|
There’s possibility you might have noticed
a slight increase in the price of gas. Okay, you’re probably
grinding your teeth every time you just pass a gas station, to say
nothing of the stress of actually buying gas. It’s enough to
make a person say the heck with gas entirely. If only.
Fortunately, there are alternative fuels
available, with more on the way. There’s a good chance you’ll
be able to find a fuel alternative that will save both your teeth
and your sanity when you go to the pumps.
Biodiesel
This alternative fuel is available right now.
Commercially available biodiesel costs right around the same
amount as regular diesel, which could still be a savings compared
to regular gas to begin with.
The real alternative that will save money is
using purified cooking oil as fuel. By running ordinary used
grease through a strainer, you can use it without modification in
some diesel vehicles. Given that you get used oil for free at many
restaurants, this is an alternative fuel that can really save you
money.
Hybrids
As the name implies, hybrids use two or more
fuels as an alternative to just using gasoline. This is one of the
more common kinds of alternative fuel strategies, since they
don’t require any change in your habits.
They way most work is to use a gas or diesel
motor to power a generator that charges batteries that power the
electric motors that drive the wheels. Whew. This increases fuel
efficiency by a number of means, including using the friction from
braking to charge up the batteries, for example, and taking
advantage of having less weight from the engine.
Fuel Cells
One alternative fuel source that will become
widely available in the next few years is the fuel cell. Of all
the alternative fuels, this one is the most science fiction like
of them. A fuel cell is basically a battery that never goes dead.
Never, so long as the chemicals that provide the energy keep
coming in.
The chemical that most fuel cells are slated
to use is hydrogen. 8 dollars of hydrogen will take a car around
160 miles. This is very roughly equivalent to getting 80 miles to
the gallon with regular fuel. And as fuel cells as an alternative
fuel become more popular, hydrogen prices will almost certainly
drop, so this is one of the most promising.
So if the price of gas is getting you down,
then take heart, alternative fuels and some relief are just around
the corn
|
