Alternative Sources of Automobile Fuels
Green Energy Alternatives to Fossil Fuels in the Auto Industry
Oct 3, 2009
Figures from the Annual Energy Review 2008 published in June 2009 by the U.S. Energy Information Administration show that in the U.S. alone, the transport sector used 13.7 million barrels per day of fossil fuels and in 2007 was responsible for 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, 33% of the total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. These statistics show the importance of finding alternative sources of automobile fuels.
Alternative Sources of Energy
Although there are a range of alternative sources of energy available, such as wind, hydropower, nuclear and bioenergy, viable alternative sources of automobile fuels are confined to biofuels derived from bioenergy, electricity and to a lesser degree hydrogen.
Biofuels for Automobiles
The two major biofuels produced from bioenergy are biodiesel and ethanol.
- Ethanol can be produced from crops such as corn and soya bean in temperate climates such as the United States and from sugar cane in tropical countries such as Brazil.
- Gasoline containing 10% of ethanol can be used in most modern autos without modification. Higher blends of ethanol (20% and 85%) can be used in modern Flexi Fuel Vehicles (FFV) available from most automobile companies.
- Biodiesel is largely produced from vegetable oils and can be used in any diesel automobile without modification.
- In a paper entitled “Environmental, Economic, and Energetic Costs and Benefits of Biodiesel and Ethanol Biofuels”, published in Volume 103 of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the author, Jason Hill, claims, “Relative to the fossil fuels they displace, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced 12% by the production and combustion of ethanol and 41% by biodiesel.”
- Figures from Renewables Global Status Report: 2009 Update, published by REN21 in May 2009, show that in 2008, the United States produces just over half the world’s ethanol at 34 billion liters while the European Union is responsible for 75% of the world’s biodiesel production at 8 billion liters.
Electric Cars
Apart from niche auto companies such as Tesla Motors, with its all electric Roadster, none of the major car companies produce a mass market all electric car yet. Mainstream automakers such as Toyota, Honda, Ford and GM are concentrating on Hybrid Electric cars and Plug in Hybrids, which use electricity in conjunction with gasoline to overcome the major problems with electricity as an alternative automobile fuel, namely recharge times, driving range and speed. Nonetheless, some auto companies are planning to mass produce all electric cars in the next few years.
- Nissan intends to introduce the Nissan Leaf in late 2010. This will be all electric with a driving range of 100 miles and top speed of 90mph. Nissan claims recharge times will be as low as six hours.
- Although not an all electric vehicle, General Motors is due to release the Chevy Volt in 2010, which will be able to travel the first 40 miles totally on its electric battery.
- Ford are planning an all electric Ford Focus for 2011, with a range of 100 miles and recharge times of seven hours.
Hydrogen as an Auto Fuel
Notwithstanding some niche hydrogen fuel cell cars already developed, hydrogen as an automobile fuel seems a long way off.
- Hydrogen Posture Plan, published in 2006 by the U.S. Department of Energy claims that the major problem of using hydrogen as an auto fuel is, “Although hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, it does not naturally exist in its elemental form on Earth. Pure hydrogen must be produced from other hydrogen-containing compounds such as fossil fuels, biomass, or water.”
- Basic Research Needs for the Hydrogen Economy, published by the Department of Energy in February 2004 claims that, “To be economically competitive with the present fossil fuel economy, the cost of fuel cells must be lowered by a factor of 10 or more and the cost of producing hydrogen must be lowered by a factor of 4.”
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