Tuesday, 16 August 2011

Alternative Fuels Not A Craze

Alternative Fuels Not A Craze
Development of alternative fuels have become one of the thrilling innovations in the automobile industry. As scientists continue to search fuels that are cleaner burning and won't damage the planet, alternative fuels are the wave of the future. Recent developments have resulted in fuels that not only burn clean but provides an advantage to car owners.

Of all of the alternative fuels available, the most well-known is ethanol. Ethanol is also referred t grain alcohol, and it is generally created from either corn or soya beans. On the market, you can buy E85, which is a combination of 85% ethanol, and 15% petrol. For folks who use it, they save on gas mileage because ethanol burns much cleaner than gasoline. Though there is gas in E85, it does not put out as much toxins as normal petrol. Aside from corn and soya beans, plant materials from logging, discarded paper and other organic materials can be used to create ethanol. An alternative fuel type that is like to ethanol is methanol.

Methanol can be made out of biomass resources, including wood and coal, and is called wood alcohol. These days, as it is a lot more inexpensive to create, methanol is made from natural gas or propane. One more fuel that is rising in popularity is propane or compressed natural gas. Just like crude oil, propane can be found underground. But unlike petroleum gasoline, propane is a gas and not a liquid. Since it is a very eco-friendly fuel, natural gas has been growing in popularity. Electric power is another alternative fuel type that has gotten much attention. Another popular source of alternative energy is solar. There are a lot of diy solar cells available in store nowadays.

As a result of environmental concerns, electric-powered cars are becoming popular again, even though they have been around for quite some time. An electric car utilizes electrical energy stored in batteries, instead of burning petrol in an engine. It can take anywhere from 12 to 24 batteries to power an electric automobile. Some of those batteries can even draw out power from the sun. You can check walmart solar batteries for these types of batteries. An alternative fuel type that gives a great deal of promise is hydrogen. Presently, it is in the experimental phase but it shows a lot of promise. The positives of hydrogen are that it is easy to make and it is extremely light. It is expected that hydrogen will be the next big thing for powering vehicles.

There are numerous types of alternative sources of fuel, and the ones mentioned were only a few. With people anxious about global warming, every effort is being made to create even better and more efficient alternative fuels. Alternative fuels will continue to be popular, and their place will go up and down according to what is discovered next.