ALTERNATIVE FUELS

World today is facing the pinch of rising energy consumption. Green house gas emissions and global warming is also in the forefront of critical issues. India is ranked 6 th in terms of energy demands but its domestic crude oil production satisfies only ¼th of our current demands.

Conventional fuels include: fossil fuels (petroleum,coal), and nuclear materials such as uranium. Alternative fuels, also known as non-conventional fuels, are any materials or substances that can be used as fuels, other than conventional fuels. Some well known alternative fuels……

There are 4 chief Biofuels categories: The 1st generation of biofuels comes from sugar, starch & vegetable fats that are solely dependent on food-crops. It also can be sourced through animal fats. e.g;biofuels are bio-diesel, Bioethanol & biogas.

2nd generation comes from non food crops. e.g.biofuels are bio-diesel, Bioethanol & biogas.

3rd generation is established on the basis of biofuels got through algae. e.g. Algae oil 4 th generation Fuels based on the conversion of vegetable oil and biodiesel into gasoline.

 It can be manufactured from vegetable oils such as palm, rapeseed, soy, linseed, jatropha and coconut oil.  Avoiding the need for expensive additional infrastructure.  Reduction of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter.  Biodiesel and Bioalcohol contains no sulphur. It has natural lubricity and thus lubricity enhancing additive is required.

 Brazil stands 1 st in terms of Biofuel consumption.  According to UNCTAD report, Brazil uses pure ethanol in 20% of their vehicles and a 22 to 26 % ethanol-petrol blend in the rest of their vehicles.  CO emission from automobiles decreased from 50g/km in 1980 to 5.8g/km in 1995  The USA and Australia use a 10% ethanol blend.  India is 4 th largest producer and the government mandated the use of a 5% ethanol blend in petrol sold in nine sugarcane producing states.

Algal Fuel  Microalgae contains Lipids and fatty acids  Over 30%  The biodiesel yield is higher than high traditional yielding crops.  It can be grown in sewages and in the industrial pollutants.  Algal biomass is also a good feed to animals.

 Natural gas is produced either from gas wells  or in conjunction with crude oil production.  Because of the gaseous nature of this fuel, it must be stored onboard a vehicle in either a compressed gaseous state or in a liquefied state  A natural gas vehicle can be less expensive to operate than a comparable conventionally fueled vehicle depending on natural gas prices.

CNG vs. CLG  In India CNG costs are at Rs per kg compared with Rs per liter of petrol.  The cost saving is immense along with reduced emissions and environmentally friendlier cars.  The use of CNG is mandated for the public transport system of India's capital New Delhi as well as for the city of Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat.  The Delhi Transport Corporation operates the world's largest fleet of CNG buses.

Biogas  During production, there is a solid byproduct called digestate. This can be used as a biofuel or fertilizer. Biogas consists of methane.  Low-cost, renewable source of energy.  Because of the gaseous nature of this fuel, it must be stored onboard a vehicle in either a compressed gaseous state or in a liquefied state.  A biogas-powered train has been in service in Sweden since 2005

Electricity is used as fuel in the form of batteries and fuel cells. Fuel Cells are more promising because they use other fuels to create the electrical energy

 Hydrogen and oxygen from air fed into a proton exchange membrane fuel cell produce enough electricity to power an electric automobile, without producing harmful emissions. The only byproduct of a hydrogen fuel cell is water.  Daimler starts its FC vehicle production in 2009 with the aim of 100,000 vehicles  Hyundai will produce 500 FC vehicles by 2010 and expects to start mass production of its FC vehicles

 Readily available.  Relatively cheaper.  Zero pollution.

 Emulsified diesel fuel is a mixture of diesel fuel with water and emulsifying and stabilizing additives.  Combustion is more efficient.  Reduced NO x ; and PM

The process involves heating shredded plastic waste with coal and a secret chemical. This yields around 1 litre of crude oil for every kilogram of waste plastic. Using infra-red energy to remove hydrocarbons from plastic without the use of a catalyst, transforming 82% of the original plastic material into fuel.