What about alternative fuels?

S

sathis

Alternative fuels

Hi,

I do have a same thought of yours.
Alternate to fuels, solar power can be used .
I read from an article one house runs fully with solar power.
Solar powered AC, Fridges, Cooking etc
I dont know how many cells are used for this?
Anyway I use electric cookers in my house.

In the automobile side also there are battey operated cars, two wheelers
I think GM is coming up with new vechile as hyrogen as a fuel.

Sathis
:)
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
My list of alternate fuels (strictly for vehicles)

Current technology works and is available now
Natural gas: Some fleets already run on natural gas. The problem is one of fuel distribution. Currently, fleets have to return to home base for refueling, because there are no public facilities supplying fuel.

Hydrogen fuel cells: Similar problem to natural gas.

Some "bugs" in technology:
Battery power: Distance between recharging and recharge time limit current generation of batteries - this may improve with better design of batteries. Technology for making batteries is energy intensive and may not result in net energy savings.

Solar power: Getting better every day, but still require batteries to store power for use in tunnels and at night.

Ethanol: currently a "wash" in energy use. Growing and gathering crops in sufficient quantity to feed ethanol plants is energy intensive compared to pumping oil or gas out of the ground (BTU for BTU)

Ways to ameliorate current rate of usage:
More utilization of mass transit - means giving up personal freedom to "come and go" on one's own schedule.

Use vehicles sized appropriate to the task - does a guy really need a 5 mpg Humvee to commute 60 miles roundtrip to work?

Plan usage for more efficient use - consolidate trips (one shopping trip per week instead of one every day.)
 
D

ddunn

I have seen an article about adding a small amount of acetone to fuel for better mileage (about 2 ounces of acetone per 10 gallons of gas).

Does anyone have any experience with using acetone as a fuel additive?
 

gpainter

Quite Involved in Discussions
We have had since 1973 to work on this. Bio-diesel is a hot topic now. Acetone, never heard of that one. Does it work??? Is it safe????
 
Last edited:

Jim Wynne

Leader
Admin
gpainter said:
We have had since 1973 to work on this. Bio-diesel is a hot topic now. Acetone, never heard of that one. Does it work??? Is it safe????
There is no credible evidence that adding acetone to gasoline does anything useful. There are some outlandish claims, but no science to back them up. If adding a few ounces of a cheap chemical would provide a significant increase in fuel economy, everyone would be using it by now.
 
gpainter said:
We have had since 1973 to work on this.
Now, there is an important point... So we have, and how much has happened?

Very well, the current situation has provided us with a sorely needed boot up our collective bottoms. It hurts, and maybe we'll do something about it this time?

/Claes
 

CarolX

Trusted Information Resource
We are looking at Ethanol right now. My husband owns a vehicle that will run on it without conversion. The biggest drawback is we are not close to any stations that carry it. But since he works near Chicago, we should have too much trouble finding one in his path. As I understand the fuel, you can expect some decrease in mpg, but at US$1.00 difference in cost, we can handle that.


Just some "food" for thought all....ethanol and bio-diesel fuels are renewable. Once the process is "refined", the cost of producing should drop. Not to mention the other benefits of this technology:

1) Elimination of dependence on forgeign contries for our oil.
2) Farmers could actually make a profit off their fields!
3) A cleaner buring fuel.

Illinois is currently one of the leaders in the research of this alternative fuel. Time to go surf and find the closest station.
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
CarolX said:
We are looking at Ethanol right now. My husband owns a vehicle that will run on it without conversion. The biggest drawback is we are not close to any stations that carry it. But since he works near Chicago, we should have too much trouble finding one in his path. As I understand the fuel, you can expect some decrease in mpg, but at US$1.00 difference in cost, we can handle that.


Just some "food" for thought all....ethanol and bio-diesel fuels are renewable. Once the process is "refined", the cost of producing should drop. Not to mention the other benefits of this technology:

1) Elimination of dependence on forgeign contries for our oil.
2) Farmers could actually make a profit off their fields!
3) A cleaner buring fuel.

Illinois is currently one of the leaders in the research of this alternative fuel. Time to go surf and find the closest station.
Gee, Carol! I've never seen a pure ethanol pump here in Illinois - most of what I see are ethanol/gasoline blends 10%/90%. Even down in "corn country" in downstate Illinois, the best variance I've seen has been $0.10 /gallon between regular with ethanol and regular without ethanol blend. (Blend being lower.)

Some Latin American countries use biofuel as 100% mixtures in both internal combustion and diesel-type engines.

It should be noted ethanol has less BTUs per liter than gasoline and thus results in worse mileage per gallon.
 

Randy

Super Moderator
For the sake of argument (understand that I believe that alternatives to petroleum based fuels need to be developed) I'll be the Ferengi and ask...Where's the profit?
 
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