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Alternative fuel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Typical Brazilian filling station with four alternative fuels for sale: biodiesel (B3),

gasohol (E25), neat ethanol (E100), and compressed natural gas (CNG). Piracicaba, SãoPaulo, Brazil.

Alternative fuels, known as non-conventional or advanced fuels, are any materials or 

substances that can be used as fuels, other than conventional fuels. Conventional fuelsinclude: fossil fuels ( petroleum (oil), coal, propane, and natural gas), as well as nuclear 

materials such as uranium and thorium, as well as artificial radioisotope fuels that are

made in nuclear reactors, and store their energy.

Some well-known alternative fuels include biodiesel,  bioalcohol (methanol, ethanol, butanol), chemically stored electricity (batteries and fuel cells), hydrogen, non-fossil

methane, non-fossil natural gas, vegetable oil, and other   biomass sources.

Contents

[hide]

• 1 Background

• 2 Biofuel

o 2.1 Biomass

o 2.2 Algae based fuels

o 2.3 Biodiesel

• 3 Alcohol fuels

• 4 Ammonia• 5 Hydrogen

• 6 HCNG

• 7 Liquid nitrogen

• 8 Compressed air • 9 Alternative fossil fuels

• 10 Nuclear power and radiothermal generators

o 10.1 Nuclear reactors

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o 10.2 Radiothermal generators

• 11 See also

• 12 References

• 13 External links

[edit] Background

The main purpose of fuel is to store energy, which should be in a stable form and can be

easily transported to the place of production. Almost all fuels are chemical fuels. The user employs this fuel to generate heat or perform mechanical work, such as powering an

engine. It may also be used to generate electricity, which is then used for heating, lighting

or electronics purposes.

[edit] Biofuel

Main article: Biofuel

Alternative fuel dispensers at a regular gasoline station in Arlington, Virginia. B20 

 biodiesel at the left and E85 ethanol at the right.

Biofuels are also considered a renewable source. Although renewable energy is used

mostly to generate electricity, it is often assumed that some form of renewable energy or 

at least it is used to create alternative fuels.

[edit] Biomass

Main article: Biomass

Biomass in the energy production industry is living and recently dead biological materialwhich can be used as fuel or for industrial production.

[edit] Algae based fuels

Main article: Algae fuel

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Algae based biofuels have been hyped in the media as a potential panacea to our Crude

Oil based Transportation problems. Algae could yield more than 2000 gallons of fuel per 

acre per year of production.[1] Algae based fuels are being successfully tested by the U.S. Navy[2] Algae based plastics show potential to reduce waste and the cost per pound of 

algae plastic is expected to be cheaper than traditional plastic prices. [3]

[edit] Biodiesel

Biodiesel is made from animal fats or vegetable oils, renewable resources that come from

 plants such as, soybean, sunflowers, corn, olive, peanut, palm, coconut, safflower, canola,sesame, cottonseed, etc. Once these fats or oils are filtered from their hydrocarbons and

then combined with alcohol like methanol, biodiesel is brought to life from this chemical

reaction. These raw materials can either be mixed with pure diesel to make various proportions, or used alone. Despite one’s mixture preference, biodiesel will release a

smaller number of its pollutants (carbon monoxide particulates and hydrocarbons) than

conventional diesel, because biodiesel burns both cleaner and more efficiently. Even with

regular diesel’s reduced quantity of sulfur from the ULSD (ultra-low sulfur diesel)invention, biodiesel exceeds those levels because it is sulfur-free. [4]

[edit] Alcohol fuels

Main articles: Alcohol fuel, Butanol fuel, Ethanol fuel, and Methanol fuel

Methanol and Ethanol fuel are typically a primary sources of energy; they are convenientfuels for storing and transporting energy. These alcohols can be used in "internal

combustion engines as alternative fuels", with butanol also having known advantages,

such as being the only alcohol-based motor fuel that can be transported readily by

existing petroleum-product pipeline networks, instead of only by tanker trucks andrailroad cars.

[edit] Ammonia

Ammonia can be used as fuel. A small machine can be set up to create the fuel and it isused where it is made. Benefits of ammonia include, no need for oil, zero emissions, low

cost,[5] and distributed production reducing transport and related pollution.

[edit] Hydrogen

Main article: Hydrogen fuel

Hydrogen is an emissionless fuel. The byproduct of hydrogen burning is water, althoughsome mono-nitrogen oxides NOx are produced when hydrogen is burned with air.[6][7]

[edit] HCNG

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Main article: HCNG

HCNG (or H2CNG) is a mixture of compressed natural gas and 4-9 percent hydrogen by

energy.[8]

[edit] Liquid nitrogen

Liquid nitrogen is another type of emissionless fuel.

[edit] Compressed air

The air engine is an emission-free piston engine using compressed air as fuel. Unlike

hydrogen, compressed air is about one-tenth as expensive as fossil oil, making it aneconomically attractive alternative fuel.

[edit] Alternative fossil fuels

Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a cleaner burning alternative to conventional petroleum

automobile fuels. The energy efficiency is generally equal to that of gasoline engines, butlower compared with modern diesel engines. CNG vehicles require a greater amount of 

space for fuel storage than conventional gasoline power vehicles because CNG takes up

more space for each GGE (Gallon of Gas Equivalent). Almost any existing gasoline car can be turned into a bi-fuel (gasoline/CNG) car. However, natural gas is a finite resource

like all fossil fuels, and production of natural gas is expected to peak soon after oil.[citation

needed ]

 Natural gas, like hydrogen, is another fuel that burns cleanly; cleaner than both gasolineand diesel engines. Also, none of the smog-forming contaminates are emitted, seen

substantially by the latter. Around the world, this gas powers more than 5 million

vehicles, and just over 150,000 of these are in the U.S. [9]

[edit] Nuclear power and radiothermal generators

Main articles: Nuclear power  and radiothermal generator 

[edit] Nuclear reactors

 Nuclear power is any nuclear technology designed to extract usable energy from atomic

nuclei via controlled nuclear reactions. The only controlled method now practical uses

nuclear fission in a fissile fuel (with a small fraction of the power coming fromsubsequent radioactive decay). Use of the nuclear reaction nuclear fusion for controlled

 power generation is not yet practical, but is an active area of research.

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 Nuclear power is usually used by using a nuclear reactor to heat a working fluid such as

water, which is then used to create steam pressure, which is converted into mechanical

work for the purpose of generating electricity or propulsion in water. Today, more than15% of the world's electricity comes from nuclear power, and over 150 nuclear-powered

naval vessels have been built.

In theory, electricity from nuclear reactors could also be used for   propulsion in space, but

this has yet to be demonstrated in a space flight. Some smaller reactors, such as theTOPAZ nuclear reactor , are built to minimize moving parts, and use methods that convert

nuclear energy to electricity more directly, making them useful for space missions, but

this electricity has historically been used for other purposes. Power from nuclear fission has been used in a number of spacecraft, all of them unmanned. The Soviets up to 1988

orbited 33 nuclear reactors in RORSAT military radar satellites, where electric power 

generated was used to power a radar unit that located ships on the Earth's oceans. TheU.S. also orbited one experimental nuclear reactor in 1965, in the SNAP-10A mission.

 No nuclear reactor has been sent into space since 1988.

[edit] Radiothermal generators

In addition, radioisotopes have been used as alternative fuels, on both land and in space.

Their use on land is declining due to the danger of theft of isotope and environmental

damage if the unit is opened. The decay of radioisotopes generates both heat andelectricity in many space probes, particularly probes to outer planets where sunlight is

weak, and low temperatures is a problem. Radiothermal generators (RTGs) which use

such radioisotopes as fuels do not sustain a nuclear chain reaction, but rather generateelectricity from the decay of a radioisotope which has (in turn) been produced on Earth as

a concentrated power source (fuel) using energy from an Earth-based nuclear reactor . [10]

[edit] See also

Wikinews has news related to:

 Energy

 Sustainable development portal 

 Energy portal 

• Alternative fuel cars

• Alternative propulsion

• Greasestock - An alternative fuel festival in New York • List of 2007 Hybrid Vehicles

• Alcohol fuel

• Biogas

• Compressed-air vehicle

• Magnesium injection cycle

•  NGH - A possible future alternative to LNG for transporting natural gas

• Vegetable oil used as fuel

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• Swiftfuel -- A potential lead-free alternative to 100LL aviation gasoline.

• Energy development

• List of energy topics

• Heating value

[edit] References

1. ^ "Is Algae Based Biofuel a Great Green Investment Opportunity". Green

World Investor. 2010-04-06. Retrieved 2010-07-11.2. ^ "Navy demonstrates alternative fuel in riverine vessel". Marine Log.

2010-10-22. Retrieved 2010-07-11.

3. ^ "Can algae-based plastics reduce our plastic footprint?". Smart Planet.2009-10-07. Retrieved 2010-04-05.

4. ^ Wheeler, Jill (2008). Alternative Cars. ABDO. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-

59928-803-1.5. ^ Yirka, Bob (2011-09-05). "Pair claim they can make ammonia to fuel

cars for just 20 cents per liter". Physorg.com. Retrieved 2011-09-12.6. ^ College of the Desert (December 2001). "Module 3: Hydrogen use in

internal combustion engines". Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy(EERE). Retrieved 2011-09-12.

7. ^ Gable, Christine; Gable, Scott. "Fuel or Fool?". about.com. Retrieved

2011-09-12.8. ^ "Hydrogen/Natural Gas (HCNG) Fuel Blends". Office of Energy

Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). 2009-10-07. Retrieved 2010-07-11.

9. ^ Wheeler, Jill (2008). Alternative Cars. ABDO. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-59928-803-1.

10. ^ Summary of nuclear reactor and RTG powered spacecraft….