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A public opinion survey from June 2016 posed this question:

Consider a future date when gasoline is no longer available. Which of the following do you think would be the BEST fuel for use in personal vehicles? Would you say natural gas, electricity, ethanol, or hydrogen?

Electricity was chosen by 43% of the respondents as the best fuel for use in personal vehicles, while natural gas was chosen by 24%. Hydrogen and ethanol were each chosen by 15% of respondents or less. The same respondents were also given those four fuel choices and asked which they felt would be the worst fuel for use in personal vehicles when gasoline is no longer available. Natural gas and ethanol were both chosen by 26% of survey respondents as being the worst fuel to replace gasoline. During the survey, answer categories were rotated to prevent respondent bias.

Best and Worst Fuel to Replace Gasoline in Personal Vehicles When Gasoline Is No Longer Available, June 2016 Survey

Graphic showing best and worst fuel to replace gasoline in personal vehicles when gasoline is no longer available from June 2016 survey.

Fact #944 Dataset

Supporting Information

Consider a future date when gasoline is no longer available. Which of the following do you think would be the BEST fuel for use in personal vehicles? Would you say ...
Fuel TypePercent of Respondents
Electricity43%
Natural Gas24%
Hydrogen15%
Ethanol13%
Don't know5%
 
At that future time, which would be the WORST fuel for use in personal vehicles? Would you say ...
Fuel TypePercent of Respondents
Electricity16%
Natural Gas26%
Hydrogen22%
Ethanol26%
Don't know10%

Source: Opinion Research Corporation for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Study #725268, June 23-26, 2016. Number of respondents = 1,012.

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