In the very near future, lots of vehicle owners will be reusing frying oil to fuel their trucks or plugging their cars into the wall just like a toaster! As gas prices rise and natural resources continue to dwindle, manufacturers are steadily lowering the price of engines that use alternative fuel options which don't use natural resources or harm the environment.
There is enough oil as it stands to meet global demand now, but many energy experts predict that the world’s supply of oil will be substantially depleted over the next 50 years. With new alternative fuels popping up faster than ever as a result, here are some of the options we might be able to purchase in the future:
Biodiesel
Biodiesel is made from animal fats or vegetable oils and are classed as renewable resources. They are frequently derived from plants such as, soybean, sunflowers, corn, etc. Once these fats or oils are filtered from their hydrocarbons and then combined with alcohol like methanol, biodiesel is produced.
Switchgrass
A recent study by David Tilman (an ecology professor at the University of Minnesota) has demonstrated the potential for polycultures of multiple grass, prairie and wildflower species to serve as an alternative to switchgrass in the production of ethanol.
Tilman and his colleagues found that, in addition to producing more than twice the biomass than single-species planting (not less than 238% more than switchgrass), multiple-species plantations restored biodiversity, grew on degraded land and — perhaps most importantly — could be carbon negative. Biofuels derived from this source could also store up to 51% more energy per acre than corn.
Vegetable Oil
We know that an engine can run on vegetable oil, but is it worth the effort? In terms of financial value, it's almost certainly not, it seems. The cost of the engine conversion will be very difficult to recover in fuel savings. On top of that, the cost of vegetable oil is approximately the same as diesel fuel.
Hydrogen fuel is a zero-emission fuel which uses electrochemical cells, or combustion in internal engines, to power vehicles and electric devices. It is also used in the propulsion of spacecraft and can potentially be mass-produced and commercialised for passenger vehicles and aircraft.
Compressed Natural Gas
Compressed natural gas is clear, odourless, and non-corrosive. Impressively, vehicles run on natural gas show an average reduction in ozone-forming emissions of 80 percent, compared to gasoline vehicles. Furthermore, CNG is produced at a relatively low cost and is cleaner burning than gasoline or diesel fuel.
Wood
The notion of using wood as a source of energy is hardly a new or revolutionary one, but it's good enough to warrant another mention. While scientists have long held the ability of deriving oils from wood, they had until now not found a cost-effective way of processing it into a form that could be used in engines. To resolve this issue, researchers at the University of Georgia came up with a new chemical process to derive the maximum energy from biomass.
Obviously, this list is only an extract of what currently exists and is being worked on. Potential new sources of fuel are endless: electricity, ethanol, nuclear energies, sea water, fruit-derived fuel, bio-gasoline, rice-based ethanol, poultry litter, panda’s excrements, and much more!
Your thoughts?
So what about you? What do you think? Would you try one of these if you had the chance?
