ALT-4 Alternative Fuel Sources
With oil setting record prices every few days, there has been a lot of attention going towards many alternative sources of transportation fuels. The media, various environmental and special interest groups as well as governments are all debating the pros and cons of the different alternatives, as a way to reduce pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on oil. This article will look at some of the most popular alternatives.
HYDROGEN:
Lets start with hydrogen. Hydrogen is a popular alternative mainly due to governments and stars like Arnold putting their support behind it. The problem with hydrogen is it's hard to handle, it's very expensive and needs large amounts of electricity to produce. Hydrogen is the lightest element and needs to be contained and transported in specialized trucks and specialized equipment. Even though hydrogen can be produced as a by-product of Chlorine and Sodium Chlorate production, the quantity made by these processes is insignificant compared to the needs we will face if the entire country were to switch to hydrogen, and do we really need more chemicals? [1] Also the fuel cells used to turn hydrogen into energy are very costly, partly due to the materials used in their production. Fuel cells are made using platinum, which costs more than gold [2] [3]. Platinum is a precious metal and is 30 times more rare than gold, which could create a supply problem [4]. If we were to start selling every new car with a fuel cell, that would increase demand for platinum and push prices up even more. The last hurdle stopping the wide use of hydrogen is the infrastructure. Next time you drive through your neighbourhood count how many gas stations you see vs. how many hydrogen stations you see. When and at what cost will they put in all the re-fuelling stations needed to fuel everyone? In the end, hydrogen technology can only be as clean as the source of electricity used to produce it.
ELECTRICITY:
The same thing can be said about electric cars. If a renewable source of electricity like hydro, solar, wind, tidal, etc., isn't used as the source of power, then the emissions are just being displaced from the car's tailpipe to the smoke stack of a coal, oil, or nuclear power plant. The other limiting factor of electric cars is battery technology, or so the industry says. GM was quite successful with its EV1 that they introduced in California and Arizona in 1996 with the current battery technology of the time. The EV1 was an electric car introduced to meet the California zero emission standard. For reasons still unclear, and controversial, the EV1 was discontinued in 1999 and subsequently pulled from the road entirely in 2003. Of course there is also the issue of disposal. Car batteries just like batteries at home contain toxic chemicals, which need special care when being disposing at the end of their useful life.
BIO-FUELS:
The stand-alone alternatives that are most promising are vegetable-based sources of fuel such as ethanol and bio-diesel. In theory, burning ethanol or bio-diesel in a car's engine doesn't release any additional greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. For example, burning ethanol releases CO2, but the quantity of CO2 released is about the same amount as the plant has absorbed and stored in its plant tissue as it grew, and that will subsequently be absorbed from the air as the next crop grows [5]. This is compared to releasing "old" CO2, in the form of oil, that has been safely burried under the Earth's crust for centuries. There is, however, some debate as to the overall benefits of ethanol. Current technology requires about the same amount of energy to produce as it provides when used, in other words a less than or equal energy return on energy invested (EROEI), but the technology is still improving [6]. Bio-diesel is similar to ethanol in terms of CO2 emissions, but unlike ethanol, bio-diesel actually has a positive EROEI after being processed. The biggest limitation for bio-fuels is how much fuel can be grown without taking away land used for food production and without completely bulldozing the rainforests of Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc, to grow oil crops like soy beans and palms for bio-diesel production [7].
OTHER NOTEWORTHY TECHNOLOGIES:
Toyota had solar panels available as a package option on some hybrids; they were integrated into the roof of some Prius cars to help power the air conditioning [8]. This technology could be adapted and used to recharge batteries on cars while parked to increase the range of electric only operation, much like regenerative braking is used to recharge hybrid batteries. There is also talk of making plug-in hybrids available where you can plug your car in at night and take advantage of cheaper nighttime electricity rates to recharge hybrid batteries instead of using the gas engine to do the job [9]. This can already be done because there are kits that you can buy and have installed in your hybrid to turn them into "plug-in" hybrids, but doing that to your car often voids your manufacturer's warranty. Other cutting edge technologies to be considered are the Canadian made ZENN car, a small electric car meant for slow speed driving of 40 km/h (approx. 25mph) with a range of about 80 kms (approx. 50 miles), enough for the average daily commute and ideal for congested city driving. Not to be forgotten the Indian made MiniCAT, an air powered car. To be more precise it runs on compressed air but it has a range of about 300kms per "charge" and the average charge cost at about $2. The best part about this car is that a "refueling" infrastructure already exists, how many gas stations currently don't have an air compressor for your tires? [10]
The marketplace is responding quite well to these new alternatives. Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, well known for their diesel cars in the past, are introducing new, more efficient diesel engines for 2007/2008. In the next few years many European car companies are also planning to introduce their diesel cars to North America. Diesel engines are more efficient than gasoline engines [11], and all diesel engines can run on bio-diesel without modification or danger to the engine. The big three North American auto makers, as well as Nissan, Isuzu, and Mazda, currently all offer flex-fuel vehicles, which are cars that can run on any combination of gasoline and ethanol, from 100% gasoline up to 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline mix.
Although none of these technologies will ever be stand-alone solutions to climate change, oil dependance, or economic stability. It is possible that a combination of all of these technologies together, as well as new emerging technologies, paired with smart policy, strong leadership, and an open mind might be the way of the future.
REFRENCES:
[1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/energy/hydrogen.html[2] http://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/fuelcells/fc_parts.html[3] http://www.kitco.com/market/[4] http://www.rji.ie/didyouknow_platinum.html[5] http://www.ethanolrfa.org/resource/facts/environment/[6] http://www.eroei.com/eroei/evaluations/net-energy-list/[7] There are far to many references on this topic to give just one.[8] http://autos.canada.com/news/story.html?id=a083f9df-2b03-424e-ab60-52b2963a6a0b[9] http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4227944.html[10] http://trak.in/tags/business/2008/07/01/tata-motors-air-car-minicat/[11] http://www.buyingadvice.com/gas-vs-dieselpower.html
