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In the past decade, a significant market has emerged for automotive fuels produced from renewable sources. Blends containing low concentrations of ethanol have been the readily-available choice for providing renewable content in gasoline fuels. The simple addition of ethanol to gasoline significantly increases the mixture's vapor pressure, which can promote higher vehicle evaporative emissions. Gasoline specifications and blending practices have been updated to help offset the increase to vapor pressure and evaporative emissions. However, recent studies have shown that even at reduced vapor pressure, ethanol can increase gasoline evaporative emissions by enhancing the permeation of hydrocarbons through the elastomeric materials found in vehicle fuel systems. Technology is currently in development that will allow for the production of isobutanol from renewable sources.

The Coordinating Research Council (CRC), California Air Resources Board (ARB), and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality sponsored a program to evaluate the effects of air conditioning (AC) operation on vehicle emissions and fuel economy. Phase 1 of this work measured the effect of AC use with vehicles operated over several standard driving cycles and verified results previously obtained by other investigators. Phase 2 provided a better understanding of the effects of the interactions between ambient conditions (solar load, temperature, and humidity) and AC operation on emissions and fuel economy. The Phase 2 program also verified results of Phase 1 by using a different population of vehicles. The program results demonstrated that AC operation had a substantial impact on emissions and fuel consumption. Operation of the vehicle AC system over a range of environmental conditions resulted in consistent increases in vehicle emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO).

The E-35 “Running Loss” program was planned in the fall of 1996, and conducted in the summer of 1997, as the third part of a series of Coordinating Research Council (CRC) sponsored evaporative emission test programs. One hundred and fifty vehicles (half cars - half light duty trucks) were recruited at a local I/M lane, and tested for running loss emissions at the ATL Facility in Mesa, AZ. The previous CRC programs had studied hot soak, and then diurnal emissions. Running loss emissions were measured in a Running Loss SHED (RL-SHED) for a 25 minute, 7.5 mile trip on a hot summer day (95°F). Vehicles from model years 1971 through 1991 were tested. A wide range in emission levels was observed - from a low of 0.13 g/mile to 43 g/mile. The test results were not able to establish whether car emissions are different, or the same, as light duty trucks. The major causes of the high emissions were liquid leaks on carburetor equipped models.