McPherson High School
McPherson, Kansas
Teacher: Robin Long
Alternative Fuels
By Trevor Schwendiman
12th grade
Alternative Fuels. When one think of this subject, the first reaction is to usually flip to the next page of the newspaper, or flip to the next TV channel instead of taking a few seconds…to read something that could help the earth greatly. Just because it doesn’t deal with where to eat…lunch today, or [affect] your weekend plans, doesn’t mean it’s not a big deal. Imagine not having gasoline to drive to the lake for the weekend, or having [fuel to] heat [your home] in the dead of winter. Alternative fuels can help global warming, the economy, …not to mention violence over oil. Technology advances every day. [People] are helping this by experimenting with new fuels and trying to find a new environmentally friendly fuel.
…Giving donations to various agencies such as the “American Energy Agency” (http://www.americanenergysecurity.org) [can help]. …Giving big or small money donations…allows for more research and testing. This all could help the environment, in the ways that we know now, and ways we will never know until we discover a new fuel. [We] can help [by] not wasting gasoline; maybe not flooring it on street lights, driving a gas hog when it is usually just one or two people riding in the car. Those [ideas] can save money and do the environment a favor. According to the EIA (Energy Information Administration) from 1992 – 2000 we could have saved roughly 75 million gallons of gasoline if [Americas had] been using an alternatively fueled vehicle.
[The following are] several new alternative fuels that scientists and governments are working on: hydrogen, solar, and ethanol…. [They] have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Pros: Hydrogen is an extremely clean fuel, producing few emissions when combusted directly or in combination with hydrocarbon fuels. When used in a fuel, the only byproducts are heat and water. Cons: Although hydrogen can be produced through electrolysis, it is separated by a reforming process that uses natural gas and other fossil fuels. Supplies of natural gas are becoming tighter, and coal, one of the most feasible hydrogen [sources], is [also] a source of major pollution. The technology to produce, store, and transport hydrogen power at a reasonable cost is not yet in place and likely will not be for some time.
Pros: Solar energy for cars is great from the Miles Per Gallon aspect, cars average roughly 60 mpg city, and 51 on the highway according to ABC news. [Solar cars] also are extremely quiet and use very little gasoline. Cons: There is still uncertainty about how long the batteries last in these cars, one man from England went 180,000 without replacing a battery, while others had to [replace] within months. …Due to lack of competition [the supply is limited, making them more expensive]. Ethanol on the other hand is a renewable fuel that comes from agricultural [products], and can be produced domestically. Using ethanol also results in less air pollution. Cons: Ethanol would be more expensive than gasoline depending on where you live…. For the people in the Mid-west where it is typically made, it would be about 30 cents cheaper per gallon. Also there is a big problem with [the] locations of these plants. There are nearly 600 plants in the U.S., but over half are in two states: Minnesota and Illinois. New York, California, Texas and Florida have just 15 plants combined.
…With
all of these possibilities we can improve numerous obstacles that stand in the
world’s path. Hopefully within ten years we will be starting to convert to a new
automobile fuel. So next time [you] see a short commercial, article, or radio
message, take a few seconds out of [your] time to listen and see what you can do
to help this cause.
Back
http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center-article_46/
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1718746&page=1
http://www.americanenergysecurity.org
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/alternate/issues_trends/fig1.html