New Mexico is a net exporter of both conventional and renewable electricity, which as a transportation fuel is used primarily to charge electric vehicles (EVs). Of the approximately 650,000 passenger vehicles registered in New Mexico, 1,260 are EVs.

Growth in this sector is currently constrained by the lack of incentives and statewide availability of public charging stations. Consequently, EVs are most frequently charged at home, and are typically used for intracity travel. Expanding EV infrastructure across the state will make EVs more accessible to rural dwellers.

As an added benefit, electric utilities could use revenues from clean fuel standard credits to invest in rural EV infrastructure and incentives to increase EV adoption among consumers.

Ethanol is a renewable fuel made from various plan materials.

New Mexico is brimming with unrealized potential in the alternative fuels arena. It imported 100 percent of the 2,400,000 barrels of ethanol it consumed. With the market-based incentives provided by a clean fuel standard, New Mexico could be positioned to attract a second-generation, cellulosic ethanol producer to the state.

Almost any plant-based material can be an ethanol feedstock, including corn stover which can be found in several parts of New Mexico.

Green hydrogen is a clean fuel that, when consumed in a fuel cell, produces only water. Green hydrogen can be produced from a variety of renewable and low carbon domestic resources, such as biomass.

Fugitive methane emissions from the Permian and the San Juan Basins that would otherwise be released into the air could be captured and used as a feedstock to produce green hydrogen.

Made with plant and animal fats, renewable diesel offers greatly reduced emissions and improved performance compared to petroleum diesel. Renewable diesel fuel is a direct substitute for diesel fuel that is refined from lower carbon and renewable source materials.

In New Mexico, used cooking oils from the restaurant industry could be diverted from landfills and used to create renewable diesel.

Renewable Dimethyl Ether (rDME) is a low-carbon, zero-soot alternative to petroleum diesel.

rDME can be made from several feedstocks including animal waste, woody biomass from forest residue, agriculture and crops, and sewage.

Renewable natural gas is natural gas produced by the decomposition of organic matter. The major sources of renewable natural gas are landfills, animal manure, and solid waste extracted during wastewater treatment.

Renewable natural gas (RNG) is currently collected and beneficially reused onsite (e.g., for heating or electrical power generation) at nine municipal wastewater treatment plants and two municipal landfills. The largest, and as yet untapped, source of RNG in New Mexico is its dairies. New Mexico has approximately 130 dairies, with the largest average herd size (2,357) in the nation.

Renewable propane is a non-fossil fuel that is produced from 100% renewable raw materials used to power propane vehicles.

Renewable propane can be produced from feedstock like animal fat, algae and cooking oil.