Why Hybrids? – Part 2 – Alternative Fuels
Toyota Pius - Photo by Caleb
Compressed natural gas, propane, liquefied petroleum gas, fully electric vehicles and bio-diesel fuel are great alternative fuel sources. They save the environment, most get decent gas mileage, and the concept is wonderful. I am all for alternative fuels. However, a big problem with some of the alternative fuels is that they are not readily available in the U.S. Compressed natural gas (CNG), propane, liquefied petroleum gas or electricity hook ups at fueling stations just don’t exist. The amount of time and money it would take to make these hook ups readily available to the public would be tremendous. Additionally, the governmental regulatory agencies, and entities with special interests against alternative fuels would have to be dealt with politically, which is another significant problem.
The future alternative fuel may be electricity with the advent of plug in cars like the new Toyota Prius and Chevy Volt. Yes, electricity is a fine way to power a vehicle, but like many of the other alternative fuels there are no readily available ways to fuel up a battery if you want to go a little ways away from your local city. More bad news, a recent study done by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency found that running a pure electric vehicle still produces more emissions than a gas engine if a majority of the power comes from power plants that pollute by burning coal, which is the fuel used by a majority of power plants. If 40% or more of your power is from clean and renewable sources, like wind or solar, then by all means, get an electric car for your local day to day commuting. You’ll be making a decent step towards saving the Earth and you’ll be getting great gas mileage compared to gas vehicles. Lastly, most people can’t afford to have more than one car. If you have the electric car for your daily commute and local driving then you need another car for trips to see relatives, vacations, or camping where the round trip will be over 200 miles. Strides in electric vehicles are coming pretty fast, but right now it’s just not a viable option for the average person and for environmental purposes.
Glover Oil Truck - Photo by Caleb Hammel
Bio-diesel is a fantastic alternative fuel that people have heard of but still don’t know much about. Bio-diesel can be run in every car or truck that can run diesel with little to no modification. This means that almost every vehicle out there can use bio-diesel right now! You may be asking why this is good. Why is this bio thing so awesome? Just because it says bio doesn’t make it good right? In this case it does. Bio-diesel is made from animal and plant fats, for example soybean, rapeseed, canola, palm, cottonseed, sunflower and peanut are all crops that can produce bio-diesel. Additionally old vegetable oil and animal fats can be used as recycled products from places that use fryers like McDonalds. These are renewable and reduce the amount of harmful gasses produced by a diesel engine. Bio-diesel blend goes by ratings of B20, B30, B40, etc. The rating B20 means it’s 80% diesel and 20% bio-diesel. B20 reduces CO2 emission by a whopping 15% while running B100 bio-diesel will reduce CO2 emissions by 75%. Compare the emissions of CO2 in grams per gallon in gas(19.564 ), diesel(22.384), B20(19.026), and B100(5.596). Once the numbers are crunched bio-diesel blends are a great source of energy for people who want to be environmentally friendly. Another great thing about bio-diesel is that it’s available near most medium to large sized cities and current pumps wouldn’t have to be modified in order to pump bio-diesel, so the infrastructure is already in place. Thus, one of the major problems in converting to the other alternative fuels is easily overcome. In Florida there are 23 distributors and in Minnesota there are 151. Lastly if there are no bio-diesel distributors around you when you need to fill up during your long trip across the US you still have the trusty and faithful diesel to drive around town on, and diesel stations are everywhere. Next time you are running around town check out how many gas stations also have diesel. Bio-diesel is the only alternative bio-mass fuel to be approved by the EPA, a governmental regulatory problem already overcome that other alternative fuels will have to go through.
Diesel Fuel Pump - Photo by Caleb Hammel
One of the cons for bio-diesel is that NOx emissions raise slightly, but all other emissions are reduced so the trade off is far worth it. Another is that bio-diesel has a lower potential power. It’s closer to that of gasoline which means slightly lower gas mileage and power (2% lower with B20). A third con is that older diesels, made in 1992 and before, may not be able to run bio-diesel unless their gaskets are upgraded to ones that are bio-diesel safe. Another thing to consider is that bio-diesel will clean out your fuel system which could clog the fuel filter with particulates left in your fuel tank from regular diesel. So it is highly recommend that you change your fuel filter right before you switch over to bio-diesel and then two to three times soon thereafter to make sure your system is clog free. Ultimately your fuel system will also be cleaner which is a good thing.
Lastly, bio-diesel is very safe to handle. Because it is biodegradable it will clean up faster and easier if a spill were to occur and it is non-toxic so it wouldn’t hurt the environment as much, especially if a car or truck were to have a leak of some sort.
Alternative fuels are great and I think the US is finally taking some decent footsteps in the right direction and should continue to do so. But if you want something that is here, now, that will help save the environment, can save a penny with getting great mileage and not have to buy a separate car for in city and long trips, then get a vehicle that uses diesel.
Related Posts
Why Hybrids? – Part 1 – The Big Rigs
Why Hybrids? – Part 2 – Alternative Fuels
Why Hybrids? – Part 3 – Learning to Drive
Sources
3 Comments
I onehundred Percent agree. I had a Diesel but had to sell it because it was considered a salvage Vehicle. I was looking for another diesel. Don’t have Space anymore….