Alternative Fuels: Growing Demand, New Solutions - Essay Sample

Introduction

In the automobile industry, there has been a lot of innovation, and thus automobiles have increased immensely. The increase of automobiles means that there is a need for a good supply of fuel, which is to be used to drive these automobiles. As a result of the growing demand for automobile fuels, a lot has been done to get new and alternative fuel, which can be used instead of gasoline fuels in automobiles. Another reason that has aided the looking of alternative fuels is the need to conserve the environment. Some of the main alternative fuels which have been invented in the recent past are ethanol, electricity, and natural gas, and they have not been able to be used successfully.

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Ethanol and natural gas were seen to be good sources of fuel for use in automobiles. Ethanol and natural gas were identified as good and economical sources of fuel for automobiles after comprehensive research was conducted regarding them. Each of them has got the benefit of being used economically, and the other thing is that they are locally available. When it comes to the disadvantages of these sources of fuel, they are not the best for the environment and health of the people (Hoyer, 2008). When ethanol and natural gas are burned in the process of energy production, they lead to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This leads to the contamination of the environment; thus, there might be hazardous effects on the health of the people and animals. For this reason, therefore, it has been found out that ethanol and natural gas cannot make effective sources of fuel for automobile industries.

The other alternative fuel that has ever been tried for automobiles is electricity. Like the other two alternative sources of energy or instead fuel for automobiles, electricity has been tried, but it has not been able to work as it was expected. As a result of this, the electric car that had been invented to work and relies on electricity as a source of fuel has not continued to function. Buying one or all of these alternative fuels would only be applicable if the source of fuel can be made in such a way that it conserves the environment. Moreover, opting to buy either ethanol or natural gas will depend on its reliability and conservation of the automobile (Bae, 2017). Ethanol and natural gas have proved that they are not in any way reliable fuel sources; thus, it is not possible buying them as fuels in the future. They also lead to serious contamination of the environment when they are burnt in the process of using them as fuels in automobiles.

The first electric vehicle was made in the year 1890 to 1891 by William Morrison from Des Moines Iowa after the trials of electric fuel intensified in the industry. The invention of the first electric vehicle was done in the United States. It was a six-passenger wagon that could move at a speed of twenty-three kilometers every hour. The vehicle used batteries, which could be recharged via electricity and be used as the source of fuel. The vehicle was not successful because the batteries which were used in this vehicle needed constant recharging each and every time they went low (Ogden et al., 2004). Due to this, the vehicle did not succeed because it was a tedious process recharging the battery over and over again. There is no much usage of electric vehicles in the present day because, after the testing of the electric energy or fuel with the first cars, many people found out that using such vehicles will not be easy. Having to charge the vehicle battery every time the battery goes low requires a lot of labor, and thus many people consider using other fuel sources other than electricity.

Conclusion

Many of the alternative sources of fuel for automobiles have not succeeded, and the only option that has remained for automobiles is petroleum products since they are reliable. The supply is steady in almost all areas. Some of the considered alternative fuels are cheap, but they are dangerous to health and the wellbeing of the environment. Therefore to conserve the environment, all people have considered using fuels that do not demand a lot and that are locally available. Automobile industries have even stopped producing vehicles that rely on electricity, ethanol, or natural gas to operate because many people do not prefer such automobiles.

References

Bae, C., & Kim, J. (2017). Alternative fuels for internal combustion engines. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 36(3), 3389-3413. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1540748916304850

Hoyer, K. G. (2008). The history of alternative fuels in transportation: The case of electric and hybrid cars. Utilities Policy, 16(2), 63-71. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957178707000768

Ogden, J. M., Williams, R. H., & Larson, E. D. (2004). Societal lifecycle costs of cars with alternative fuels/engines. Energy Policy, 32(1), 7-27. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030142150200246X