Alternative Fuel Vehicles, Essay Example

Abstract

The paper discusses alternative fuel vehicles. The benefits and drawbacks of electric, hydrogen, and natural gas vehicles are described. Natural gas vehicles are shown as the best alternative to conventional cars. Nevertheless, the paper confirms the need for further research and development of energy efficient options in automobile industry.

Introduction

With the emergence of the new environmental policies and with the growing concern about energy consumption, alternative fuel vehicles have come to signify gradual transition to a more efficient use of power. Thousands of energy efficient vehicle models are designed and advertised annually, but their practical use still leaves much room for improvement. In the context of energy efficiency, and striving to develop and implement environmentally safe technologies, alternative fuel vehicles deserve special attention. That is why it is more than important to reconsider potential benefits and drawbacks of hydrogen, natural gas, and electric vehicles.

Certainly, when it comes to energy efficient technologies, the majority of potential consumers will associate the future of the automobile industry with electric vehicles. Generally, electric vehicles are believed to be the most promising continuation of the current environmental policies, because they are cheap in terms of fuel, and can draw their electric power from a conventional electric outlet. The amount of power, which a car can draw overnight if four times cheaper than its gasoline equivalent (Newman, 2008). The bad thing about such cars is in that the size of the battery needed to maintain continuous movement is too large and too expensive to make such cars economical. Moreover, the materials used for the production of these batteries are not always ecologically safe. Finally, in their current state, electric vehicles are the most useful for those, who do not need to cover long distances. As a result, there is still much ahead, before electric vehicles become widely used and truly effective.

While the benefits of electric cars are still dubious and rather confusing, hydrogen cars make a promise of becoming the first ‘zero emission’ car in the history of mankind. The fact is that the only byproduct from hydrogen cars is water vapor (Odec, 2006). While conventional vehicles emit a whole range of environmentally dangerous products, including carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide (Odec, 2006), hydrogen cars will work to eliminate these controversies and to resolve emission issues on the planet. Another significant benefit of hydrogen cars is in that will lessen countries’ dependence upon foreign oil and may become the direct pathway to establishing better political relationships with oil-producing states (Odec, 2006). Scientists assume that the transition from traditional fuel to hydrogen technologies will be the easiest and the most promising compared to other types of vehicles. Unfortunately, the use of hydrogen as a fuel is not without its problems. Hydrogen storage, hydrogen high reactivity, and the cost of hydrogen production may turn hydrogen cars into a meaningless endeavor. It appears that hydrogen should be stored under extremely low temperatures, and the substance itself is increasingly flammable (Odec, 2006). Finally, the process of producing hydrogen takes much energy, which can make hydrogen cars irrelevant. That is why we should turn our heads to the potential of natural gas in vehicles of the future (Odec, 2006).

The principle behind natural gas cars is in burning CH4 methane to provide cars with power (NGV, 2008). Methane is the most efficient type of hydrocarbon fuels and produces only scarce amounts of carbon dioxide. Needless to say, that “if even half of the cars in North America converted, the reduction in CO2 emissions would be immense, along with the levels of smog causing gases” (NGV, 2008). In reality, although methane is much cleaner than other types of fuel, it is still a kind of fossil fuel which results in carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, natural gas is associated with the risks of explosion (NGV, 2008). Nevertheless, of all vehicle alternatives discussed above, natural gas cars present the most promising opportunity to solve ecological issues. First of all, methane provides cars with the amount of power necessary to cover long distances (in distinction from electric cars). Second, the costs of producing methane are not even close to those of hydrogen, with the latter involving the need to burn fossil fuels. Finally, although methane is not a zero emission technology, it is much safer than hydrogen and could potentially become an effective means of managing energy consumption on the planet.

Conclusion

Natural gas vehicles, electric vehicles, and hydrogen vehicles hold a promise to eliminate harmful emissions into the atmosphere. The seriousness and complexity of present day ecological problems confirms the need for developing new energy-efficient technologies. Although all types of alternative vehicles are interesting and attractive in their ecological potential, natural gas vehicles can be fairly regarded as the most promising opportunity to solve ecological problems.

References

Newman, R. (2008). Electric vehicles. U.S. News. Retrieved October 29, 2009 from http://www.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2008/01/11/electric-vehicles.html

NGV. (2008). Natural gas vehicles. NGV.org. Retrieved October 29, 2009 from http://www.ngv.org/

Odec. (2006). Hydrogen problems. Odec.ca. Retrieved October 29, 2009 from http://www.odec.ca/projects/2003/kaush3k/public_html/HydroProbs.htm