Alternative Fuels

Alternative fuels for a cleaner transport

Environmental regulations and the depletion of oil is pushing the industry to opt for alternative energy

The recent premiere in Madrid in a bus powered by fuel cell hydrogen can be interpreted as another modest step today towards the utopian era of sustainable transport.  Its energy-efficient and non-emission of air pollutants in their production and use, converted to hydrogen in a seemingly more viable alternative than others to reduce the ecological deterioration caused by the consumption of polluting fuels in a society like ours, whose shaping economic and social uses each passing year demanding greater mobility.

In Europe there are 400 cars per 1,000 inhabitants, and it is estimated that by 2010 the proportion will reach 510. The consumption of one million liters of gasoline involves the issuance of 2.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. These are data that explain the importance of finding a fuel that is less harmful to the environment and health of human beings.

Demanding a legal context with environmental regulations is increasingly stringent. The slow but inexorable depletion of oil reserves seem to be pushing the industry to opt for alternative energy sources to fossil fuels. Conventional hydrogen aspires to become one of these options for the future of a planet whose unstoppable energy consumption may not simultaneously lead to an increase in pollution and environmental degradation.

This bus powered by hydrogen offers a daily service and technical tests conducted in the laboratory have supported the use of hydrogen as a viable fuel alternative. Hydrogen is the most abundant element on earth and in the atmosphere, and is characterized by its high level of ignition: it burns easily in contact with oxygen.

Fuel cells: how they work

The hydrogen engine emits no pollution, and offers good performance at the vehicle

A fuel cell is a device that works like a battery, but is not limited nor needs to be recharged. Through a process of burning cold, fuel cells convert the chemical energy of a fuel into useful electrical energy in addition to heat and pure water – all without a combustion process as an interim step. These fuel cells are formed by two electrodes (a collector or emitter through which an electric current enters or leaves) separated by an electrolyte (a solution that can be broken down to direct electrical current). Fuel cells generate electricity as long as fuel and oxygen are provided. They can use pure hydrogen directly, or any fuel (gasoline, methanol, methane, hydrogen, ethanol, natural gas, liquefied gas, etc.), which will produce hydrogen-rich gas through a process of internal reform.

The first hydrogen car to go into series production

The engine of this BMW 7 Series, with twelve-cylinder powered with hydrogen has an output of 150 kW, an acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h in 9.6 seconds and reaches a top speed of 226 km / h.  Thanks to its cryogenic tank of 140 liters, has a range of 350 kilometers.  To this is added a conventional food to gasoline, which – under the still very incomplete grid with hydrogen – remains on board.  The engine has only a substantial difference in respect of conventional injection valves have additional hydrogen.

Benefits

• Zero emission of pollutants.

• Benefits comparable to those of a conventional car.

• Consumption and maintenance than any car today.

Disadvantages

• High weight of the fuel cell, which is installed in the car prototype.

• Lack of infrastructure for supplying hydrogen, methanol or natural gas.

• Reliability yet to be demonstrated by various elements.

• High cost due to the limited production of some components.  Today, a car with fuel cell costs approximately 30% more than a gasoline or diesel with similar benefits.

The technology of the fuel cell has achieved significant progress in recent years, and some car manufacturers have already begun to test this technology in the propulsion of cars or as an experimental alternative energy source. However, these prototypes are still unattainable because the fuel cells are very bulky and heavy and expensive. In the U.S., the three largest automobile manufacturers are developing companies that specialize in hydrogen fuel cell systems in cooperation with their own cars.

Other alternative fuels

The development of hydrogen as the number one candidate to emerge as an alternative fuel to oil has been pushed into the background to electric vehicles which should not be left in oblivion as they offer good results, especially in the slow urban traffic. They also allow for the possibility of combining the electric motor and propeller of a small internal combustion.

Natural gas is a fuel used for over forty years, but the difficulty of storage and its lack of autonomy have relegated to urban transport.  Another possibility is solar energy, but the need for large panels to be installed in vehicles makes it incompatible with the market trend to produce cars ever lighter and faster.  Alternatively the form ethanol and methanol, two alcohols that are in his favor with many arguments: they are flammable liquids, colorless and low toxicity, have a high octane and high solubility in gasoline and in addition, ethanol is used as additive that is added to gasoline to oxygenate because it helps to better and cleaner combustion.  Unfortunately, with today’s technology and high prices for their production, these fuels are considerably more expensive than conventional, so its future is not very flattering.

What to do to pollute less

• Let us use public transport where possible, because it pollutes less.  In addition, almost always comes out cheaper than their own.

• Let us use unleaded petrol.  Lead from the exhaust harms the liver, brain and kidneys of human beings, in addition to the greenhouse effect.

• Let us use the bike when we can.  It’s more organic, does not pollute, is very healthy because it forces us to do physical exercise and makes no noise.

• Some tires properly inflated saves up to 5% in gasoline consumption.  That means less spending and less pollution.

• Keep the engine point to avoid spending unnecessary fuel and reduces the emission of gases.

• If we change the oil in the car, not used oil into the river, the sea or the toilet or sink: a can of oil causes a slick 5 kilometers long and only a liter of oil pollute a million liters of drinking water.

• Do not burn the waste oil: the burning of the 5 liters of oil bearing the carter can contaminate the amount of air a person breathes in 3 years.  In its combustion are produced dioxins and furans, toxic and carcinogenic.

• Drive moderate speed.  By maintaining a constant speed of 90 -100 km / h, the gasoline consumption and emission of pollutants will be less than if you drive faster.

• Do not carry unnecessary weight in the car.  And keep the windows closed.  With both measures, consuming less fuel.