3 alternative fuel sources for automobiles are out there or on the making?

Answer 1

1. hydrogen fuel cells
2. Biodiesel
3. Solar. This one is a bit of a reach right now but there are solar vehicles right now. Strictly prototypes.

Answer 2

The diesel engine was developed because Rudolf Diesel did not want to rely on the oil producing countries, and this was back in the 1900's! The first diesel engine ran on peanut oil. I have a diesel engined car and it runs on 50% rapeseed oil (colza/canola). Of course if every car and truck ran on rapeseed oil, the landscape would be pretty dull because of the amount of land that would be needed, but every little helps and at least vegetable oils are carbon neutral and more sustainable.

For petrol alternatives there's bioethanol which would be carbon neutral too.

The problem with Hydrogen cars is that although they only produce water as a by-product, the manufacturing process of the hydrogen is reliant on electricity which is usually generated from fossil fuels.

This area of technology could possibly move much faster, but one of the big problems is money. Many governments make billions in tax revenue from oil and gas, also oil and gas companies are some of the largest businesses on the planet. Many claim to be investing in alternative fuels, however their investment is dwarfed by money spent on exploration...

Answer 3

I always find it interesting that so called environmentalists find fault with everything. We don''t want oil but when people started to suggest other things like ethanol,hydrogen,etc. it became chic to oppose that because it will cause the tragic death of plants and herbs and stuff. We don't want nuke even though it is totally clean because the plant could blow up. Even though we could take fossil fuels (oil,gas and coal) out of electric production. Nope. Recently in WV private investor started making electricity with wind turbines. Completely clean energy, self sustaining. Nope can do that because eco dudes said birds could fly into the turbines. Many demonstrations which are fun for anti people cuz thats what they do for fun. Can't have hydro power using the major rivers cuz catfish and carp would be upset and become bed wetters. Seems there is no energy the eco dudes don't oppose (though they use it). When people got on board for alternative fuels the eco dudes were scared blue that they would not have something to neg out on and now oppose clean energy. Go figure. No wonder people like Cheney prosper. We are all idiots!

Answer 4

There's no such thing as a free lunch. All energy has to come from somewhere and it also has to be available for you to use in a car that can use it.

There is a vast amount of alternative energy that is freely available to all of us right now. It's called conservation. Slow down. Learn to drive more efficiently and intelligently. Pump up your tires. Learn to drive a standard shift. I personally get a minimum of 45% above EPA ratings on my totally unmodified car.

Tune the thing up and make other modifications to bump up its fuel efficiency, like make a grill block and use an engine block heater. Learn what others are doing. Lots of people are getting over 85% above what the EPA says they should be getting out of their cars. Don't wait for some grandiose invention to start making improvements today.

Answer 5

petol, LPG & deisel are alternative fuels to some of the more traditional electric motors http://www.speedace.info/, like the first car to exceed 100mph.
electric motors are more naturally suited to traction power than infernal combustion, smoother, max torque 0 rpm from cold, refuel at home or work (in 10 minutes eee.phoenixmotorcars.com). And battery electric vehicle technology is out there now, unlike compressed air or hydrogen/fuel cell.www.teslamotors.com

Any thing that makes electric can fuel a car - so for alternative ways to make electric:
1. chicken litter
2. waste straw
3. domestic heating boiler

Answer 6

Well, let's go esoteric on this one:

Pressure

1. compressed air ... air is stored under very high pressure in carbon fiber tanks similar to the setup for H2 storage for a fuel cell car. They have similar range to electric cars but are much easier and faster to refill, and no harmful by-products at all ... air in/air out. Go to YouTube and search for "air car". I believe they are building them in France or Monaco.

Chemical/Electrical

2. Electric cars have it all over gas powered cars, but the technology could benefit from some more research .. i.e. batteries store power very well but they are heavy, usually slow to recharge compared to other forms of fuel, they wear out and they are expensive to replace.

Education

3.
I can teach you to use between 10 and 30% less gas in your car without changing the car mechanically at all. This alternative fuel source is smart driving methods, where you the driver take responsibility for the fuel you consume.

Answer 7

The alternative fuels that I've heard of are ethanol, natural gas, propane, hydrogen, biodiesel, electricity, methanol, and p-series fuels. All of these are considered alterative fuel by the government, and they all have different availabilities, benefits, and drawbacks. Check out the website below for more detailed info.

Answer 8

a fuel cell that uses natural gas plus oxygen from air directly is what is necessary. today, most fuel cells run on hydrogen, H2. this has to be manufactured, either by electrolyzing water(H2O) or stripping it from NG(mostly methane,CH4). both processes are very inefficient from a fuel to motion perspective. the USA has vast amounts of NG, but no real FC tech to use it directly.

Answer 9

Here is 3 with a few extras added in.

Ethanol
Bio-diesel
Cellulose based ethanol
Hydrogen
Natural Gas
Methane
Electricity
Compressed Air
Sunlight

Answer 10

Bio diesel which and be made with recycled veggie oil. These sites explain about them http://www.biodiesel.org/resources/faqs/ ,http://www.green-trust.org/biodiesel.htm

Used veggie oil. This site talks about what it is and sells converters. http://www.greasecar.com/

Ethanol, http://www.ethanol.org/