit imports from the neighborin ...

. Specifically, by implementing H.R. 1687, the

all vehicles sold in the US will have to either operate on mixed fuels, containing 85 percent ethanol,

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical compound and the simplest aliphatic Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with the chemical formula (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often ab ...

biodiesel Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel, derived from biological sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases, and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made from fats. The roots of bi ...

, or any other alternative energy source.

Purpose

The open fuel standard will create incentive to promote and invest in the emerging market of

ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...

, and any other alternative fuel. Vehicles with these alternative fuel engines will re-energize our economy and create new jobs here in the U.S. Comparatively, mixed fuels produce less

carbon emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

as well as beating the price of oil three to one. The technology and resources are already available for flex-fuel cars, but the availability and access to pumps is scarce. By manufacturing flex-fuel cars, gas stations can create new revenue by adding mixed fuel pumps that offer low cost alternative to gasoline. However, the first step is allowing a demand by opening up the market to producing more

flex fuel A flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) or dual-fuel vehicle (colloquially called a flex-fuel vehicle) is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol o ...

and alternative fueled cars. Our foreign competitors, including

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

have already successfully implemented similar regulations on auto industries selling cars in their countries resulting in tremendous success and new manufacturing plants in both China and Brazil. The U.S. cannot stay competitive as we fall behind in the investments of alternative energy and auto industries take their business abroad.

Goal

The goal of the OFS coalition is to pass H.R. 1687, the "

" in the

112th United States Congress The 112th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 17 ...

and generate pressures on the administration and federal departments to take further action. The OFS Coalition is assisting in providing information about the open fuel standard in an effort to educate Members of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

, while successfully engaging with various groups to promote the tactical purposes of the open fuel standard and draw attention and support of key Members of Congress.
A web site
has been created by the Open Fuel Standard Coalition to help keep interested parties informed about the Open Fuel Standard Act. The purpose o
OpenFuelStandard.org
is to provide information to citizens who want to help the Open Fuel Standard Act become law. ::1. Practical actions you can take that will help pass the Open Fuel Standard Act of 2011. ::2. Information to further educate you on the Open Fuel Standard. ::3. Posts you can forward to your friends and family to educate them about the Open Fuel Standard.

Reasons for the Open Fuel Standard

:1. Save money. It will bring down gas prices at the pump. The main reason gas is so expensive is that

OPEC The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize Profit (eco ...

deliberately lowers its production to raise the price of

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

, and we have no real fuel choice at the pump. It is all made of oil. So when OPEC reduces its production and makes oil more expensive, we have no other choice — we must pay it. OPEC knows this, and takes advantage of its leverage. Fuel choice at the pump will be the end of a long-running monopoly. :2. Healthier. The fumes from burning alcohol and other alternatives are less

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

than the fumes from burning gasoline — considerably less toxic to humans and other living things. :3. Better economy. It will generate jobs in the United States. Americans will be building fuel-processing plants, fuel stations, growing the

raw materials A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials/Intermediate goods that are feedstock for future finished ...

to make methanol from

biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...

, growing crops to make ethanol, inventing new kinds of other alternative fuels, and coming up with new ways to make fuel from

waste products Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste product may beco ...

. American ingenuity will have a field day. :4. Safer. Alcohol is less

flammable A combustible material is a material that can burn (i.e., sustain a flame) in air under certain conditions. A material is flammable if it ignites easily at ambient temperatures. In other words, a combustible material ignites with some effort ...

than gasoline, and therefore less dangerous (less likely to explode). Alcohol burns cooler than gasoline, too, which also makes it less dangerous. :5. Cooler. Alcohol fuels will put less

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

into the air. To drill for oil, you're taking carbon out from underneath the surface of the earth and burning it, adding carbon to the air that wasn't already there. But to make ethanol and methanol, you use plant material. So the plant pulls carbon out of the air, and then when it is burned as fuel, it returns the same carbon back into the air. :6. Expensive. Manufacturing a car with flex-fuel capability adds to the price of a car. It comprises many relatively small tweaks, usually adding around one hundred dollars to the cost (not the price) of a new car. Typically, it requires all metal components within the fuel system to be changed to stainless steel and all hoses and o-rings require the substitution of specialist ethanol and methanol-resistant fluoroelastomers :7. Cheaper. It doesn't cost the federal government any money. :8. Environmentally friendly. An "alcohol spill" would not be a disaster like an oil spill. Alcohol dissolves in water and is readily consumed by bacteria. Within a few days of an Exxon-sized ethanol or methanol spill, the ocean would be back to normal. :9. Security. The fuel competition at the pump will reduce the amount of money going to regimes hostile to America (and hostile to their own populations). These regimes are dangerous for the world, and their enormous revenues give them power and influence around the world. Democracies would be better off if those regimes didn't have their inexhaustible wealth to wield.{{cite journal, last=Korin, first=Anne, author2=Gal Luft, title=Energy Independaence Myths and Solutions, date=2011-07-07, url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/56347979/Energy-Independence-Myths-and-Solutions :10. Freedom. The bill requires 95 percent of cars to be capable of burning any alternative fuel by 2017, leaving the choice up to the automaker. Because the Open Fuel Standard Act of 2011 does not pick a winner, every alternative fuel can compete against gasoline, thereby allowing consumer choice. Cars could be

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

, bio-diesel, or any other non-gasoline alternative and qualify under the Act. This is the only technology-neutral bill, meaning that it doesn't favor any particular option and allows the market to decide which innovative solution will win out.

References

Sustainable energy Political organizations based in the United States