Fact #545: November 17, 2008
Historical Alternative Fuel Prices Compared to Gasoline and Diesel

From September of 2005 through July of 2008, regular gasoline has typically been more expensive than propane, natural gas, and E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) on a per gallon or gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) basis. During the same period, petroleum diesel has typically been less expensive than biodiesel. The greater the amount of biodiesel in the biodiesel blend, the higher the cost, with B100 (100% biodiesel) being the most expensive. However, that price gap has been narrowing between 2007 and 2008.

Supporting Information

Historical Prices of Alternative Fuels versus Gasoline

Report	Gasoline	Natural Gas (GGE)	Propane	Ethanol (E85)
Sep-05	$2.77	$2.12	$2.56	$2.41
Feb-06	$2.23	$1.99	$1.98	$1.98
Jun-06	$2.84	$1.90	$2.08	$2.43
Oct-06	$2.22	$1.77	$2.33	$2.11
Mar-07	$2.30	$1.94	$2.62	$2.10
Jul-07	$3.03	$2.09	$2.58	$2.63
Oct-07	$2.76	$1.77	$2.75	$2.40
Jan-08	$2.99	$1.93	$3.12	$2.51
Apr-08	$3.43	$2.04	$3.15	$2.87
Jul-08	$3.91	$2.34	$3.14	$3.27
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report, Historical Alternative Fuel Prices From Previous Reports. July 2008.

Historical Prices of Alternative Fuels versus Petroleum Diesel

Report	Diesel	Natural Gas (DGE)	Biodiesel (B20)	Biodiesel (B2/B5)	Biodiesel (B99/B100)
Sep-05	$2.81	$2.37	$2.91	$2.81	$3.40
Feb-06	$2.56	$2.23	$2.64	$2.46	$3.23
Jun-06	$2.98	$2.13	$2.92	$2.97	$3.76
Oct-06	$2.62	$1.98	$2.66	$2.75	$3.31
Mar-07	$2.63	$2.17	$2.53	$2.60	$3.31
Jul-07	$2.96	$2.34	$2.96	$2.84	$3.27
Oct-07	$3.11	$1.98	$3.08	$2.99	$3.38
Jan-08	$3.40	$2.16	$3.37	$3.31	$3.69
Apr-08	$4.14	$2.28	$3.98	$3.99	$4.31
Jul-08	$4.71	$2.61	$4.66	$4.69	$4.88
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report, Historical Alternative Fuel Prices From Previous Reports. July 2008.

 

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