Many different types of alternative fuels are being developed currently and this is a very exciting innovation in the automobile industry. The use of alternative fuels are the wave of the future as researchers try to develop cleaner burning fuels that will not damage the environment and also provide great advantages to the vehicle owner. Several alternative fuels have been developed with great promise. The most well known of all the alternative fuels is ethanol. Ethanol is often referred to as grain alcohol because it is produced from corn and/or soybeans. Ethanol can also be produced from organic materials such as agricultural crops and waste, plant material left from logging, and trash including paper. On the market currently is E85 which is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Although it still has gasoline in it, E85 ethanol burns much cleaner than regular gasoline and provides better gas mileage. Compared with gasoline-fueled vehicles, most ethanol-fueled vehicles produce lower carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions and the same or lower levels of hydrocarbon and non-methane hydrocarbon emissions. Oxides of nitrogen emissions are about the same for ethanol and gasoline vehicles. E85 has fewer highly volatile components than gasoline and so has fewer evaporative emissions. Methanol is another type of alternative fuel and is a cousin of ethanol since they are both alcohol based products. Sometimes called wood alcohol, methanol can be produced from various biomass resources such as wood and coal. Currently, methanol is made primarily from natural gas, or methane, because it is less expensive. Methanol is also very poisonous and very harmful if swallowed. Methanol must not be confused with ethanol. As with gasoline, it is also wise to avoid skin contact with methanol, as it can pass through the skin. Methanol is also used as an anti-freeze as well as a solvent. Methanol is used a lot in the open wheel racing circuits because it is highly combustible. It is also used a lot in drag racing as well as with remote control airplanes and on the Indy racing circuit. Methanol is less flammable than gasoline so it is considered safer to use in high performance engines. Propane is another alternative fuel for use in vehicles that is rising in popularity. Propane is made from compressed natural gas and has long been used to provide energy for homes. Similar to oil, propane is recovered from underground. However, natural gas is a gas similar to air, rather than a liquid like petroleum. This fuel is considered one of the most environmentally friendly fuels. Natural gas, like methanol, is mostly made up of 95 percent methane gas. The other 5 percent is made up of various gases along with small amounts of water vapor. These other gases include butane, propane, ethane and other trace gases. Methane is a hydrocarbon, meaning its molecules are made up of hydrogen and carbon atoms. Its simple, one carbon, molecular structure (CH4) makes possible its nearly complete combustion. Because of its clean burning nature and the fact that it is not made from petroleum, as gasoline and diesel are, many automakers around the world are developing vehicles to run on natural gas. Cars, vans, buses and small trucks generally use natural gas that has been compressed and stored in high-pressure cylinders. Another type of alternative fuel is becoming very popular to use in vehicles and that is electricity. Electric automobiles have actually been around for a long time and they are becoming more popular due to environmental concerns. In the early 1900s, there were more electric vehicles than there were gasoline-powered cars. Back in the early 1920s when vehicles were becoming more popular, gasoline was very expensive. It also was hard to start a gasoline engine; you had to turn and turn and turn a crank in front of the car to get it to start. They did not have a key to start the car like we do today. Gasoline vehicles were also noisy and put out lots of smoke. The cars either had no mufflers, or the mufflers didn't do a good job. So, electric vehicles were a big hit. At one time there were 50,000 of them on the roads and streets of the United States. But these vehicles soon faded away like the horse-drawn carriage. New ways to make gasoline cheaply were being discovered. Electric vehicles do not burn gasoline in an engine but use electricity stored on the vehicle in batteries. Some vehicles need 12 or 24 batteries to power the car. Hydrogen is one of the most interesting and promising alternative fuel on market today. Vehicle using this fuel currently are mostly experimental, but the potential for hydrogen as a source of fuel is excellent. Hydrogen is the lightest of all the elements and is easy to produce through electrolysis, simply splitting water (H20) into oxygen and hydrogen by using electricity. However, these days, nearly all hydrogen is made from natural gas. Because hydrogen burns nearly pollution-free, it has been looked at as the ultimate clean fuel. When burned, it turns into heat and water vapor. This is why hydrogen is being touted as the next big type of alternative fuel to be used in vehicles. Hydrogen's clean burning characteristics may, one day, make it a popular transportation fuel. For now, the problem of how to store enough hydrogen on a vehicle for a reasonable range, and its high cost, compared to gasoline, are critical barriers to widespread commercial use. The alternative fuels discussed above are only a few of the many available and more are being developed all the time. Burning fossil fuels such as gasoline contributes to global warming, a disturbing phenomonen of rising temperatures that can cause rising sea levels, severe climate changes, decreased agricultural yields, glacial retreats, and many other problems. Using alternative fuels reduces global warming and its use will continue to grow in popularity. Over time many other types of alternative fuels will make their appearance.
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