Fuel Replacement For Cars

Fuel Replacement for Cars

When Fred Flintstone stepped into his car and headed off to the rock quarry, he didn't have to worry about the effects of gasoline pollution--Fred's car was fueled by his own feet. Of course, Fred was also a cartoon, so trying to follow his example is a moot point.

In the real world, gasoline emissions from motor vehicles account for about 44 percent of the primary ingredient in smog--hydrocarbons, which is released into the air during fuel evaporation. With 150 million cars and trucks on American roads, being driven almost 2 trillion miles each year, it's no wonder there is a serious problem with the quality of our air (terHorst 44). Certainly air quality could be improved if we reduced the evaporative emissions from these millions of vehicles, both new and old. Fuel evaporation from vehicles stalled in heavy traffic, for example, is responsible for in large part for the smog in a major cities such as Los Angeles.

But even if we cracked down on the auto makers to build cars with higher standards--and today's new cars do eliminate 96 percent of the hydrocarbons, 96 percent of the carbon monoxide, and 76 percent of the nitrogen oxides that come out of the tailpipe--there are other problems associated with the use of gasoline (terHorst 44).

As futuristic writer George Orwell observed in his 1937 essay, The Road to Wigan Pier, "Our civilization is founded on coal" (Brower 20). If we update that to reflect the present day use of petroleum, it still applies. But we can't continue to power our cars by burning fossil fuel without serious risk to our environment. Other than air pollution, acid rain is another consequence of fossil fuel use. We also must consider global warming, the risks of which can't be reduced without development of alternatives, for one thing, the use of fossil fuel in our cars (Brower 20).

In the late 19th century, the fuels that were most suitable for the automobile were coal tar distillates. By the early 20th century the oil companies began producing gasoline as a simple distillate from petroleum, but the car engines were being improved and it was a clear a better fuel was needed. During the 1910s, Charles F. Kettering modified an internal combustion engine to run on kerosene. It did, however, have a tendency to 'knock.' When it was determined that this knock came from a rapid rise in pressure after ignition, it led to a search for anti-knock agents, and the subsequent discovery of tetra ethyl lead (Hamilton 1). Typically gasoline for cars in the mid-1920s was 40 - 60 octane. By the 1930s, the petroleum industry had determined that the larger hydrocarbon molecules (kerosene) had major adverse effects on the octane of gasoline, and so they developed specifications for to overcome this problem. By the 1950s, higher octane fuels were being used in our cars, which resulted in increased levels of lead (Hamilton 1).

At this point in time, no one considered that the lead in the gasoline might have adverse affects on our atmosphere--it was simply a case of what method could be used to best run our cars. Minor improvements were made to gasoline formulas to improve yields and octane until the 1970s, at which time unleaded fuels were introduced for environmental reasons. From 1970 until 1990 gasolines were slowly changed as lead was phased out, and in 1990 the Clean Air Act started forcing major compositional changes on gasoline in an attempt to curb one of our major sources of pollution (Hamilton 1).

In the late 1980s, when President Bush introduced his Clean Air bill, a spokesman for the "Big Three" automakers--Chrysler, Ford and General Motors--said, "The automobile industry will do its share to help clean up the nation's air" (terHorst 43). Finding alternatives or renewable substitutes for gasoline used in transportation vehicles in not an easy challenge, but we need to look at how to rely less on gasoline as the power source for our cars in the future.

Alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs)--cars, trucks or buses--need to be designed or modified so that they can operate on alternative fuels. These fuels include ethanol, methanol, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, hydrogen, electricity, and any other fuel or energy source that is not produced from petroleum (Alternative Fuels Data Center 1). Renewable substitute power sources are needed, too, such as the development of electric cars or fuel cells. Most importantly, it must be cost effective--not only for the manufacturers but for the consumer.

Electricity-powered cars were popular in the 1900s, but consumers preferred the gasoline-powered models because of their greater range and power (Cook 52). Today, electric cars are making a comeback. In California, there is a law that requires that 10 percent of cars sold in that state in the year 2003--and every year beyond that--be electric. Although many car companies argue that the market is small for electrics, General Motors already has an electric car. U.S. News & World Report describes it as, "a two-seat car that carries about as much fuel as others do when their gauges read 'empty.' The car costs nearly as much as a luxurious V-8 Oldsmobile Aurora sedan, yet has a lower top speed--just 80 miles per hour -- than practically anything else on the road today" (Cook 52).

Electric cars need to overcome the problem of using an impractical, heavy battery