Why do we need alternative fuels

Drivers who choose a flex fuel vehicle can choose E85 or gasoline at the pump. Plug-in hybrids have both gasoline and electric engines. Bi-fuel vehicles can start on gasoline or diesel, then switch to cheaper and cleaner fuels like CNG compressed natural gas. Those who have diesel vehicles can run on a biodiesel blend in Minnesota, or regular diesel fuel when biodiesel blends are not available. There are more choices than ever, and many are cleaner and more renewable than traditional petroleum fuels.

As a nation, we have seen fuel prices rise and fall. While we are all enjoying low prices today, few of us expect them to last forever. America has been successfully reducing the percentage of oil it imports from outside of North America; we can do even better by producing alternative fuels and vehicles in the United States.

That truck that picks up the garbage may just be powered by CNG, and the postal truck that delivers our mail is running on E Change for the better. For more information about Community Voices, email Susan Albright at salbright minnpost.

Community Voices. Community Voices features opinion pieces from a wide variety of authors and perspectives. Once the vehicle is parked, the driver just turns the car off, closes the door, and carries on with his business. No need to go the gas station and no plugs. More and more onboard sensors now provide cars with the ability to tackle the most challenging driving tasks such as modifying cruise speeds to suit traffic situations in real time, emergency stops, and parking.

A solar car is one powered by solar energy got from solar panels present on the car. It is an electric vehicle. At present, solar panels cannot be utilized to directly give a car the required amount of power. However, they can be utilized to increase the range of electric vehicles. Frequently, these events are sponsored by the United States Department of Energy or other government agencies eager to encourage the growth of alternative energy applying technology such as electric vehicles and solar cells.

Nuna, a group of manned vehicles running on solar power clinched the World Solar Challenge held at Australia, three times in succession. This was in the years , and The Nunas are developed by students from the Delft University of Technology. A two-seater renewable energy vehicle called Trev was designed by staff and students from the University of South Australia.

This vehicle was first showcased at the World Solar Challenge as the idea of an efficient, low-mass commuter car. It is an emission-free piston engine that utilizes compressed air as an energy source. The pistons in a modified piston engine can be driven utilizing the expansion of compressed air.

Effectiveness of operation can be achieved by way of the utilization of environmental heat at regular temperature to warm the expanded air that is otherwise cold from the storage tank. The sole exhaust is cold air degree centigrade which may also be utilized for car air conditioning. A pressurized carbon-fiber tank is the source for air. Air enters the engine by way of a rather traditional injection system.

A distinct crank design inside the engine increases the time in the course of which there is warming of air charge from ambient sources. In addition, a two-stage process enables enhanced heat transfer rates.

These vehicles are the most widespread kind of what the California Air Resources Board CARB defines as zero emission vehicle ZEV owing to the fact that they create no tailpoint emissions at the spot of operation. Included among the batteries utilized in electric vehicles are absorbed glass mat, nickel metal hydride, Li-poly, NiCd, zinc-air batteries, flooded lead acid and Li-ion.

The electrical energy taken on board a BEV to propel the motors is got from a range of battery chemistries organized into battery packs. For extra range, pusher trailers or genset trailers are now and again utilized, creating a kind of hybrid vehicle. Ethanol can be developed from sugar cane in Brazil or other tropical countries and from crops such as soya bean and corn in the United States and other places where the climate is temperate.

Biodiesel is mostly developed from vegetable oils and may be utilized in any diesel automobile devoid of modification. Gasoline comprising 10 percent of ethanol can be utilized in the majority of modern autos bereft of modification.

Higher mixes of ethanol 20 percent and 85 percent may be utilized in modern FFV Flexi Fuel Vehicles available from the majority of automobile companies. Compressed biogas can be utilized for Internal Combustion Engines after the raw gas has been purified.

The taking away of H2S, H20 and particles may be considered as standard creating a gas with the same features as Compressed Natural Gas.

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Efforts to develop alternative fuels have continued for decades, albeit justified by evolving motivations. In the s, the development of alternative fuels in North America and Europe was largely justified by reduced exhaust emissions. Current developments are justified by a reduced dependence of the transportation sector on fossil fuels, particularly on oil, to mitigate climate change emissions, to reduce the dependence on petroleum imports and improve energy security, and ultimately to address the depletion of crude oil resources—which are finite and nonrenewable see also Energy Alternatives.

The objectives that motivate alternative fuel development are not always complementary. Enter vehicle or phrase. Alternative Fuels Alternative fuels are derived from sources other than petroleum. Ethanol is produced domestically from corn and other crops.

It produces less greenhouse gas GHG emissions than gasoline or diesel. Electricity is produced domestically from a variety of sources such as coal, natural gas, nuclear power, and renewables. Powering vehicles with electricity causes no tailpipe emissions, but generating electricity can produce pollutants and greenhouse gases.

Biodiesel is diesel derived from vegetable oils and animal fats.