Alternative Fuel Car, What Is It?
What is an alternative fuel car? Before that question can be answered, let us answer this next question. What is an alternative fuel? An alternative fuel, in the conventional and most popular context, is a fuel that is not based on petroleum. The list includes bio-diesel, ethanol, hydrogen, vegetable oil, and more. The article will discuss the pros and cons of a both alternative fuels (ethanol in particular) and the vehicles that they power.
There has been much talk about the introduction of alternative fuels as a way to wean the American public from away from the influences of foreign/imported oil. But the production of alternative fuels may cause other problems.
As ethanol is produced in the America today, its major starting component is corn. The corn is essentially distilled into ethanol (grain alcohol) and used as a fuel source. This can produce a number of problems for the American public.
First, ethanol cannot be transported through the same pipelines as gasoline is today. The chemical make-up of ethanol causes it to erode and disintegrate the lining and shell of the gasoline pipeline. Because of this, a new pipeline must be constructed, or the ethanol must be transported in ethanol safe tractor-trailers. Constructing a pipeline will call for a massive initial investment. Retrofitting the pipeline will cause the transportation of gasoline to stop. And transporting the ethanol via truck will continue the use of petroleum based diesel fuel. Second, the use of a food stock as a fuel source is not, necessarily, a smart decision. Consider that because of the rise in demand for corn, due to increased consumption caused by fuel use, will cause the rise in price for corn and corn products. That means a rise in price for corn, cereal, pork, beef (corn is used in feed), and chicken. There is also the small, but distinctly true, possibility of a shortage in any, or all, of the corn related products listed above. However, there are some advantages. As a fuel, ethanol has an octane rating of about 100. That means that higher technology engines can afford to increase their compression ratios so as to increase the amount of horsepower produced. Also, ethanol, when burned, produces a smaller amount of pollutants than regular gasoline. That is why during the summer months, when driving increases and the demand for gasoline increases, the government has regulated that 10% (by volume) of fuel must be ethanol, to reduce pollution. That brings us to alternative fuel cars. Alternative fuel cars have some advantages. The innately higher horsepower, the reduced emissions, and the reduction in reliance on foreign oil just some of them, but using other alternative fuels to fuel an alternative fuel car, such as bio-diesel, hydrogen, or used vegetable oil will allow use to break the dependence on petroleum while not consuming additional fuel stock.
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