• Question: is it possible to make an alternative fuel other than petrol/diesel?

    Asked by wozjaztim to Andrew, Emma, Marianne on 21 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Andrew Maynard

      Andrew Maynard answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Hi wozjaztim,

      Yep – anything that can be burnt can be used as a fuel – although the supply infrastructure can be a problem. It’s surprisingly easy to find alternatives to diesel – have you heard about people using old deep fat fryer oil as a fuel? Petrol is a little trickier as petrol engines rely on liquids that are flammable and evaporate easily – although in the US much of the petrol that is sold has got 10% alcohol (ethanol) in it. And in Brazil, there are cars that run totally on alcohol.

      One of the more exciting developments in science and technology is new ways to make alternatives to petrol and diesel – these usually use plants or algae, and are called biofuels. Using modified bacteria or algae, it looks like it might be possible to get them to actually produce petrol, diesel or even aviation fuel for planes, by converting plant material and sunlight into fuel.

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Wozjaztim you prolific inquisitor…

      Andrewm has already begun powering small scooters with the aid of beans on toast. When he harnesses the power of a thai green curry he may be able to make a small plane get air-borne.

      The real answer is yes and i suspect there may be exam questions about this, certainly was in my day.
      Wikipedia quite helpful for some pointers

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_fuel

    • Photo: Marianne Baker

      Marianne Baker answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      I think we already have alternative fuels; people have made cars that run on their own wee for example!!

      It’s just that we don’t really have a good system in place – the infrastructure – for using other fuels widely.
      There was another question somewhere about hydrogen power…

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Hi wozjaztim……there is so many alternatives out there and the research is growing. Check out….
      http://environment.about.com/od/fossilfuels/tp/top_alt_fuels.htm

      With alternative fuels comes an environmental impact of some sort…whether it is where the raw material is grown (palm oil gets a bad press quite often because farmers are cutting down forests to grow cash crops), safety aspects (hydrogen can explode at low concentrations), whether the government is willing to invest in setting up locations where electrical cars can recharge their batteries, or enough pressure is put upon the car manufacturing industry to design cars that will take alternative fuels.

      In summary, the answer is yes, it is possible to make alternative fuel to petrol and diesel but with that development comes other environmental impacts that we will have to minimise and manage.:)

    • Photo: Emma Pilgrim

      Emma Pilgrim answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Hi

      The motor industry have been working on this for a while to try and figure out what fuel to use once the supply of fossil fuel runs out. ONe answer is the hydrogen fuel cell and this will give you some more information

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell

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