Ethanol is becoming a popular alternative fuel, as it is made of corn and can be grown domestically within the United States. Consumers will become less dependent upon other oil-bearing nations for reserves. It produces 50% less smog-forming emissions than current fuels.
The fear of ethanol is two-fold:
First, the production and distillation of needed for ethanol relies greatly on diesel and coal for power. The extra energy needed to make ethanol may counter-balance the reduction of vehicular emissions, according to research from the University of California at Berkeley. Second, the consumer cost of ethanol will be higher and give less fuel mileage than current fuel. A driver would have to pay more to go less far on a gallon of ethanol.
Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements in nature. It can be found in everything from water to petroleum. Because of this, hydrogen fuel is one of the avenues researchers are trying to develop as an alternative to conventional fuels. This would mean that unlike petroleum and oil, access to hydrogen would be nearly unlimited.
The main set-back in this option is that, even though auto-makers are diverting large sums of money in the viable creation of hydrogen fuel, the actual capturing of hydrogen isn't easy. Pure hydrogen is rare in nature and in limited supplies. Capturing alternative hydrogen takes a lot of energy. Using current methods, to obtain one kg of hydrogen would take the equivalent energy to power an average North American home for two days.
Hybrid electric-gas vehicles are a reality today. Cars like the Chevy Volt, Toyota Prius and Honda Insight are electric-gas hybrids. They use electricity to reduce the dependence of oil and regular gasoline. Technology has advanced so much that these hybrids produce better mileage per gallon than conventional combustion engines.
Hybrid electric cars may soon be a thing of the past because with the latest technological innovations, viable electric-only vehicles are coming on the market that rival any hybrid or combustion-engine vehicle. The Tesla Roadster, Nissan LEAF and Ford Focus Electric are three examples.
Biodiesel is an attractive alternative because it can be used in current diesel engines without modification. However, it should be noted that they can not be used in regular gasoline engines.
Biodiesel can be made from plant oils, animal fats and even recycled oil from restaurants and food processing plants. In the U.S., biodiesel is made of soybean oil. Other than the fact that biodiesel can be used in current diesel engines, another pro is that a consumer can mix regular diesel with biodiesel without repercussion. So the transition between diesel to biodiesel as gas stations catch up would be seamless.
