United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-07-10 monographic deposited born digital 9 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-957T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-957T P0b002ee180389b94 f:d01957t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-957T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-957T GAO-01-957T Fuel taxes Gasoline Motor vehicles Petroleum products Alternative energy sources Energy costs Tax credit Energy consumption Testimony A01371 The transportation sector accounts for the bulk of the petroleum consumption in the U.S., currently representing about two thirds of total petroleum use and roughly a quarter of the nation's total energy consumption. A number of measures have been taken over the past 25 years either to reduce petroleum consumption or to increase fuel diversity in the transportation sector, including tax incentives, mandates for alternative fuel vehicles, and laws to promote automobile fuel efficiency. This testimony discusses the extent of alternative fuel vehicle acquisition and fuel use, some of the barriers inhibiting greater use of alternative fuels and vehicles, and the federal tax incentives used to promote the use of alternative motor fuels and vehicles. So far, based on GAO's studies and the Energy Information Administration's statistics, alternative fuels and vehicles have not made much of a dent in the conventional fuel and vehicle dominance of the U.S. vehicle fleet, primarily because of fundamental economic obstacles such as the relatively low price of oil, insufficient availability of alternative fuel refueling infrastructure, and the relatively high cost of certain alternative fuel vehicles. As GAO reported in its February 2000 report, any significant increase in the use of alternative motor fuels and vehicles by the general public will depend on two main factors (1) a dramatic and sustained increase in the price of gasoline and (2) very large incentives, far above the current levels, to reduce the cost of using alternative fuels and vehicles. Depending on what happens to conventional fuel prices, these incentives would likely need to be maintained for some time--at least until the number of vehicles reaches the level necessary to support an economically sustainable infrastructure. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-957T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-957T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-957T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-957T.pdf GAO-01-957T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-957T Testimony GAO-01-957T; Alternative Motor Fuels and Vehicles: Impact on the Transportation Sector; Fuel taxes Gasoline Motor vehicles Petroleum products Alternative energy sources Energy costs Tax credit Energy consumption