Alternative Fuel for Cars, Vans and Trucks

Watch as team seven explores the past and future trends of alternative fuel vehicles.

Tags: AFV, Alternative Fuel Vehicle, hybrid, IST, IST440w, Penn State, Team 7

The stricter environmental laws in various parts of the world, the need for restricting the dependability on greenhouse gases, and the heavy taxes levied on fossil fuels has resulted in alternative fuel vehicles grabbing the attention of the people worldwide. The highest priority given by the auto companies and the Government in exploring alternative sources for fuelling vehicles has led to interesting innovations like the air car.

Air car makes use of compressed air to fuel its engine. Even though not much of an innovation has occurred in this field of study, it is an early prototype that was in existence even before the birth of the internal combustion engine. This concept evolved in the middle of the 19th century and is being considered today, thanks to the increasing need to explore alternative fuels.

Air cars are equipped with tanks capable of holding large volumes of compressed air that are channelled towards the piston to turn the crankshaft. The power so generated can be made to produce speeds up to 35 mph. When the car is driven at higher speeds, an in-built compressor will start its operation of compressing more air to give it an extra push. Besides, the air car takes advantage of the heated air in the engine to power it. The air that gets expanded when heated up is used to drive the car forward.

After driving, the compressed air tank can be re-fuelled by plugging in the compressor that uses the air from the environment for a complete refill. Typically, the process of refilling might take around two hours for its completion, as they are expected to hold about 3,200 cubic feet of compressed air. And, if air refuelling stations spring up at normal gas stations, they will be able to make use of technology that will pump air in about three minutes.

The engine that powers cars using compressed gas was developed by the French company, MDI (Motor Development International).

The car has been so designed that it tends to be lighter, making it possible to remain fuel efficient and move faster for a longer duration. With engineers working to provide customers with better efficiency engines, the average cost for refuelling can be estimated to be $2 worth of electricity. With compressed air posing great risk should an accident occur, the vehicles will have air tanks made of carbon fiber. Carbon fiber tends to crack rather than shatter in the event of a mishap. As well, placing the valve on the sides creates a lesser chance of ‘rocket-like’ propulsion.

While Tata Motors in India will likely be the first company to launch air cars in the market, it probably will be closely followed by the Zero Pollution Motors’ production of FlowAIR hitting the roads of America.

Being more or less termed as a non-polluting vehicle (except for the small amount of carbon emission from the in-built compressor when refuelling), the air car can be denoted as the car of the future, which holds the promises for an enhanced development and improvement.

Tags: Air Car, Alternative Fuel, Alternative Fuel Vehicle, environment friendly car, exploring alternative sources, green car

Hydrogen Hybrid fuel uses WATER – created at animoto.com

Tags: Alternative Fuel Car, Alternative Fuel Cars, Alternative Fuel for Cars, Alternative Fuel Vehicle, Alternative Fuels for Cars, animoto

alternative fuel for cars and other vehicles using oxy hydrogen produced through electrolysis

Tags: Alternative Fuel Car, Alternative Fuel Cars, Alternative Fuel for Cars, Alternative Fuel Vehicle, Alternative Fuels for Cars

In the simplest form, an alternative fuel is one that is not produced by using crude oil.  They are simply fuels that replace conventional gasoline as a means of powering vehicles.  Alternative fuels have desirable energy efficiency and pollution reduction features. The 1990 Clean Air Act encourages development and sale of alternative fuels. Basically, alternative fuels include methane, propane, ethanol, and compressed gas among others. The use of alterative fuels informed people that they should switch to alternative fuel vehicles now.There are two types of alternative fuel cars – those that are originally designed to run on these new fuels and those that have been converted to run on alternative fuels.  Car companies will also make hybrid vehicles that can run on either gasoline or other fuels.  Many people call these cars “green vehicles” because of their positive effect on the environment.Since the trend is toward producing and buying environmentally friendly vehicles, nearly every major car manufacturer has at least one green vehicle in their inventory.  We’re relatively sure that as alternative fuels become more and more popular because of the cost and the positive effects on our environment, the number of green vehicles will dramatically increase in the next few years.As of 2006, here is a list of some of the green vehicles manufactured by some of the major car companies:•       Honda Insight•       Honda Accord Hybrid•       Dodge Ram Pickup 1500 Series•       Dodge Stratus Sedan•       Dodge Durango SUV•       Dodge Caravan Minivan•       Ford Taurus•       Ford F-150 Pickup•       Ford Escape SUV•       GM Impala•       Chevrolet Silverado 4 x 2•       Chevrolet Tahoe SUV•       Chevy Yukon SUV•       Nissan Titan Pickup•       Toyota Highlander SUV•       Toyota PriusMany of the vehicles listed above are hybrid vehicles which mean that they can run on both conventional gasoline as well as alternative fuels.  As we said, the above list is for 2006 vehicles.  The list for 2007 is much larger.There are also two other types of alternative fuel cars that are becoming more and more popular.  First, there is the electric vehicle.  This car is exactly what it says it is.  You plug it into an electrical outlet to charge the battery and then drive without using any fuel at all.  However, these vehicles are generally not meant to travel at high speeds.A second type of AFV is the fuel cell vehicle.  These cars get electrical energy from a fuel cell instead of from a battery.  There are different kinds of fuel cell vehicles, but most manufacturers prefer cells that use a proton exchange membrane that uses hydrogen to produce an electrical current to run the motor.  The only type of exhaust with this type of vehicle is water – believe it or not!Besides the obvious advantages to owning an AFV, the government is also stepping in to make it even more advantageous.  People who buy these types of vehicles are given tax breaks on their income taxes.  Additionally, many states also offer incentives and car manufacturers even offer rebates or discounts.It’s kind of exciting to think about the fact that we can now power our vehicles using things like vegetable oil, animal fats, and even wood!  It brings to mind the movie “Back to the Future” where Doc would power his DeLorean time machine using garbage as fuel!

Tags: Alternative Fuel Car, Alternative Fuel Cars, Alternative Fuel Sources, Alternative Fuel Vehicle, Alternative Vehicle Fuel, Fuel Cell Cars