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- Alternative fuel - implies any available fuel or energy source, not necessarily a source of renewable energy. In the context of environmental sustainability, often implies an ecologically benign renewable fuel. (SOURCE)
- Bio-diesel - a diesel-equivalent, processed fuel derived from biological sources (such as vegetable oils), which can be used in unmodified diesel-engine vehicles. (SOURCE)
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - a colorless, odorless gas that passes out of the lungs during respiration. It is also given off by volcanoes. It is the primary greenhouse gas, because it is long lived (approximately 100 years) and causes the greatest amount of global warming of the long-lived gases. (SOURCE)
- Carbon Footprint - the total amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, emitted over the full life cycle of a product or service. (SOURCE)
- Climate Change - the natural and manmade phenomena that have made the earth's atmosphere warmer or colder over the ages. (SOURCE)
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - the United States Environmental Protection Agency, whose mission it is to protect human health and the environment. (SOURCE)
- Fluorocarbons - chemical compounds that contain carbon-fluorine bonds, which tend to be only slowly broken down in the environment and therefore many are considered persistent organic pollutants. (SOURCE)
- Fossil fuel - hydrocarbons, primarily coal and petroleum (fuel oil or natural gas), formed from the fossilized remains of dead plants and animals. (SOURCE)
- Global Warming - the term that refers to recent increases in global temperatures caused by man. (SOURCE)
- Greenhouse Effect - the consequence that certain gases, chief amongst them carbon dioxide, have on the earth's climate. Though they constitute less than 1 percent of the atmosphere, they act like a blanket covering the earth. Without the greenhouse effect, the average global temperature would be around 0°F instead of the current toasty 59°F (SOURCE)
- Hybrid vehicle (Hybrid-electric vehicle) - a vehicle that utilizes both an electrical motor and a gas- or diesel-powered engine which work in tandem to decrease fuel consumption. (SOURCE)
- Hydrogen fuel cell - an electrochemical energy conversion device that produces electricity using hydrogen as fuel on the anode side and oxygen as an oxidant on the cathode side. (SOURCE)
- Ozone - the gaseous, almost colorless form of oxygen that protects the earth against ultriviolet radiation in the upper atmosphere, but is part of the chemical pollution nearer to the Earth. (SOURCE)
- ULSD (Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel) - a term used to describe diesel fuel that contains substantially lower sulfur content. (SOURCE)