Alternative fuels

Alternative fuel technologies

6 .10 .2007

Background

Oil and petroleum products have been mainstay of world 's economic and technological advancement since past 150 years . The mechanism driving the entire transportation system from automobiles , airplanes , railways ships to space rockets is based on utilization of energy of petroleum oil . Petroleum products are also extensively used in a number of infrastructure industries that form the core of industrial processes and basis of existence of modern world

However , the petroleum resources of world are very limited and they cannot endlessly meet

human demands . Various estimates have put the continues to consume them at present rate . After that the cost of extraction of remaining petroleum products would become much more than the benefits obtained them and world would require new resources of energy to exist . These concerns have already spawned intense research in alternative technologies to meet the future energy needs in the face of an impending petroleum crisis

The shortage of oil would be more manifest in coming times as oil demands are growing world wide , especially in China and India with rapidly expanding economy , transportation system and consequently requirement of petroleum oil . Even at present consumption rate there are grave uncertainties on the secure prospects of future supplies within next 50 years time frame , and the rising consumption rates threatens to bring the approaching crisis nearer . United States is thus faced with a great responsibility to secure its future interests without sacrificing its present requirements and needs . This issue forms the of the next section

Alternative fuel technologies

Past decade has seen great thrust on technological researches in alternative fuels . Various new techniques and models have already been introduced in the market to test their viability and capacity to successfully replace petroleum as chief source of energy . Most of these innovations are specifically aimed at transportation sector owing to its liability as chief consumer of petroleum oil and as principle cause of soaring oil imports . Due to distinct requirements of different sectors in transportation , the technologies vary . Passenger vehicles , public transport vehicles and freight transportation carry specific needs that are difficult to be met by a single alternative fuel technology (Deutch J , Schlesinger J .R , Victor D .G . 2006 . Some of the major and most popular of these technologies , where majority of research and development has taken place , are (Aldrich , 1996

1 .Hybrid Vehicle : As the name suggests , hybrid vehicles combine dual technologies for their operation . Technically they are hybrid electric vehicle with an electric motor that drives the vehicle (Hoogma , Kemp Schot and Truffer , 2002 , 41

2 . Bio-diesels : Bio-diesel : Bio-diesel , as the term suggests , is a type of renewable fuel obtained by agricultural products and used as fuel in heavy-duty vehicles . The major sources currently under research for bio-diesel are soybean , rapeseed , corn , cottonseed , peanut , sunflower and canola (Aldrich , 1996 , 85

3 . Ethanol : Ethanol has emerged as a successful alternative to fossil fuels in Brazil where more than 4 million vehicles on ethanol based fuel and it is finding...