ENG 101
Ms. Emerson
19 October 2006
Alternative Fuels
Panic gripped the nation. Gasoline prices had quadrupled in just a few months. Many
motorists were spending two to three hours in lines that stretched over a mile in front of gas
stations that had fuel available. The year was 1973 and the Arabs imposed an embargo on
western nations for their support of Israel. The United States, a country where everything
seemed to revolve around cars, was suddenly plunged into a world of insecurity. The world’s
strongest nation was at the mercy of much weaker and smaller nations. As a result of this crisis,
the US vowed to reduce its dependence on foreign oil. At that time, President Nixon established
the Department of Energy with a major emphasis on developing alternative fuels.
Unfortunately, over thirty years later the US is just as dependent on foreign oil as it was in 1973
and little progress has been made in developing alternative fuels (Horton, 2006).
The United States uses almost twenty million barrels of oil and four hundred million
gallons of gasoline every day (How Stuff Works, 2006). However, the supply of these
conventional fuels is limited, and once again the US must look to alternative fuels. Using
alternative fuel can save a person two hundred to fifteen hundred dollars in fuel costs every year
(How Stuff Works, 2006). Petroleum imports cost the United States over four billion dollars a
week. Researchers agree that with better fuel economy, the nation can reduce its dependence on
foreign oil. They find that alternative fuels also benefit the environment. These fuels limit
environmental problems, such as pollution and global warming, unlike conventional fuels. Many
studies have been released that consider a variety of alternative fuels for wide use, including
ethanol, biodiesel, natural gas, propane, and hydrogen.
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Ethanol is one possible alternative fuel that can be used instead of conventional fuels.
Ethanol is an alcohol based fuel made by fermenting and distilling starch crops, such as corn. It
can also be made from cellulosic biomass, such as trees and grasses. Brazil was the first nation
to experiment with ethanol as a source of fuel. Now, the United States is taking action to create
a large-scale production of ethanol (Dias De Oliveira, Vaughan, Rykiel Jr., 2005). The United
States Department of Energy has thoroughly studied ethanol as a source of energy. Different
blends of the fuel can be made by using fermentation or distillation. E10 (also known as
gasohol) is a blend of ten percent ethanol and ninety percent gasoline (U.S. Department of
Energy, 2006). This blend is approved by all auto manufacturers and can be used as a source of
fuel in most vehicles. Another popular blend of ethanol is E85. This is a mixture of eighty-five
percent ethanol and fifteen percent gasoline. It can be used in flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs),
which can operate on ethanol, gasoline, or a blended form of the two. Researchers from the
United States Department of Energy found that the utilization of ethanol has several advantages.
The domesticated production of ethanol reduces the dependence on importing petroleum from
foreign countries. This can also create jobs for Americans, because a workforce will be needed
for the ethanol production, and thus boost the economy. Lower emissions of air pollutants will
be released, which will slow down the world’s problem with global warming. Despite the
environmentally friendly benefits, ethanol has very low energy content, resulting in fewer miles
per gallon. These vehicles are also significantly expensive and difficult to produce. The cost of
ethanol varies regionally and cannot be classified as a pure advantage or disadvantage. Although
ethanol is cheaper than gasoline in areas like the Midwest, it is more expensive than gasoline in
other areas of the nation (U.S. Department of Energy, 2006).
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Another alternative fuel option to use in the nation is biodiesel. This form of diesel is
produced from vegetable oils, animal fats, or restaurant greases. Clean or used vegetable oil
cannot be directly inserted into vehicles before being converted to biodiesel or else the oil will
damage the engine. The United States Department of Energy found that, like ethanol, biodiesel
can be used in different forms. It can be used pure, as B100, or mixed with petroleum diesel,
including blends B2, B5, and B20. However, B2 and B5 are the main blends that can be used
safely in most diesel engines. Vehicle manufacturers recommend using blends with five percent
or less biodiesel (U.S. Department of Energy, 2006). Charles Choi researched the types of
biodiesel blends and their effects as alternative fuels. Using biodiesel fuel saves nonrenewable
resources. It is domestically produced from non-petroleum, renewable resources. Therefore, this
source will be beneficial as a long term source to use in the future when non-renewable sources
are scarce. Biodiesel can be used in most diesel engines, which saves money compared to the
alternative fuels that require specific engines in order to operate. In addition to being nontoxic
and biodegradable, biodiesel releases forty-one percent fewer air pollutants and greenhouse gases
than traditional conventional fuels (Choi, 2006). It is also safe to handle and transport.
Although the fuel is safe, biodiesel does have many disadvantages. Blends over five percent
biodiesel are not yet warranted and are not considered safe to use in vehicles. Biodiesel contains
lower fuel economy and power, and therefore is less efficient. It is also inefficient in that it
releases more nitrogen oxide emissions (even though it releases less air pollutants and
greenhouse gases). Biodiesel prices also tend to be higher than petroleum diesel prices (U.S.
Department of Energy, 2006).
Natural gas also tends to be a more expensive alternative fuel source. It is a fossil fuel
made mostly of ethane and is one of the cleanest burning fuels. Natural gas can be used in two
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forms: compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG). Researchers in the United
States Department of energy have found different types of vehicles that use natural gas (although
vehicles are limited in availability). Dedicated natural gas vehicles run only on natural gas,
whereas dual fuel (or bifuel) vehicles can run on natural gas or diesel. The purpose of dual fuel
vehicles is to allow consumers to take advantage of the availability of gasoline or diesel, while
using a cleaner, more economical alternative when natural gas is available (U.S. Department of
Energy, 2006). There are a couple of advantages to using natural gas. Almost eighty-seven
percent of United States natural gas use is domestically produced. Natural gas produces or
releases sixty to ninety percent less smog pollutants and thirty to forty percent less greenhouse
gas emissions. Although natural gas is less expensive than gasoline, it is also less readily
available. Countries such as China, who currently rely on natural gas as a fuel source, are
looking for alternatives (including methanol and ammonia) due to the limited supply of natural
gas (Wood, 2006). In addition to the limited vehicle availability, a disadvantage of natural gas is
that the vehicle travels fewer miles on one tank of fuel (U.S. Department of Energy, 2006).
An alternative fuel source that is a clean burning fossil fuel that can be used to power
internal combustion engines is propane or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Gasoline and diesel
vehicles can be modified to operate on LPG in addition to conventional fuel. Because LPG is
stored in high pressure fuel tanks, separate fuel systems are required in vehicles that are powered
by both LPG and conventional fuels. The benefits of using propane include it releases fewer
toxic and smog-forming air pollutants, is less expensive than gasoline, and is domestically
produced (eighty-five percent of LPG used in United States). Disadvantages of using this
alternative fuel source include fewer miles on one tank of fuel and less availability than gasoline
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and diesel fuels (and no new passenger cars or trucks are commercially available) (U.S.
Department of Energy, 2006).
Hydrogen is being explored as a fuel for passenger vehicles. It is an environmentally
friendly fuel that has the potential to considerably reduce Americans’ dependence on foreign oil.
Hydrogen can be used in fuel cells to power electric motors or burned in internal combustion
engines (ICEs). This alternative fuel can reduce the dependence on petroleum imports because it
is produced domestically. It also produces no air pollutants or greenhouse gases when used in
fuel cells (although it does produce nitrogen oxides when burned in ICEs). Despite these
attributes, hydrogen still faces several challenges before it can be widely used. Hydrogen is
currently very expensive to produce and is only available at certain locations, mostly in
California. Not only is the hydrogen fuel expensive, but vehicles are also too expensive for
consumers and only obtainable to demonstration fleets. The storage of the hydrogen fuel is also
weak because the fuel contains less energy than gasoline or diesel on per volume basis, so it is
difficult to store enough hydrogen fuel in a vehicle to travel more than two hundred miles
(Sperling, D. and Ogden, J., 2004).
Is the nation doomed to repeat history and face another fuel crisis that will eclipse the
1973 crisis manifold? Significant advances have been made in alternative fuel research, but
researchers have found that public acceptance has been slow. Studies show that if the United
States wishes to throw off the shackles of its oil dependency and protect our fragile environment,
the nation must continue to emphasize on and adoption of alternative fuels such as ethanol,
biodiesel, natural gas, propane, and hydrogen. According to alternative fuel based studies
conducted by EcoIQ, if the United States does not make this fundamental commitment to
alternative fuels, history will indeed repeat itself (EcoIQ, 1999).
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References
Choi, Charles Q. (2006). Biodiesel is Better. Scientific American, 295, 38.
Dias De Oliveira, Marcelo E., Vaughan, Burton E., Rykiel Jr., Edward J. (2005). Ethanol as
Fuel: Energy, Carbon Dioxide Balances, and Ecological Footprint. Bioscience, 55, 593602.
EcoIQ. (1999). Will History Repeat Itself? Retrieved Oct. 19, 2006, from
http://www.ecoiq.com/magazine/opinion/opinion13.html
Horton, S. (2006). The 1973 Oil Crisis. Retrieved Oct. 15, 2006, from
http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/History/MidEast/04/horton/horton.htm
How Stuff Works. (2006). How Much Gasoline does the United States Consume in one year?
Retrieved Oct. 15, 2006, from http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question417.htm
Sperling, D. and Ogden, J. (2004). The Hope for Hydrogen. Issues in Science & Technology,
20(3), 94-101.
U.S. Department of Energy. (2006). Alternative Fuels. Retrieved Oct. 15, 2006, from
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/current.shtml
Wood, Andrew. (2006). Alternative Feedstocks. Chemical Week, 168, 17-21.