[TKDietz]

"Assembly Bill 1012 by Assemblyman Joe Nation, D-San Rafael. Requires half of all new cars sold in the state to run on alternative fuels by 2020."

That actually wouldn't be that hard to do. About half the new cars being sold in most Western European countries now are diesels, and biodiesel or at least biodiesel blends will work fine in most any diesel engine. And manufacturing cars with gasoline engines such that they'll be E85 compatible only adds a couple of hundred dollars to production costs. With all the incentives car manufacturers keep getting for making E85 compatible vehicles the added production costs are not much of an issue. We may very well see 50% of all new vehicles sold across all states being alternative fuel capable by 2020.

[TKDietz]

"We may very well see 50% of all new vehicles sold across all states being alternative fuel capable by 2020."

I should add though that whether we have enough alternative fuel to burn in all these vehicles by 2020 is an entirely different matter. My guess is that even if we have a lot of alternative fuel compatible cars on or roads by 2020, most of them will still be running on petroleum based gasoline or diesel because we won't be able to produce enough alternative fuels by then to power half the vehicles on our roads. Still, whether a vehicle can run on alternative fuel in addition to petroleum based fuel will be a major consideration in my future vehicle purchases. It makes sense to cover your bases.