The time will soon come when oil won't be the ample commodity it is today. Besides that fact, rising gas prices are becoming somewhat of a nightmare. Engineers have always tried to find as many ways possible to power engines with alternative fuels. It hasn't always been a failure, but the reason you don't see cars running on alternative fuels is because non yet are as efficient as gasoline and diesel are. I'm going to talk about all the interesting and potentially usable forms of fuel that we have already tried and tested.
Electric Cars: I have to say straight off the bat that I do have a negative bias towards electric cars. It is not without reason, but I feel sometimes I tend to be harder on them than I do with any other non-gasoline powered cars. As you've already assumed, an electric cars source of power comes from a battery. It runs on a DC (Direct Current) engine, similar to the ones found in RC cars. The main reason I don't like electric cars is because of their traveling range and fueling time. I'm sure no one wants to wait 8-12 hours charging their car from a normal outlet, just so they could start driving again. The range of these cars doesn't come anywhere your average gas powered car either. They are quiet though. This is just a technology that the world isn't ready for. Maybe after a good 15-20 years in the future, technology will have worked out all the quirks. But until that time comes, my opinion remains the same.
Methane Powered Cars: These to me are the most humorous of the bunch. Methane is flammable and combustible just like gasoline, so the main difference lies in the source of the fuel. Methane as you know, is a byproduct of animal waste. So if you haven't put two and two together yet, yes, methane powered cars are mainly powered by cow and human excrement. A show on BBC called Top Gear has even went far enough to make a human excrement powered car, cow excrement powered car, and an equivalent gas powered car, for the purpose of putting them all in a drag race to see who would win. Surprisingly enough, cow power was the first across the line, whilst the human powered car was last. Whether it's the case of cows having better quality poop than humans, we won't know because the experiment was taken lightly for the sake of a television show.
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| http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/48625000/jpg/_48625294_jex_9086_de27-1.jpg Methane Powered Beetle |
Hydrogen Cars: Hydrogen is the most abundant element in our atmosphere, so you'd think that we would have more hydrogen powered cars than anything else. That would actually be the case, if we only found a way to extract it from our atmosphere. Honda actually made a production hydrogen powered car called the Honda FCX Clarity, so it does exist, and we know it works just fine. The greatest thing about hydrogen powered cars is that the hydrogen combines with oxygen during combustion, and we all know that hydrogen and oxygen make water. Wouldn't it be great if all cars only had water coming out of their exhaust instead of carbon dioxide? Yes it would be, but unfortunately until we find an effective way to extract it, we have to stick with whats best.
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| http://www.autospectator.com/cars/models/2009-honda-fcx-clarity Honda FCX Clarity |
Bio-Fueled Cars: These cars run on vegetable oils and animal fats. The great thing about them is that some, such as bio-diesel, are actually MORE efficient than our best gasoline cars. This also includes Ethanol, which is usually extracted from corn products. But as you might have guessed, it isn't an abundant enough commodity for us to be able to use it at a daily basis. Besides, what would be left for us to eat??
Propane Powered Cars: Propane is a liquefied petroleum gas, and there has been cars that were converted to run on propane to see how it compares to conventional fuel. Even though propane burns cleaner than gasoline, its unfortunately not as efficient. That basically means that the mileage isn't up to par with its gasoline counterpart.
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| http://www.sustainableguernsey.info/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Drayson-Racing-Flex-Fuelled-Lola-Coupe-racing-car-SGB-em.jpg Drayson Racing Bio-fuel Racecar |
Propane Powered Cars: Propane is a liquefied petroleum gas, and there has been cars that were converted to run on propane to see how it compares to conventional fuel. Even though propane burns cleaner than gasoline, its unfortunately not as efficient. That basically means that the mileage isn't up to par with its gasoline counterpart.
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| http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2009/01/22/380707.1-lg.jpg Propane powered Ford F-350 |
What are some ways to help increase mileage in my own car?
ReplyDeleteHello Shane, that's a great question. I just wrote up a blog post that I will be publishing very soon to answer your question.
ReplyDeleteGreat Blog ! Thanks for sharing this post.
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