The Future Of Alternative Fuels

The world has seen fuel prices spiral up or down to meet supply and demand. Because of this, people need to choose a cost effective fuel to meet their needs. Vehicles in the world today run off of many different types of fuel. Biodiesel is a modern fuel compared to the commonly known diesel. Biodiesel has several advantages over diesel. Biodiesel fuel comes from a renewable resource, it is better on the environment, and it meets the Environmental Protection Agency’s definition for fuel standards. In addition, Biodiesel is the most promising alternative fuel source, backed by both federal approval and incentives. Finally, consumer attitudes are changing for the positive when it comes to biodiesel. For these reasons, biodiesel should be used more often by people in the world today.

Switching from the expensive oil to alternative fuels has moved from a dream to reality. Today, there are dozens of alternatives to oil that are currently available us to be used. One alternative to oil that is being used more today is ethanol. Derived from plant materials, ethanol can be a cheaper, cleaner alternative to the gasoline that our vehicles run off. When going to gas pumps, one will notice that much of the gasoline is up to 10 percent of ethanol. According to our text, most ethanol in the U.S. is made from corn, yet ethanol can be made from any biomes-- including garbage. (Turk & Bensel, 2011)

Anything containing oil has been an increasing problem to the environment and to people. The toxicants that the oil produce harms people with their health. In the film Fuel, the director Josh Tickell talks about how crops can produce fuel, which produces cleaner air and is safer for the public. There are also other ways that Biofuel could be produced, such as adding human waste onto algae. The way that society utilizes oil is hurting the world, which in fact is affecting the human population and environment, but people only realize it until it is too late. With biofuel people would not be in danger and it could be produced without struggling to find oil.

I believe this switch is vital to our future. With gasoline prices volatile and the Obama administration committed to easing the United States ' addiction to oil, many Americans seem to be taking more interest in pursuing alternative fuels. These alternative fuels include those derived from farm crops and other renewable organic sources. Among the most widely available are biodiesel and vegetable oil, both of which can be used to power a diesel engine.

That fuel source is called corn-ethanol, and a majority of people can see the main ingredient, which is, corn in America 's farm fields. Corn is grown annually and it does not take millions of years to reproduce. Oil is a fuel source that takes millions of years to reproduce. A biofuel is the process of taking any once living plant and abstracting the plant 's energy to make a fuel. People in America are supporting Biofuels, including corn-ethanol because it does not require oil. It also reduces green house gasses, which makes it better for the environment (Cassman 59). The common view of ethanol is that it is just a research project to make the environmentalists happy but that is not true. It has the potential to keep America 's economy rolling, supply a fuel source, and still feed livestock with its byproducts. The key to success as a country is to use what we already have an abundance of in this country. The evidence is all there for this argument many Americans just need to become educated about this topic. The main

Initial research has shown that biodiesel, liter for liter, generates about 90 percent of the heat of traditional fossil fuels, and the resulting air emissions are significantly lower in sulphur, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons. Burning these fuels also does not contribute to global warming. Fossil fuels increase the amount of carbon in the atmosphere because the carbon they release upon combustion has been locked away for millennia. The carbon released by the combustion of biodiesel first had to be removed from the atmosphere by the plant that produced the oils it was derived from. Thus, no net gain occurs when said carbon is released. Biodiesel is also safer for people and the environment since it is non-toxic and biodegradable. Oil spills will no longer be multi-million dollar environmental catastrophes.

The featured film Fuel shows various points on fuel ruining the environment, from American children not being able to play in water to huge industries causing “cancer alley” such as the one on Louisiana. The Environmental Protection Agency has put a few standards into play to regulate health hazarda and complete destruction of the environment. Natural events that have been happening since the birth of Earth have created multiple types of ways humans have taken advantage to create fuel for the world. An interesting point brought up while watching this film was the fact that biofuels caught on as fast as it did to actually start to make a difference for the world. When word started to get out on how ecofriendly and cheap it really is,

Ethanol is a moderately low cost alternative fuel that benefits the environment by polluting less. It is considered better for the environment than gasoline and ethanol fueled vehicles provide lower levels of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrocarbon, and oxides of nitrogen emissions. Through the use of E85 that has fewer volatile components than gasoline, it lessens emissions from evaporation. The renewable source that ethanol is can be produced as long as the raw material needed for it can be grown it is an advantage of using it as a fuel considering it has lower emissions. Ethanol being added to fuel, burns in a cleaner way and releases less emissions making it the hope of one day to be depended on as the use of fuel alone. This energy source also contributes to reducing the dependence on foreign oil since ethanol is domestically produced, thus leading to decrease

Alcohols are being considered as modern day fuels because they are cheap to manufacture and some can be made in labs. There are four main alcohols that are especially being taken into consideration as alternative fuel sources. These four include: Ethanol, Methanol, Propanol and Butanol. The reason that these four have been considered is because A) They can me chemically/Biologically synthesized in a Lab, B) There are properties within these fuels that can be used within modern day engines, and C) These four fuels also have a high octane rating. The octane rating of a fuel refers to how much compression a fuel can go through before it ignites by its self. The reason this makes such a big difference within engines, is because when fuels self-ignite because they have been compressed too much, it can cause “knocking” which can damage the engine and also because it means that the fuel is more efficient and therefore you can get more kilometres per litre/KJ per Mol.

The composition may pose a problem, but the components are also valuable in that they are natural, renewable resources. Using natural resources instead of oil would lower the US’s dependence on foreign oil. By lowering our oil intake from other countries, the US can reduce military spending that is directed at maintaining oil supplies, and instead spend this money on other costs for internal matters. In addition, most infrastructure is already formed to adapt to this ethanol. Most cars on the road in the US are Fuel Flex capable, so it would pose no needed change. Also, around the country there are about 2000 E85 spots available at gas stations. Overall, its energy output is 2 to 36 times the energy required to produce it. With more energy output, there is less fuel needed to be created (using less resources) and consumers will be able to pay less at the pump and instead use it for other expenses. Most notable, is the fact that using ethanol reduces 85-94% of emissions compared to oil. Reducing emissions will in turn lower the greenhouse effect, and lessen global warming effects (GreenTheFuture). In general, this matter is low costing or free. Municipal solid waste, which can be used, can even be subsidized to take, since normally it would have to be paid for for its disposal in a landfill. By using non edible fuel crops and municipal solid waste, consumer prices for groceries will not be driven upward, unlike corn, which uses farmland that otherwise would have been used for food production. Thus, corn drives up the price of food (Christian, Jan. 5, 2015). While opponents argue that it would require vast farming operations, meaning clearcutting in some cases, acquisition of

There are groups of noncustomers that ExxonMobil does not currently target or explore known as the unexplored (Kim & Mauborgne, 2005). These are people who use plant-based, animal-based or alternatives such as coconut or canola oil in place of petroleum motor oil. According to Moellenberg (n.d.), “the benefits of using a canola-based oil in place of petroleum motor oil doesn’t stop with reduced automobile emissions. Processing canola into oil produces no waste” (para. 3). Canola oil is roughly the same weight as 10W-30 oil and is priced at $1.50 per quart, which is slightly higher than petroleum-based motor oils. However, customers will not have to pay for the disposal of this oil or be concerned with its ecological impact as with petroleum. (Moellenberg, n.d.)

Investigating whether a renewable fuel produces the same level of energy as an equivalent amount of nonrenewable fuel would be beneficial to help save Earth’s natural resources and is a very relevant and important science project. The purpose of this project is to figure out which type of fuels is most efficient. In my science project, I will be burning various types of renewable fuels and non- renewable fuels and comparing the duration that they burn and comparing the temperature that they burn.

Post 18th Century Industrial revolution has created a dependency on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas for all technological and transportation demands that engineer modern society. However. Such demands, and even their expected future demands threatens the overall worlds energy supply and generates large strains on the environment. The Hydrogen economy article published by Physics Today in December 2004 anticipated that the world energy demand will double by 2050 in response to population growth and industrialisation of developing countries. (Crabtree, Dresselhaus and Buchanan, 2004).

UPS’s alternative fuels fleet is in response to growing trends in government and environmental policies along with scientific discoveries in clean energy. The government launched a National Clean Fleets Partnership aimed at helping businesses incorporate vehicles that run on alternate fuels. The public private partnership began a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy and businesses such as UPS’s.

To date gas markets have been regional in character. Is LNG likely to alter this?