Bio-Fuels
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"Get around round, round...I get around..."
The Beach Boys
Alternatives without compromise.
We use the term 'bio-fuels' to basically refer to any fuel alternative to petroleum-based fuels for various engine applications--from vehicles to power tools. These alternative bio-fuels would include bio-diesel, being the most familiar, and biomass gasification, which is more familiar in Europe. There are those who are distilling their own alcohol as fuel, and in some cases even water is being tried with some success. There are also the hybrid and electric cars but those topics are covered in more detail on the Alternative Power Sources page.
We found these excellent articles on how to make your own bio-diesel fuel by Scott and Christine Gable. Scroll down for their bio-diesel recipe (they also talk about using the leftover glycerin for soap making--for more on that topic see the Self-Sufficient page).
The Treehugger web site provides a good overall series on bio-diesel. This other site goes into more detail about bio-diesel as well as rating various plans for water as fuel.
$7K Ethanol-at-Home Machine
Do you have a flexible fuel vehicle but can’t find E85? The EFuel100 MicroFueler could produce it at home.
Own a restaurant, bar, or winery and have waste alcohol beverages that cannot be sold? The MicroFueler could turn them into ethanol. By the end of 2008, E-Fuel Corporation will start delivering the world’s first portable ethanol micro-refinery system for home use. It can make ethanol and pump it directly into vehicles. All you need is sugar, yeast, water, and 110-220 AC power. Read more
Honda FCX Clarity and Home Hydrogen Fueling Stations
Honda’s decision to transition its FCX Clarity into limited production and lease some 50 of these hydrogen fuel cell cars to customers in Southern California is a groundbreaking move. Why Southern California? A small number of very expensive hydrogen fueling stations already exist here and more are in the planning stages. In tandem with this, Honda has also shown a longer term solution for refueling hydrogen vehicles in the form of its fourth generation Home Energy Station. Working with its technology partner Plug Power, Honda debuted the first Home Energy Station in 2003, followed by improved and more compact HES II and III versions in the years that followed.
The Home Energy Station is a self-contained unit that not only supplies the high purity hydrogen required for a fuel cell vehicle, but through co-generation also heats a home, provides hot water, and produces electricity. Its energy feedstock is the natural gas that’s already supplied to most U.S. homes. In operation, a fuel processor uses steam reformation to convert natural gas to hydrogen gas. Then, after purification and compression to a higher pressure to allow more compact storage, the hydrogen is stored in tanks and available for refueling a hydrogen vehicle’s 5,000 psi on-board storage cylinders.
The HES also has its own fuel cell that uses hydrogen to produce electricity for the home. An inverter converts this fuel cell’s DC output to standard 120 volt AC household electrical power. Waste heat from the fuel cell is used for home and water heating. Read More
Air-Powered Cars
As odd as it sounds, running a car on air is a reality. Proof of concept and prototype compressed air vehicles – commonly referred to as “air cars” – have been running around for a number of years.
How could it be possible to run on air? Consider the physical work that compressed air already does to make our everyday lives easier. Mechanics rely on air-driven pneumatic tools every day to turn nuts and bolts with authority in garages around the world. Pneumatic tools are powerful, even at a relatively low pounds per-square-inch (psi) pressure setting. They can free rusted-on lug nuts and separate metal from metal through an air hammer or pneumatic chisel. Crank the pressure up and compressed air is a force to be reckoned with, providing enough power to even propel a wheel driven car. Read more
5 Facts About Alternative Fuels
1. Why Are Alternative Fuels Necessary?
Oxides of nitrogen. Carbon monoxide. Particulate matter. An increase in the greenhouse gases that is suspected of contributing to worldwide disastrous effects like extreme weather conditions and climate change [Although these are not yet proven as facts]. Overall, the necessity of moving toward alternative fuels is beyond argument. Continuing to pollute our air and atmosphere as we have in the past is not only foolish when the effects are studied, but is an option that’s decidedly short-lived as our fossil fuel resources dwindle over time [or become increasingly more expensive]. Even if we don’t do harm to our planet, the options of using nonrenewable fuel sources has a calculated end in our future.
2. Alternative Fuel Options
Ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, electricity, and hydrogen fuel are all ecologically responsible forms of renewable energy that – to varying degrees –can be used to power vehicles. Biobutanol, compressed air, and other renewables are also being explored. Plus, cleaner burning fossil fuels that could displace petroleum use, such as natural gas and propane, are being increasingly used for transportation.
3. Alternative Fuel Benefits
E85 ethanol fuel, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, burns cleaner than gasoline and can potentially provide more horsepower. The same can be said for M85 methanol, although methanol’s time as a motor fuel may have passed with widespread experimental use of this fuel in the 1990s. Compressed natural gas can fuel internal combustion engines and has the benefits of extremely low emissions and higher octane, which allows optimizing engines for increased performance. Propane offers lower emissions than gasoline and diesel fuels. Biodiesel can be used in modern diesel engines with little or no modifications. Electricity provides an efficient way to power electric motors while creating zero localized emissions. Hydrogen can be used to cleanly power a modified internal combustion engine or a fuel cell vehicle with electric drive motors.
4. Downsides to Alternative Fuels
Each alternative fuel has its challenges. They typically include a lack of fueling infrastructure and either the cost of the fuel or the challenge of storing it on board a vehicle in ways that allow expected driving range. These challenges are being addressed vigorously as companies and proponents of these fuels strive to bring them to the mass market.
5. How Alternative Fuels are Used in Vehicles Today
Commercially available models of flexible-fuel E85 ethanol cars, hybrids, low speed electric cars, and one natural gas model from Honda are available. Vehicles modified to run on natural gas and propane are available from companies that specialize in this. Air cars are being introduced in limited numbers to the public in Europe but not yet in the United States. Biodiesel is being used increasingly in diesel vehicles. With the high and rising cost of gasoline and diesel fuel at the pump, the development and use of alternative fuels will only increase in the future.
Want to know more about alternative fuels? Be sure to check out these articles on GreenCar.com:
Ethanol and Biodiesel in the United States
Five Fuels Driving the Future
Clean Fuels Deliver