Archive for the ‘Alternate Fuels’ Category
Finally, Proven Ways to Cut Your Gas Costs Permanently!
Sometimes it seems as though there is no end in sight, as gas prices continue to rise and neither the government nor the oil companies seem to be doing much to stop these high gas prices from continuing. In order to save a little bit of money each month, there are several different ways of improving your car’s MPG rating that will help you reduce gas costs overall.
Purchase your gas when it is cold outside, because the cold causes the gasoline to concentrate. During warmer weather, gas expands which gives the pump the impression that more gas is coming out, when it reality the gas is simply expanded - not greater. If you would like to get more gas for less money, purchasing it when the gas is contracted is one way to save money on gas.
When your tires are low on air, you do more than simply risk using a spare tire - you also decrease your overall MPG by up to 25%. Keep your tires filled with air and you can save countless hundreds of dollars in the long run as well as improve the life of your tires and your car.
Keep your drive speed between 30 and 60 MPH - This is the optimum level for cars. Below 30 miles per hour and your car is receiving a lot of strain while not going at a very fast speed. Over 60 MPH and your engine is working much harder than it needs to for not much more speed. Keeping within the standard 30-60 MPH range can be very effective for gas relief.
There is also a new technology that has been making its rounds with the ability to improve your gas mileage by up to 300%. It was founded on the idea of hydrogen technology - using water (H20) to create energy - but it is much safer and costs a lot less. It is known as HHO gas, and it is created using a small machine you add to your engine to turn your car into a makeshift hybrid car.
And what an improvement - reports of miles per gallon almost tripling amongst casual users have been commonplace with those that use one of the water car systems report a substantial savings of thousands of dollars a year. All it takes is a small addition to your engine that you can make yourself using standard hardware parts.
This new form of alternative fuel works by extracting hydrogen particles from ordinary tap water and placing it in your engine to be used as fuel. This way your car is receiving power from both hydrogen cells and gasoline, allowing it to work much better and be far more cost efficient.
And if you want to run your car on water, you’ll see that it is 100% safe. Hydrogen powered cars, at least those that were temporarily in production for testing purposes, have often been seen as dangerous because of their combustible material. Not so with these water powered cars. If you are looking for relief from the high gas prices, consider using one of these engine additions to save money on gas.
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Tags: alternative energy, clean fuel, hydrogen, safer fuel, water to gas
Hydrogen Gas Fuel - Alternative To Gasoline
Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical element on the planet. It is found in water and almost every other natural material and in every living thing. Algae, plants, and composting material are all rich sources of hydrogen. The abundance of hydrogen means that it is viewed as a potential source of fuel for many man-made machines. For instance, hydrogen gas fuel can theoretically replace fossil fuels in most of their uses without being concerned with depleting the resource considerably. Separating hydrogen from its chemical bond to these elements produces hydrogen gas fuel. Heat and water are the only emissions produced when mixing this purest form of hydrogen gas fuel with pure oxygen and igniting it, which is as environmentally friendly as you can get.
Each method of distilling the hydrogen to it purest form has its own unique set of pros and cons, from emissions generated by the refining process to finding the most cost effective method of producing hydrogen gas fuel. Currently, steam methane reforming is the most popular method in the United States. This method separates hydrogen from natural gas by heating the natural gas at various temperatures.
Producing enough hydrogen gas fuel to support mainstream use would likely require new infrastructure, making start-up costs an expensive proposition. Current technology such as electrolysis (passing of electrical current through water in an ionic transfer device) can be adapted on a larger scale by using electricity generated through methods such as windmills or solar panels. In addition, geographic concerns will play a major role in location choices for any hydrogen production facility as ideally any such facility requires a large expanse of open space and should be located away from densely populated areas. However, zero greenhouse gas emissions in the electrolysis method make this a worthwhile, long-term venture.
Hydrogen is very flexible and suitable as fuel since it can be stored and easily transported in the form of gas or liquid. Hydrogen fuel can be transported in vapor form from its refinery site to up to a distance of 200 miles. For longer distances up to 1000 miles, hydrogen is transported in super-insulated tanks in liquid form.
Hydrogen will produce more energy per unit weight than any other fuel known. Hydrogen gas fuel gives more than triple the energy of the equivalent amount of gasoline, and does not produce any of gasoline’s undesirable emissions like sulfur and carbon dioxide. Hydrogen gas fuel yields energy at a rate of six times more than an equal amount of coal.
Hydrogen gas has much better and more efficient combustion through a larger range of air fuel mixtures than gasoline. Hydrogen gas fuel has an octane rating of 130 and this is higher than the highest octane gasoline available at present at the gas station.
Hydrogen gas fuel could help us power nearly anything - from large cities to cellular phones, moped to rocket ships while still being eco-friendly. Transport vehicles can be designed to run on hydrogen gas fuel or retrofitted to be able to use it. As gasoline prices continue to rise, we will soon see if hydrogen gas fuel will be a workable replacement for gasoline. Provided the right structures can be set in place and continued research continues apace, it may be the solution to creating an abundant and environmentally fuel.
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Tags: alternate fuel, biodiesel, hydrogen, water to gas
Hydrogen Powered Cars Have A Promising Future
There are many different ways to make hydrogen fuel. Some of these involve burning trash to generate the heat required to break hydrogen out of natural gas or water. You won’t be able to drive on a banana peel, but that peel can be used by a hydrogen production facility to produce the fuel that your hydrogen powered car can use to operate.
There are several different ways in which cars can be adapted to run on hydrogen fuel, and eliminating the need to burn gasoline at all. The same exact internal combustion engine used for gasoline powered vehicles can be used for hydrogen powered cars with modifications to burn hydrogen as the energy source.
An existing auto can be modified to use only hydrogen fuel, completely eliminating the need for gasoline as the fuel source. You can also buy a kit or instructions to make a kit for your car that will add hydrogen to your car’s current gasoline-air mixture. Installing such a kit will reduce your vehicle’s pollution output and greatly improve its gas mileage.
Hydrogen powered cars are roughly three times more efficient than their fossil fueled counterparts and have low to zero emissions resulting in a carbon footprint free vehicle. Electric vehicles can be set up to utilize hydrogen as the fuel for on board electrical generation. An electric or fuel cell vehicle has a storage tank for hydrogen gas, which is fed into a fuel cell where the hydrogen is converted into electricity to power all vehicle systems.
Hydrogen fuel is cheaper to produce in addition to being a truly renewable source of energy. It takes 300 billion gallons of water to refine the gasoline Americans burn each year, but it would only take 100 billion gallons to refine the same amount of hydrogen fuel. As a result, hydrogen costs about half as much per gallon as gasoline.
The number of hydrogen powered cars will increase steadily as hydrogen fueling stations become more available. Starting in 2008, several hydrogen powered vehicles will already be available in limited numbers. Even now, every major automobile company is working on designing and engineering its own model. Some car makers are also trying to develop in-home systems that produce hydrogen, meaning that we could conceivably not only have pumps in the driveway to fuel up hydrogen powered cars in the future, but we could also supply hydrogen fuel to supply electrical power to our homes.
While you might think that safety could be an issue, a hydrogen-powered car is at least as safe as a regular car. High-stress testing has been done to insure that the tanks used for storing the hydrogen fuel can survive even the most serious accidents.
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Tags: hydrogen fuel, hydrogen powered cars, water 4 fuel
Can You Save With These 4 Alternative Fuels?
As the price of a gallon of gasoline tops four dollars, researchers are scrambling to come up with a workable fuel alternative that’s cheaper and more readily available. Four of these include: Biodiesel, Electricity, Ethanol and Water (Yes, Water).
Biodiesel is a renewable fuel produced by a variety of vegetable oils and animal fats. It can be used in a pure form or blended with other products. Biodiesel is clean burning, non toxic and biodegradable.
It’s also less combustible and fairly easy to produce domestically and it can even be produced at home although this is not recommended without appropriate guidance. When strict guidelines are not followed it could damage a very expensive diesel engine. It’s safe to handle, store and transport making it very desirable from a security and health standpoint. The U. S. biodiesel industry currently is very small but growing rapidly.
Electricity can be used to power pure electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Electric vehicles (EVs) work by storing energy in batteries and powering the wheels by an electric motor. Storage capacity and distance are limited. Some have on board chargers and others require a plug-in.
These vehicles are small but quiet and have no tail pipe emissions. They’re mostly used for neighborhood commuting, light hauling and delivery with a maximum speed of 35 mph. Batteries have to be replaced about every four years or 20,000 miles.
No major auto manufacturer has yet started producing a total electric vehicle because they say the demand isn’t there. But some small independent manufacturers have found a niche market with increasing demand.
Ethanol is a renewable fuel made from a variety of plants called biomass. In the U. S., ethanol is primarily made from corn but in Brazil they use the much more efficient sugar cane. It contains the same chemical compound found in alcohol.
Research is continuing into Cellulosic Ethanol Feedstock. This includes making the fuel from agricultural residue such as wheat straw and leaves, forestry wastes such as wood chips and sawdust and even plant derived household garbage together with waste paper products.
Grasses are now also being grown for ethanol production. Benefits include total manufacture domestically, low greenhouse emissions and creating jobs in depressed employment sectors.
A gallon of pure ethanol contains 34% less energy than a gallon of gas and gets lower gas mileage. It can only be used in flex fuel vehicles but is usually priced cheaper in order to compete with higher priced gasoline.
One of the most exciting potential sources of energy is the conversion of water to gas using a conversion kit to transform water into HHO which can be combined with gas to power a vehicle.
The U. S. Department of Energy says these alternative fuels increase our energy security, improve public health and our environment. Studies estimate that ethanol and other biofuels could reduce more than 30% of gas demand in the United States by the year 2030 and HHO could reduce it even further. Usually, when demand drops, so do prices.
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Tags: alternative energy, biodiesel, biofuel, ethanol, water to gas
