A lot of people are fed up with high gas prices but don’t have a clue on how to deal with it. People who have the money are purchasing fuel-efficient vehicles to help manage their fuel expenditure. It was just recently that oil prices started to increase around the world. This article is focused on alternative fuels for our cars.
Fuel that is something other than petrol or diesel is thought to be alternative fuel. Vehicle have recently been running on electrical energy, solar power and hybrid, which is a mix of gas and electric. There is also an option to make use of water to create energy to help save on fuel. There have been a number of reasons why governments and car makers have taken the initiative to produce cars that use fuel other than fossil fuels. Europe has tightened the environmental laws, and added taxes to fuel, so auto makers had to take action. There are even tighter regulations coming out regarding greenhouse gas emissions.
Our atmosphere is getting worse due to the greenhouse gases being given off by fossil fueled automobiles. Because of this, climate changes such as the rise in temperatures are creating havoc to our environment. You might not even be aware that there are automobiles that run on hydrogen, fuel cells, solar power, LPG, and ethanol. Vehicles that use LPG, or liquified petroleum gas, are being fueled by a combination of butane and propane. When compressed, they become hydrocarbon gases that turn to liquid. Not only will cars running on this lower carbon monoxide gas emission, but cut fuel expense by 50% compared to diesel and gas.
There are autos that use solar panels to make electricity out of the sunlight, and then use the electricity to run an electric motor, or produce another fuel like hydrogen. These cars have the solar arrays on their roofs. A number of autos run on fuels like ethanol which is sourced from plants. The fuel is produced when plants or crops that are high in sugar or carbohydrates undergo fermentation. Brazil uses sugar cane to produce ethanol, and have replaced 200,000 barrels of crude oil daily. Toxic emissions in this country have dropped more than 30% because of ethanol powered cars. Vehicles that use fuel cells use energy from oxygen and hydrogen that are produced from these fuel cells. These type of autos are the cleanest to run, since they only give off water vapor and heat.
Hybrid automobiles utilize several energy sources to run, like the Toyta Prius. An electric motor and small gasoline-powered engine combined produces great results. Each component is utilized differently according to driving conditions. Traveling at state highway speeds, both are being used and the battery is being charged at that time also. Resolving environmental issues is the purpose of adapting to higher fuel costs by using alternative energy.