The common man, in this day and age, in one who is more aware, and more concerned. Aware of the environment and it’s importance, and concerned about the effect of fossil fuels and conventional means of energy on the environment. As we understand that vehicles, our cars and our jeeps, the SUVs and the minivans that we take for granted, are the main contributors to the degradation of the environment, many of us are turning to ‘greener’ means of transportation, by which we mean cars, or vehicles which run on those fuels which produce lesser pollutants.
But, before going into which cars have the best alternative fuel engines, and why we should switch over to such cars, one must understand what alternative energy fuel is. Alternative energy fuel is any material that is used to transport energy, and hence acts as a fuel, but is different from the conventional fuels, for example petroleum, crude oil, diesel etcetera. These fuels usually are renewable, abundant, and environmentally friendly. Examples of these are ethanol, non-fossil natural gas, vegetable oil, propane, electricity in fuel cells, and biodiesel. Cars which use these alternative energy fuels are known as hybrid cars and are becoming increasingly common.
Alternative fuel energy in cars comes through engines which are powered by electricity, hydrogen fuel cells, along with engines which use a conventional source like gasoline and diesel along with another source to produce energy in the car. Most common of these hybrid cars is the last one, the engine which uses dual sources of energy, such as gasoline electricity hybrids. Theses engines use a lower amount of the conventional fuel because of the dual source energy producer to create the torque and power required to move the vehicle, and hence the emissions from these engines are not as harmful.A different example of such an engine is the ethanol powered engine, wherein ethanol is mixed with gasoline at concentrations of 5/10 percent. Ethanol increases engine efficiency and performance and leads to less impactful exhaust emissions. Another hybrid engine being produced more commonly nowadays is one that is completely non petroleum i.e it works on alternative energy fuels instead of being mixed with conventional fuels. Although less popular than the dual energy producing engines, they are still gaining attention, and are much more environmentally friendly. Examples of such engines are CNG (compressed natural gas) engines which are completely powered by non-fossil natural gas. They have cleaner emissions and CNG costs less than conventional fuels. Vehicles running on bio-diesel, electricity, and propane, are not very common, however, increased awareness about the depletion of the environment and the world’s fuel resources is leading improvement of these forms of alternative energy so as to make these hybrid cars more mainstream.
Tips and comments:
Our fuels are running out, and the world stands at a risk of coming to a standstill unless we find a solution, a replacement for our traditional means of energy. In my opinion, unless we switch our vehicles over to alternative energy fuels such as CNG, ethanol and biodiesel, not only are we putting ourselves in the danger of being too dependant on fuels that are moving out of our reach, but we are also diminishing the environment we are so dependant on for our survival. The facts are simple, the choice should be easy. Alternative energy fuels need to be given attention, and such vehicles must be brought into mainstream use.
