Alternative_Fuels_and_Strategies

ALTERNATIVE FUELS AND STRATEGIES Today, the combustion engine running on fossil fuels i.e gasoline and diesel is the dominant form of motor vehicle propulsion. Recently, however, due to the requirement to decrease the CO2-emissions of vehicles, automobile manufacturers have begun searching for alternative vehicle fuels. CO2-emissions are a major contributor to the greenhouse effect which causes a rise in atmospheric temperatures and has resulted in the Kyoto Agreement and the ACEA Self Commitment as CO2 reducing measures. Additionally, manufacturers are seeking long-term substitutes for crude oil in its role as the basis for all automotive fuels. Possible alternative fuels are natural gas, hydrogen, synfuel, biodiesel, methanol and ethanol. Except for natural gas, none of the listed fuels is a primary energy source; all have to be derived from other sources. It is expected that natural gas, or at least one alternative fuel, will be widely available at filling stations in the next ten to fifteen years. Various market indicators, including favorable technical as well as economic and ecological properties, indicate that the natural gas alternative will gain a growing share of the automotive fleet within the next decades. The reduction in toxic emissions (HC, CO, NOx) and in fuel consumption in the operation of motor vehicles is one of our major concerns today. Motivation derives from the Kyoto Agreement and the ACEA Self Commitment, with the goal of reducing local CO2 emissions in the automobile sector by 25% to 140 g/km between 1995 and 2008. This corresponds to an average fuel consumption of 5.8 liters per 100 km for the entire automobile fleet. The primary means of achieving these goals is through an increase in the overall efficiency of propulsion of vehicles. The use of alternative fuels such as natural gas, where the conversion into mechanical energy for propulsion produces less CO2, could be an important supplementary means . INTRODUCTION A distinction is made between fossil fuels, which are derived from oil or natural gas, and renewable fuels such as biomass, wind power or solar power. Gasoline, diesel and LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) are among the fossil fuels produced by refining oil. Natural gas can be used directly for combustion engines without the need for refining. A synthetic liquid fuel that is “Synfuel” or “Syndiesel” and or hydrogen can also be produced from it by converting it first into a synthetic gas. When fossil fuels are burned, carbon dioxide is always released. Renewable fuels such as hydrogen, synthetic fuel ,also called “Sunfuel” or SunDiesel”, methane, methanol and ethanol can be produced from biomass by fermentation or by the production of a synthetic gas. This process is CO2-neutral, since the carbon dioxide released during preparation and combustion of the fuels is absorbed again from the atmosphere during plant growth. Hydrogen can also be produced renewably by electrolysis from water. It is possible for the whole fuel cycle to be CO2-free, if the electrical energy required is generated from solar or wind power. Many countries have started implementing the use of alternative fuels and some countries have been very successful in this . The above figure shows the countries using alternative fuels.