Electricity, Water or Alternative Fuel – Which will ignite the Future Mobility?

MANILA: “What Volkswagen is really showing is that we’ve reached the limit of what’s possible with diesel and gasoline. The time has come to move on to a new generation of technology,” said Musk, the boss of Tesla who can be said a man of plan as he foresaw the smart mobility need and therefore came up with electric cars. Yes, the situation is alarming wherein the sources of fuel under the earth are depleting and since they are nonrenewable, the issue is graver. There is no substitute of mobility so let’s see the substitute of fuels wherein some renewable sources can take place of crude oil, coal, or natural gas and give the same energy to your vehicle.

Artificial Plants – Scientists in Los Angeles are experimenting towards making an artificial plant that just need sunlight to produce natural gas and gasoline which can drive future automobiles without causing environmental pollution. They have come up with artificial leaf that can produce methane and butanol which are main ingredient in gasoline. That’s like a photosynthesis to produce liquid fuel which can be stored for years.

Vegetable oil - Oils derived from soybeans, corn and other vegetables can be used as a cleaner and renewable alternative to fuel up your vehicles. Unlike petroleum based products, vegetable oils are nontoxic, biodegradable, and are derived from renewable resources. They produce nearly 100 percent less greenhouse gas than petroleum based diesel fuel and improve mileage by more than 3 percent. Moreover, the nitrogen oxide emissions are reduced by 75 percent, according to Ford. Although, some chemical modification is needed to change its molecular structure so that it gets apt for engine oil.

Sugarcane – Yes, sugarcane, sugar beets, barley and corn, all these are carbon based feed stocks which on conversion produce ethanol, a sustainable alternative to gasoline. Currently vehicles are running on mixtures of gas and ethanol and this mixture is common by the name of biofuel in Brazil. The ethanol fuel is a huge success in Brazil because of huge yield of sugarcane there, as sugarcane gives better units of energy than the corn. The ethanol fuel helps in reducing the air pollution and is most successful alternative fuel till date.

Water – What is water? In a way a fully oxidized hydrogen and through the process of electrolysis, H2O splits into hydrogen and oxygen. The resulted hydrogen is then injected into engine's combustion process to power the car along with gasoline. By doing this, the gasoline burn gets cleaner and complete making the engine more efficient. Researchers are putting more focus on hydrogen powered fuel cells which on combustion will only emit water and warm air from tailpipes.

Electricity – It is considered an alternative fuel since it is used to charge the batteries that can power the motors in vehicles. Electricity powered vehicles will indeed produce less environment pollutants but the question raises how to generate huge amount of electricity required to power such vehicles. Well, currently for long journeys hybridization approach is used wherein after some kilometers, engine starts taking power from gasoline. Thus, in all electricity will not only light your house but will power your vehicles too.