Is there an alternative fuel source for cars besides hydogen and natural gas. What about ethanol?
Cars can potentially run on anything from wind power to used vegetable oil. Anything that can be burned or make electricity can potentially power a car.
Ethanol is used in some areas, but is really more of a suppliment than a true alternative since it is mixed with gasoline. Ethanol is usually only 5% ehtanol with gasoline making up the remaining 95%.
Natural gas is fairly common in public vehicles like police cars and school busses, but is not a viable long term solution since it is still a fossil fuel.
Used vegetable oil is one of the more interesting alternatives. Not only is it abundant and cheap, it ultimately comes from a plant, making it a truly renewable energy source. Diesel engines can run on used vegetable oil with no modifications, which has contributed to it’s success as a fuel. Trouble is that even with all the fried foods Americans eat, there isn’t enough to power a significant portion of the vehicles on the road.
Ultimately, the only truly viable alternative fuel will be no fuel at all. Eventually, I would expect to see electric cars making use of a combination of solar, battery and/or hydrogen fuel cells.
greasecar.com
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E85 is an 85% Ethanol blend widely available here in Minnesota.
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Brazil uses something like 85% ethanol…we should learn from them.
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Ethanol has potential however currently it requires nearly the same amount of energy to produce it as it yields. I think the technology could be refined to the point where the net gain in energy would make it worthwhile. Forget about "grease car" or bio-diesel. It is fine for use on a limited scale, but there is not enough to supply even a small percentage of cars on the road.
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There could be hundreds of them, the question is, how many are practical and don’t actually make the problem worse.
Hydrogen being produced from water takes more energy than the car gets. In fact, this is true of every solution.
The most efficient might be plants that convert solar energy to a chemical that can be used as fuel (biodiesel) or animals that eat the plants and then poop out some good fuel.
They are still not giving as much energy as they absorb from the sun (this would be impossible) but they may be the most usable.
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Cars can potentially run on anything from wind power to used vegetable oil. Anything that can be burned or make electricity can potentially power a car.
Ethanol is used in some areas, but is really more of a suppliment than a true alternative since it is mixed with gasoline. Ethanol is usually only 5% ehtanol with gasoline making up the remaining 95%.
Natural gas is fairly common in public vehicles like police cars and school busses, but is not a viable long term solution since it is still a fossil fuel.
Used vegetable oil is one of the more interesting alternatives. Not only is it abundant and cheap, it ultimately comes from a plant, making it a truly renewable energy source. Diesel engines can run on used vegetable oil with no modifications, which has contributed to it’s success as a fuel. Trouble is that even with all the fried foods Americans eat, there isn’t enough to power a significant portion of the vehicles on the road.
Ultimately, the only truly viable alternative fuel will be no fuel at all. Eventually, I would expect to see electric cars making use of a combination of solar, battery and/or hydrogen fuel cells.
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My SUV can use Ethanol…
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Henry Ford designed the old Model T to run on almost any distillate fuel, kerosene, diesel, gasoline, anything that would burn. Oddly, he favored kerosene but his engineers convinced him gasoline was better.
In Brazil they now have mandated that all cars run on alcohol or ethanol. But each car is designed with a small gasoline tank in order to start them when it’s cold. Alcohol does not have a low enough flash point apparently
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Liquid Propane at 59.9 cents per litre verses 114.9 per liter.
Love my converted pick up.
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