Top 5 Alternative Fuel Sources

There are many different types of alternative fuels that can be used these days although not all of them have made it to the mass market yet. Some might never make it based on integration and feasibility problems, but the fact that they could be used means perhaps with testing and research they could be made into viable solutions.

One of the first alternative energy sources for vehicles was electricity. Just plug your car in at home and you can then drive around for a set amount per battery charge. It works for remote controlled cars so why not for their larger counterparts? Unfortunately battery technology for such large vehicles has been slow in coming. The average car powered by electricity only get a couple hours per charge and incompatibility with the average three prong outlet caused further concerns. It’s still being worked on, so maybe some day it will be in mass production.

Next on the alternative fuel list is the electric/gasoline hybrid engine. Using gasoline to fuel the car part of the time and the electric batter the rest of the time gives a nice midway alternative while other technology is explored. At certain speeds the electric motor automatically takes over and is recharged when the car's brakes are used. It is not a permanent solution though since it still uses some gasoline, although significantly less than a normal combustion engine.

Another currently popular fuel is biodiesel. Biodiesel uses vegetable oil as an alternative energy source in a diesel engine, with some changes of course. Since vegetable oil isn't produced from petroleum oil it’s a better choice in the long run, but it does make your car smell like a French fry. There is also the issue of having to refine the oil, especially if you pick it up used from a restaurant. Particulates, just like in gasoline, need to be filtered out and adds cost to the maintenance of this alternative fuel program.

Ethanol is another alternative fuel being looked into by the US government. So much so that they are offering encouragement for farmers to plant corn to create the ethanol, which has recently been linked to rising food costs using wheat which has declined in the amount planted since corn pays better. However adding another pump at a filling station seems unlikely to go over well. It would require costly excavation for the tank and lines, which would render the station unable to benefit from regular fuel sales.

Another alternative fuel source is the water fuel cell. Based on the electrolysis of water into its main components of hydrogen and oxygen it is a very promising alternative. Water is to be had cheaply all over the world and can be filtered easily to create a suitable fuel for a hydrogen fuel cell. Also unlike the other alternative fuels its only byproduct is water vapor, hardly a environmental concern over greenhouse gases and other carbon based pollutants from combustion. Hydrogen fuel cell conversion kits can be had pretty inexpensively as well making it an ideal alternative fuel.

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