Alternative Fuels to Oil Essay -- energy oil power ethanol biodiesel h

Recently alternative fuels have been gaining popularity, especially here in the United States. The advantages of many of these fuels are being recognized with the rising cost of crude oil. Other countries around the world have been using alternative fuels for years, such as in Brazil where they have good feedstock for some fuels such as ethanol. Biofuels are also becoming cost effective with higher crude oil prices and can be completely renewable. The best thing about many of these alternative fuels is they can be readily used in standard internal combustion engines with little or no modification. The list of alternative fuels can go on forever, but some of the most common and readily adaptable fuels are: ethanol, biodiesel and hydrogen. Of course these fuels all have their drawbacks, but so do petroleum based fuels, we have just engineered around some of the disadvantages. The same thing can be done with these alternative fuels; engineer around the disadvantages. Most of these fuels do not release new carbon into the atmosphere which is a good thing, we don't need any extra carbon in the carbon cycle. The following pages explain what some of these more common fuels are as well as some advantages and disadvantages of each. Ethanol is a common fuel that can be produced from many different crops, for example corn is a common feedstock for ethanol production here in the United States. Other countries around the world produce large amounts of ethanol to power many of their vehicles. For example Brazil has a perfect climate to grow sugarcane, which is a great feedstock for ethanol. As a result many of their cars run on pure ethanol. Here in the United States you have probably heard of Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFV's) which are ... ...ever with the current technologies the most economical way to produce hydrogen is by using fossil fuels. To produce hydrogen by electrolysis a current is applied to water to seperate the hydrogen molecules from the oxygen. This process is actually pretty energy efficient, from about 50-75% efficient with theoretical efficiencies from 80-94% (Electrolysis-Wikipedia). What is the best way to transport hydrogen? Because it is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, large high pressure tanks are required to transport it. This can present some safety and widescale distribution issues. Another way to utilize hydrogen gas on vehicles is with fuel cells. These cells will convert hydrogen gas into electrical energy that can be used to drive the car. With our current fuel cell technology they have a relatively short lifetime and are expensive (Fuel Cell-Wikipedia).