Possible Alternative Fuels For Automobiles
In lay man’s terms, alternative fuels are fuels other than crude oil and its products. Since the oil prices are going up everyday, search is on to look for alternative fuels that are not as costly and can be used to run vehicles. These fuels need to be available in plenty in nature. This will ensure that they are not high priced. But along with that, their effectiveness to run vehicles should be good. Otherwise, they don’t hold much value for the world |
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Today, there are many fuels that are being experimented upon; primarily for use in transport system. Some of these fuels are:
- Alcohols like ethanol and methanol
- Electricity, which can be stored in batteries and used as such.
- Biodiesel that is similar to diesel, but is extracted from plant and animal fat.
- Hydrogen
- Liquefied Natural Gas, commonly called LNG.
- Liquefied Petroleum Gas or LPG
- CNG or Compressed Natural Gas
- Liquid fuels like gasoline and diesel that are not products of fossil burning.
Ethanol is produced from various plant materials that are called as biomass. This makes ethanol a renewable fuel. If used in vehicles with gasoline blend, it reduces exhaust emissions considerably. Methanol is also production friendly, does not cause pollution and is not highly combustible unlike gasoline.
Electricity can be used to run electric cars. These cars come with plug-in-batteries. These vehicles do not create any pollution; except for when they are being manufactured. But the batteries need to be regularly recharged and electricity doesn’t come for free.
Biodiesel is a renewable source of energy. It is manufactured from plant and animal fat. Mixed with gasoline, it makes an ideal fuel. Biodiesel is non-pollutant, non-toxic, is less volatile than petroleum and can be produced locally.
Hydrogen is probably the favorite in the options for alternative fuels. It is the most abundant element in the universe. For use in vehicles as fuel, it can be produced from biomass, from fossil fuels and even from electrolyzed water. This fuel hardly causes any pollution.
Propane or LPG is a high density gas. Hence the vehicles driven on it have higher fuel efficiency. LPG has been in use for sometime now. There are LPG refill stations available in a large number. However, LPG exhausts contain toxic gases in low amounts.
CNG run vehicles are also emerging on the roads today. However, CNG is not very fuel efficient. Besides, it requires storage under high pressure in fuel tank. LNG is natural gas cooled in extremely low temperatures. This is done to reduce the density of the gas so that it can be stored in high volume in the tanks. This fuel is best suited to be used in bigger transport vehicles like trucks.
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Sun and Wind are increasingly being studied and worked upon to use as alternative sources of energy. Let us discuss each one separately to understand their working better. 
