Alternative Fuel Vehicles - Types and possibilities?

What are the different types of alternative fuel availible for cars? Can (or Will) any of them be applied practically in the near future? Cheers


There are many alternative fuel vehicles. Some are on the market today, others are simply concepts. I'll give a quick rundown of the more popular ones:


1. Flex-fuel vehicles - More than 20% of cars on the road today are flex-fuel capable, which means that they are capable of burning a fuel known as E85. E85 is 85% ethanol (which is an alcohol made from corn) and denatured with 15% gasoline.


2. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles. There are fleet and government vehicles that will run on compressed natural gas. The engine technology is similar to that of a gasoline engine, with the exception that it has been configured to use natural gas instead of gasoline. Due to the lack of a refueling infrastructure, privately-owned natural gas vehicles are not very common.


3. Liquefied Propane Gas (LPG). This is also a fuel used by fleet vehicles, in particularly trucks. One of the larger users of these vehicles is the Schwan's Foods company, with their big yellow refrigerated delivery trucks. These trucks use LPG as their fuel.


4. Biodiesel. This is a type of diesel fuel that is made from plant or animal fats and oils. It can be used in most diesel engines with little or no modifications. Blends such as B5 (5% biodiesel, 95% petro diesel) and B20 are available, as well as the full 100% biodiesel. Watch for growth in this alternative fuel.


5. Hydrogen. This fuel can be used both in a standard internal combustion engine like those in cars now, or to generate electricity by feeding it to a fuel cell to generate the electricity, which then runs electric motors. The problem right now is storing enough hydrogen onboard to make this a feasible concept, as well as developing a safe way to store it. Most hydrogen-powered vehicles are only concept cars being tested by automakers.


6. Electrical. Electric cars have been in experimentation for many years. The problem is storing a sufficient amount of electrical power on board to make them feasible. If significant advances in battery technology were made, this is a possible concept.

All of these are still in some degree of experimentation. However, E85 and biodiesel are real products are on the market for consumers to use today. As oil prices escalate, these alternative fuels will develop more market appeal.