Alternative fuels are any fuels that are not standard fossil fuels, such as coal or petroleum derivatives. Research into alternative fuels began in the 20th century and today there are many options available, including ethanol, biodiesel, and fuels derived from algae. Alternative fuel furnaces have also become available, using fuels derived from renewable sources.
The term alternative fuels usually applies to automotive fuels that are not diesel or gasoline. Also known as alternative fuels, this term is sometimes used in a broader sense to mean any fuel that is not one of the standard fossil fuels, such as coal or petroleum derivatives for any type of vehicle, engine or furnace. With worldwide concern about the sustainability of gasoline as a fuel, alternative fuel research has grown substantially since the 1970s, although early work in the field began as early as the 1920s. Today, several types of alternative fuel vehicles are available direct from dealer lots, and multiple options are possible in the form of aftermarket conversion kits for certain vehicles that allow the use of one or more alternative fuels. The same concerns about the rising cost of heating oil, natural gas and propane, as well as electricity for home heating, have led to the proliferation of many types of furnaces designed to use alternative fuels derivedfrom renewable resources and sustainable.
Research into alternative fuels began in the 20th century and today there are many options available to those wishing to purchase a vehicle that runs on one of these alternative fuels. In the United States, one such fuel is ethanol, a type of alcohol usually made by fermenting and distilling corn, often blended with gasoline and called E20. In other parts of the world, other blends with varying amounts of ethanol are available, such as diesel fuel (E85) or pure ethanol (E25). In each case, the capital “E” stands for ethanol and the number is the percentage of ethanol in the blend. Other alcohol fuels derived from organic sources, such as butanol and methanol, are sometimes produced and used in some areas of the world, often blended with gasoline.
Biodiesel fuels are also derived from renewable crops and used to power diesel engines. Biodiesel fuels are chemically nearly identical to diesel fuel derived from crude oil, but are refined from oils extracted from plant materials. The feedstock for biodiesel, called biomass, undergoes a fairly complex process to produce the biodiesel fuel, but it is highly competitive with traditional sources of diesel in terms of price and quality and, in many cases, is less expensive. Diesel engines can also be converted to run on plain vegetable oil, including filtered waste oil from restaurant fryers.
Much work and research has been undertaken to find a way to produce alternative and equivalent biofuels to traditional fuels, using natural and genetically modified algae. Work in this field is relatively new and still being refined, but has shown much promise. Algae have been shown to be capable of producing a number of different fuels, such as bioalcohols, biodiesel and even biogasoline in potentially commercially viable quantities.
Some other alternative fuels that are being considered are hydrogen, a fuel with no emissions as it only produces pure water when burned. Ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, and new fossil fuels derived from crude oil fractions that were previously considered unusable are also all possible alternative fuels.
In terms of applications beyond transportation, especially residential heating, many alternative fuel furnaces have become available over the past 50 years. Most of these are designed to use fuels derived from renewable sources, such as wood pellets made from sawdust and other wood-based waste. Dried corn on the cob is another possibility. These types of kilns vary widely in emissions and efficiency, but are increasingly popular as they are generally cheaper to run than traditional fossil fuel or electrically powered units.
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