Changing fuels can be a great help to the environment if it is used correctly. Though cars are not the only vehicle that uses fuel. Other uses of fuel in engines are farming (tractors), entertainment (4×4 trucks, SUVs, ATVs, UTVs, etc.), construction (dozers, excavators, fork lifts, etc.), or even generators to help a family stay warm when the power is out. Without many of these our lives would not be the way they are today. Construction and farming are completed much quicker if there is some sort of equipment used. Yes, this was all done before the engine was perfected to the way we know it today but it has definitely made work much simpler. A farmer can now plow his fields and a new building site can be dozed and excavated for the foundation to be built much faster. If the equipment used in these jobs were taken away many people would become unemployed.
Some pictures of tractors and construction equipment:
Many people are fed up with having to pay excessively high prices for gasoline. Another fuel that can be run in cars instead of gasoline is alcohol, or better known as Ethanol (E-85). Most starchy and sugary foods can be fermented to form alcohol, some even can be fermented into 190 proof (which is the equivalent of 80% alcohol by volume). Some new cars do not have to even be made capable for E-85, they already come equipped with it from the factory. In the old days (25-30 years ago) you had to drill out the carburetor jets to allow for the flow, or you could simply figure out the necessary air/fuel ratio needed and change it by pulling out the manual choke a little. Presently most of the gasoline sold at a station contains a percentage of ethanol. It was started in 1979 with 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline (it was called gasohol). Also ethanol fuel is usually priced 30% less than gasoline. If you would like to learn more about the ethanol fuel visit: http://running_on_alcohol.tripod.com/index.html, on this website the author tells many facts about ethanol and the way it runs in a car. Also on this website is a list of cars that are E-85 ready from the factory, including the Ford Explorer Sport (picture below).
Last week some time I was watching a show called “Truck U.” On this show they converted a Toyota Truck to be able to be run on vege-oil (vegetable oil). The show showed the science behind how to make the correct mixture to be run in the engine, and also showed a clip of the truck driving through the desert. One good thing about running a car or truck on vegetable oil is that when it is burnt it does not emit more carbon dioxide than the burning of a plant after harvest. A bad thing about vege-oil is that it takes harmful chemicals to convert it to the proper mixture to be run in a diesel engine. Something with using this type of fuel, that is debatable whether it is good or bad, is that when the fuel is burnt the exhaust smells like someone is frying food, so the driver and passengers may become hungry when they start, drive or ride in the car. Also, similar to diesel fuels, vegetable oil gets harder when it cools so in order to allow it to flow properly in the engine it must be heated first. If you would like to see how the fuel is run through the car click on this link: http://www.greasecar.com/flashtour.cfm.
Other websites used in researching vegetable oil as fuel.
One other alternative to petroleum based fuel, as shown in an article in 4 wheel & offroad, is propane. In the article they install a dual-fuel kit in a 330hp Chevy 350 from GotPropane.com. Propane is usually cheaper for a consumer to purchase. Though running propane will lower your mileage by 10%, the largest tank holds 43 lbs (or 10 gallons) of fuel, and it is, like hydrogen, hard to always come by a gas station that will fill up your propane tank. The one good thing is the fact that it runs cleaner, some eliminate the troublesome carburetors, and they can withstand harsh weather and extreme rockcrawling abuse. http://www.gotpropane.com/
There are some vehicles that can run on hydrogen. Some include the BMW H2R, BMW Hydrogen 7, Ford Focus, Ford E350, GM Hy-Wire, GM HydroGen3, Mercedes F-Cell, and others.
BMW H2R
BMW Hydrogen 7
GM Hy-wire
Although as you can see some of these cars are very futuristic. Though some of them look similar to cars that are for sale currently. As seen in hybrids though, the more engineers tweak the body style and the engines the bigger and more attractive the body lines are.
The Honda Insight was the first mass produced hybrid car. It was only a two seater that could not support a large family, though it had the highest fuel efficiency of all the hybrids, achieving 70 miles per gallon (mpg).
The last picture is of a Ford Escape which, unlike the honda insight and toyota prius, can fit more people and cargo, has the option of being four wheel drive and still is a hybrid.
Posted by patbrock 
Posted by patbrock 
Posted by patbrock 
