Posted on: June 15th, 2008
When seeking an alternative to petroleum-based combustibles for use in passenger vehicles, corn-based alcohol originally showed some distinct advantages over gasoline. Burning more cleanly than the heavy hydrocarbons drilled in the oil fields, ethanol as an additive or replacement reduces emissions of greenhouse gases to a considerable extent.
It’s renewable, too-unlike fossil fuels, which experts say may be entirely diminished before the century’s end. The supply of ethanol can be replenished each year, bringing fallow farmlands back into production and returning farmers to the field.
Crop-based fuel can be produced domestically, removing the element of international strife from each visit to the pump. Ethanol is not without political problems, however, as implementing alcohol-blended gasoline on a widespread basis stirs controversy among the very environmental groups who demanded change in the first place.
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Filed under: Fuel Alternatives by admin
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Posted on: June 15th, 2008
The notion of utilizing electricity to partially power a vehicle is nothing new. On the contrary, all motor vehicles include electrical mechanism for starting the engine and powering accessories such as lights, fans and sound systems, although the alternator on any functioning standard-gasoline vehicle will be producing far more energy that the vehicle’s accessory power needs use.
So taking the next step toward a fully electric car was one of the earliest answers to the looming shortage of petroleum fuels. As early as the 1980’s, prototypes were unveiled which used electrical rather than internal combustion motors.
These early models were not without difficulties, however. All versions were plagued by a limit in range, long recharge times, and the lack of convenient recharging stations. The laws of physics weighed in a protest as well; the battery storage required to bring an electric automobile through a typical driving day occupied as much volume and mass as the heavy V-8’s and diesel engines they were intended to replace.
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Posted on: June 15th, 2008
As the mounting price and ecological cost of gasoline and diesel drives more and more consumers to demand a cheaper and safer alternative, governments and corporations around the globe are sleepily responding to the call, investing unprecedented resources toward finding a renewable substitute for fossil fuels.
The majority of developments have looked in two directions: biofuels, and electric-based solutions. Each of these have shown both tremendous potential as well as pitfalls, and proponents of each method are vocal in pointing out the shortcomings of the other.
Biofuels are made from plant sources or from organic waste. For gasoline-based engines, the fueling options encompassing various types of alcohol blends, including ethanol, made primarily from feedstock corn, and methanol, which can be manufactured from landfills or animal manure. Engines must be retooled to run purely on these fuels, although most vehicles are able function, without modification, using an ethanol blend of up to 85%.
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Filed under: BioFuels, Fuel Alternatives by admin
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Posted on: June 15th, 2008
Among the shiny new electric hybrids, flex-fuel vehicles, and biofuel conversions, a few ideas got missed along the way. Some are in limited use by various municipalities on an experimental basis; others died for lack of financial backing or some critical deficit which may yet be addressed.
The oil crisis of the 1970’s sent many a backyard inventor to the workbench for an answer that would stand the test of time. Many intriguing novelties ensued, though few which have entered mass production. Here are a few of the lesser-known developments in alternative fueling which are on the verge of feasibility:
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Posted on: June 15th, 2008
When considering the confusing maze of alternative fuel options, weighing their relative merits and shortcomings, it can be easy to lose sight of why so many are eager to shift away from the fuel that has powered the automobile during most of its first century.
Runaway cost was once a compelling reason to explore biofuels, electric hybrids and hydrogen-based technologies, but it may be several years before the supply of renewable alternatives reigns in the expense of filling up. Until then, consumers must consider the total global cost of petrochemical dependence, and take that into account when considering joining the green car revolution.
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Filed under: Petro Chemicals by admin
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