Before Shopping for an Alternative Energy Car or Truck....or converting your existing one to Ethanol/E85 or Biodiesel. It is important to see if a fueling station is closest to where you live. Click on Station Location to see where the closest station is to where you live. You can also go to the Route Mapper to plot out locations on various routes you might travel on a regular basis.
Biomass Energy is generated from material derived from recently living organisms. It includes plants, animals and their by-products. Biodiesel, ethanol, electricity, methanol and hydrogen are a few of the fuels that can be created from this energy source. As you read more about renewable and alternative fuels, you will want to better understand biomass energy.
Biodiesel (fatty acid alkyl esters) is a cleaner burning diesel replacement fuel made from natural, renewable sources such as new and used vegetable oils and animal fats. Just like petroleum diesel, biodiesel operates in compression-ignition engines. Blends of up to 20% biodiesel (mixed with petroleum diesel fuels) can be used in nearly all diesel equipment and are compatible with most storage and distribution equipment. These low-level blends (20% and less) generally do not require any engine modifications, however, users should consult their OEM and engine warranty statement. Biodiesel can provide the same payload capacity and as diesel. For more information on fuel blends of 20% biodiesel or less, please see our site on fuel blends.
Using biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine substantially reduces emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, sulfates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and particulate matter. These reductions increase as the amount of biodiesel blended into diesel fuel increases. The best emission reductions are seen with B100.
The use of biodiesel decreases the solid carbon fraction of particulate matter (since the oxygen in biodiesel enables more complete combustion to CO2) and reduces the sulfate fraction (biodiesel contains less than 15 ppm sulfur), while the soluble, or hydrocarbon, fraction stays the same or increases. Therefore, biodiesel works well with emission control technologies such as diesel oxidation catalysts (which reduce the soluble fraction of diesel particulate but not the solid carbon fraction).
Emissions of nitrogen oxides increase with the concentration of biodiesel in the fuel and the increase is roughly 2% for B20. Some biodiesel produces more nitrogen oxides than others, and some additives have shown promise in reducing the increases. More R&D is needed to resolve this issue.
Biodiesel has physical properties very similar to conventional diesel.
Using Biofuels and Biodiesel in Diesel Cars and Trucks
Electricity
is unique among the alternative fuels in that mechanical power is derived
directly from it, whereas the other alternative fuels release stored chemical
energy through combustion to provide mechanical power. Motive power is produced
from electricity by an electric motor. Electricity used to power vehicles is
commonly provided by batteries, but fuel cells are also being explored.
Batteries are energy storage devices, but unlike batteries, fuel cells convert
chemical energy to electricity.
Hydrogen
gas is the simplest and lightest fuel (H2). Hydrogen is in a gaseous state at
atmospheric pressure and ambient temperatures. Hydrogen may contain low levels
of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, depending on the source.
Hydrogen is being explored for use in combustion engines and fuel cell electric vehicles. On a volumetric basis, the energy density of hydrogen is very low under ambient conditions. This presents greater transportation and storage hurdles than for liquid fuels. Storage systems being developed include compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, and physical or chemical bonding between hydrogen and a storage material (for example, metal hydrides).
The ability to create hydrogen from a variety of resources and its clean-burning properties make it a desirable alternative fuel. Although there is no significant transportation distribution system currently for hydrogen transportation use, we can transport and deliver hydrogen for early market penetration using the established hydrogen infrastructure; for significant market penetration, the infrastructure will.
Methanol (CH3OH) is an alcohol fuel. Today most of the world's methanol is produced by a process using natural gas as a feedstock. However, the ability to produce methanol from non-petroleum feedstocks such as coal or biomass is of interest for reducing petroleum imports.
Chemical Properties: As engine fuels, ethanol and methanol have similar chemical and physical characteristics. Methanol is methane with one hydrogen molecule replaced by a hydroxyl radical (OH)
Natural gas
is a mixture of hydrocarbons—mainly methane (CH4)—and is produced either from
gas wells or in conjunction with crude oil production. Natural gas is consumed
in the residential, commercial, industrial, and utility markets.
The interest in natural gas as an alternative fuel stems mainly from its clean burning qualities, its domestic resource base, and its commercial availability to end users. Because of the gaseous nature of this fuel, it must be stored onboard a vehicle in either a compressed gaseous state (CNG) or in a liquefied state (LNG).
Chemical Properties: The main constituent of natural gas is methane, which is a relatively unreactive hydrocarbon. Natural gas as delivered through the pipeline system also contains hydrocarbons such as ethane and propane; and other gases such as nitrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and water vapor.
Propane. According to the Gas Processors Association HD5 specification for LPG as a transportation fuel, LPG must consist of 90% propane, no more than 5% propylene, and 5% other which is primarily butane and butylene. It is produced as a by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining. The components of LPG are gases at normal temperatures and pressures.
P-Series fuel is a unique blend of natural gas liquids (pentanes plus), ethanol, and the biomass-derived co-solvent methyltetrahydrofuran (MeTHF). P-Series fuels are clear, colorless, 89-93 octane, liquid blends that are formulated to be used in flexible fuel vehicles (FFV's). P-Series are designed to be used alone or freely mixed with gasoline in any proportion inside the FFV's gas tank. These fuels are not currently being produced in large quantities and are not widely used.
Ethanol is an alcohol-based alternative fuel produced by
fermenting and distilling starch crops that have been converted into simple
sugars. Feedstocks for this fuel include corn, barley, and wheat. Ethanol can
also be produced from "cellulosic biomass" such as trees and grasses
and is called bioethanol. Ethanol is most commonly used to increase octane and
improve the emissions quality of gasoline.
Ethanol can be blended with gasoline to create E85, a blend
of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. E85 and blends with even higher concentrations
of ethanol, E95, for example, qualify as alternative fuels under the Energy
Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct). Vehicles that run on E85 are called flexible fuel
vehicles (FFVs) and are offered by several vehicle manufacturers.
In some areas of the
Solar Power
Photovoltaic, or solar-electric, systems capture light energy from the sun's rays and convert it into electricity. Today these solar units power everything from small homes to large office buildings.
Technological improvements have made solar-electric modules more cost-effective. In the 1980s the average price of energy captured with photovoltaics was 95 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour. Today that price has dropped to around 20 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to Collins, of the American Solar Energy Society.
How Solar Electric Systems Work
Compared to other renewable energy sources, wind power competes with conventional energy at a price less than 4 cents per kilowatt-hour. Wind energy projects around the world now generate enough energy to power nine million typical U.S. homes, according to the American Wind Energy Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group.
One of the newest trends in wind power is the construction of offshore wind farms, clusters of electricity-generating turbines erected in open-water areas with strong winds.
How Wind Electric Systems Work
Ground Heat or Geothermal
Tapping into the ground offers another option to regulate household heating and cooling. In most areas of the United States, the ground below the frost line maintains an average temperature between 50 and 54 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 12 degrees Celsius).
Ground-source heat pumps, also called geo-exchange systems, use this relatively constant temperature to keep homes at comfortable temperatures. The devices employ a series of underground, liquid-filled tubes or wells. Liquid flows through the pipes into the home, where a heat exchanger either adds or subtracts heat from indoor air, depending on the season. In winter, that means added warmth captured from the ground.
How Geothermal Electric Systems Work
Wave power is the extraction of energy from waves in large bodies of water such as oceans and large lakes. Wave power is a form of renewable energy that is on the rise. It should not be confused with Tidal power, which involves construction of a dam or "power tower" (which is basically a large tube which waves push air through to create power with turbines), which are both structures connected to the land. Wave power is harnessed by other means, including floating objects or machines on the floor of the body of water.
