The term alternative fuels first appeared in the energy literature in the late 1970s as a way to refer to nonconventional fuels—fuels that are not gasoline, diesel or aviation fuel. Alternative fuels excludes all fuels refined from petroleum that are normally liquid at ambient conditions, such as gasoline through heavy fuel oil. It does include the highly volatile fractions: liquefied petroleum gas (propane), liquefied natural gas, and compressed natural gas. The category also comprises all fuels made from other fossil fuels, such as coal and oil shale, biofuels originating from plant material, and chemically derived fuels such as methanol and hydrogen. The nonfossil plant-derived fuels such as ethanol and bio-diesel (from vegetable oils), and hydrogen made from water via solar powered electrolysis, are the only renewable energy alternative fuels. Electric vehicles are considered alternative-fuel vehicles since only about 3 percent of electricity...