Changes to Consider in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and North American Standard Inspection Procedures to Accommodate Hydrogen as an Alternative Fuel; Final rept

摘要

Today, virtually all commercial trucks are powered by diesel fuel, while private cars are fueled by gasoline. Supported by our National Energy Policy, a new generation of technologies is currently being developed that allow the use of hydrogen as a fuel to power cars and trucks. The purpose of this document is to provide a review of existing Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) with respect to changes that should be considered to accommodate commercial vehicles that use hydrogen as an alternative fuel. In addition, this document also provides a review of the existing North American Standard (NAS) Inspection Procedures and considers changes in those procedures that should be considered for inspections of commercial vehicles using hydrogen as an alternative fuel.