The Sinclair C5 was a battery electric vehicle invented by Sir Clive Sinclair and launched in the United Kingdom on 10 January 1985. It was a battery-assisted tricycle steered by handles on each side of the driver’s seat. Powered operation was possible making it unnecessary for the driver to pedal. Its top speed of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h), was the fastest allowed in the UK without a driving licence. It sold for £399 plus £29 for delivery. It became an object of popular ridicule and was a commercial disaster, selling only around 12,000 units.

The TWIKE (”TW”in b”IKE”) is a human-electric hybrid vehicle (HEHV)/light electric vehicle (LEV) designed to carry two passengers and cargo. It can be driven in electric-only mode or electric + pedal power mode.

Pedaling extends the range of the vehicle but does not substantially add to the vehicle’s top speed. The vehicle cannot be driven solely by using pedal power. Regenerative antilock braking captures energy from deceleration to recharge computer-controlled batteries.

Constructed of lightweight materials (like aluminium and plastic), this 246 kg (542 lb) (unladen) tricycle vehicle uses a 336 volt, 3.3 kilowatt-hour nickel-cadmium battery or a 6 kilowatt-hour nickel metal hydride battery and 3 kilowatt electric motor for primary power to the drivetrain. The battery can be fully recharged from a common 230V house outlet in 1.5 to 2 hours (NiMH: 3 hours). Additional energy is reclaimed while driving through regenerative braking, and load is removed from the electric system by use of the pedalling system which transfers its input directly to the drivetrain (ie, both systems operate in parallel, not in series).

TWIKE owners, who often refer to themselves as TWIKE pilots, host periodic gatherings and tours in Europe and the United States to popularize the vehicle and celebrate its driving experience, which enthusiasts describe as an entertaining form of cardio-vascular exercise. Hosted primarily by the TWIKE KLUB organizations in Switzerland and Germany, such events have included rallies and tours of Europe and the U.S.

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The Toyota Prius is one of the world’s first commercially mass-produced and marketed hybrid automobiles. Manufactured by Toyota, the Prius first went on sale in Japan in 1997. The car was introduced to the worldwide market in 2000 and almost 160,000 units had been produced for sale in Japan, Europe, and North America as of the end of 2003. As of May 15, 2008 Toyota had announced that it had reached a sales figure surpassing the mark of one million units. Toyota Press Release

The Honda Insight is a 2-seater hatchback hybrid automobile manufactured by Honda. It was the first mass-produced hybrid automobile sold in the United States, introduced in 1999, and produced until 2006. Honda now offers the Civic as an optional hybrid.

Toyota, GM and Ford are currently developing plug-in hybrids.

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Ethanol flexible-fuel vehicles have standard gasoline engines that are capable of running with ethanol and gasoline mixed in the same tank. These mixtures have “E” numbers which describe the percentage of ethanol in the mixture, for example, E85 is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. (See common ethanol fuel mixtures for more information.) Though technology exists to allow ethanol FFVs to run on any mixture up to E100, in the U.S. and Europe, flex-fuel vehicles are optimized to run on E85. This limit is set to avoid cold starting problems during very cold weather. The alcohol content might be reduced during the winter, to E70 in the U.S. or to E75 in Sweden. Brazil, with a warmer climate, developed vehicles that can run on any mix up to E100, though E20-E25 is the mandatory minimum blend, and no pure gasoline is sold in the country.

The U.S. has the largest fleet of flex-fuel vehicles in the world, with almost 8 million by early 2009, followed by Brazil with 7,1 million as of February 2009. However, the actual number of American FFVs being run on E85 is much lower; surveys conducted in the U.S. have found that 68% of American flex-fuel car owners were not aware they owned an E85 flex. This is thought to be due to a number of factors, including:

* The appearance of flex-fuel and non-flex-fuel vehicles is identical;

* There is no price difference between a pure-gasoline vehicle and its flex-fuel variant;

* The lack of consumer awareness of flex-fuel vehicles;

* The lack of promotion of flex-fuel vehicles by American automakers, who often do not label the cars or market them in the same way they do to hybrid cars

By contrast, automakers selling FFVs in Brazil commonly affix badges advertising the car as a flex-fuel vehicle. As of 2007, new FFV models sold in the U.S. will be required to feature a yellow gas cap emblazoned with the label “E85/gasoline”, in order to remind drivers of the cars’ flex-fuel capabilities. Use of E85 in the U.S. is also affected by the relatively low number of E85 filling stations in operation across the country, with just over 1,750 in August 2008, most of which are concentrated in the Corn Belt states, led by Minnesota with 353 stations, followed by Illinois with 181, and Wisconsin with 114. By comparison, there are some 120,000 stations providing regular non-ethanol gasoline in the United States alone.

There have been claims that American automakers are motivated to produce flex-fuel vehicles due to a loophole in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirements, which gives the automaker a “fuel economy credit” for every flex-fuel vehicle sold, whether or not the vehicle is actually fueled with E85 in regular use. This loophole allegedly allows the U.S. auto industry to meet CAFE fuel economy targets not by developing more, more fuel-efficient models, but by spending between $100 and $200 extra per vehicle to produce a certain number of flex-fuel models, enabling them to continue selling less fuel-efficient vehicles such as SUVs, which netted higher profit margins than smaller, more fuel-efficient cars.

In the United States, E85 FFVs are equipped with sensor that automatically detect the fuel mixture, signaling the ECU to tune spark timing and fuel injection so that fuel will burn cleanly in the vehicle’s internal combustion engine. Originally, the sensors were mounted in the fuel line and exhaust system; more recent models do away with the fuel line sensor. Another feature of older flex-fuel cars is a small separate gasoline storage tank that was used for starting the car on cold days, when the ethanol mixture made ignition more difficult.

Modern Brazilian flex-fuel technology enables FFVs to run an any blend between E20-E25 gasohol and E100 ethanol fuel, using a lambda probe to measure the quality of combustion, which informs the engine control unit as to the exact composition of the gasoline-alcohol mixture. This technology, developed by the Brazilian subsidiary of Bosch in 1994, and further improved and commercially implemented in 2003 by the Italian subsidiary of Magneti Marelli, is known as “Software Fuel Sensor”. The Brazilian subsidiary of Delphi Automotive Systems developed a similar technology, known as “Multifuel”, based on research conducted at its facility in Piracicaba, São Paulo. This technology allows the controller to regulate the amount of fuel injected and spark time, as fuel flow needs to be decreased to avoid detonation due to the high compression ratio (around 12:1) used by flex-fuel engines.
The Honda CG 150 Titan Mix was the first flex-fuel motorcycle launched to the market in the world.

The latest innovation within the Brazilian flexible-fuel technology, is the development of flex-fuel motorcycles. In 2007 Magneti Marelli presented the first motorcycle with flex technology, adapted on a Kasinski Seta 125. Delphi Automotive Systems also presented in 2007 its multifuel injection technology for motorcycles. The first flex motorcycle was launched by Honda in March 2009. Produced by its Brazilian subsidiary Moto Honda da Amazônia, the CG 150 Titan Mix is sold for around US$2,700. Because the motorcycle does not have a secondary gas tank for a cold start like the Brazilian flex cars do, the tank must have at least 20% of gasoline to avoid start up problems at temperatures below 15°C (59°F). The motorcycle’s panel includes a gauge to warn the driver about the actual ethanol-gasoline mix in the storage tank.

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Problem

In 2000, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), adopted new regulations restricting the emissions of gasoline vapors during retail gasoline dispensing at gas stations. The purpose for these regulations is to combat the formation of ground-level ozone due to hydrocarbon emissions. In addition to reducing air pollution, fuel savings will be realized if the recovered vapors are returned to the underground storage tanks.

Solution

Two classes of solutions are competing for the gasoline vapor processing market created by the new regulations: incineration and membrane separations.

Incinerators are burners, which use fuel and a flame to oxidize vent vapors. Burners consume supplemental fuel to maintain combustion as inlet vapor concentrations vary widely. In addition, there may be concerns about emissions from the burners. Catalytic oxidation is also theoretically an option, but no company is known to be developing such a vapor processor for gasoline stations.

Benefits

In contrast to burners, membrane gas separation systems recover and recycle gasoline vapors back to the underground storage tanks. While the equipment must be installed for regulatory purposes, a savings in recycled fuel will also result.

Examples

Competitive silicone membrane based vapor processors pass the hydrocarbon portion of the vapor, and the retained gas (largely air) is vented. Should the system fail, safeguards must be built into the vapor processors to prevent uncontrolled release of gasoline vapors into the atmosphere. Such systems generally require a complex mechanical system to operate properly, including a fan, pump, condenser, valving, and the membrane cartridge.

CMS fluoropolymer membranes operate by permeating and venting relatively clean air to the atmosphere, while retaining and recycling gasoline vapors to the tank. Essentially no emissions would then occur should there be power or system failures. No condenser is required for CMS membrane systems, resulting in less complex, more reliable mechanical systems.

Performance

CMS membrane cartridges for controlling gasoline vapor emissions from underground storage tanks are designed to operate in vapor processors.

Vapor processors using CMS membrane cartridges have been certifired by CARB to comply with the 2000 CARB Phase II Enhanced Vapor Recovery regulations.

Pre-certification system performance measurements showed total fugitive gasoline vapor to be 27 % of the maximum allowable emissions of 0.38 pounds of gasoline vapor per 1000 gallons of liquid gasoline dispensed. The vapor processor typically converts the saturated gasoline vapor in the storage tank to 98% air to be vented.

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Wood gas is a syngas also known as producer gas which is produced by thermal gasification of biomass or other carbon containing materials such as coal in a gasifier or wood gas generator or producer gas. It is the result of two high-temperature reactions (above 700 °C (1,292 °F)): an exothermic reaction where carbon burns to CO2 but is then reduced partially back to CO (endothermic); and an endothermic reaction where carbon reacts with steam, producing carbon monoxide (CO), molecular hydrogen (H2), and carbon dioxide (CO2).

In several gasifiers, the actual gasification process is preceded by pyrolysis, where the biomass or coal turns into char, releasing methane (CH4) and tar rich in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Other gasifiers are fed with previously pyrolysed char. Wood gas is flammable because of the carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and methane content.

World War II, or the Second World War[1] (often abbreviated WWII or WW2), was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world’s nations, including all of the great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. The war involved the mobilization of over 100 million military personnel, making it the most widespread war in history. In a state of “total war”, the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Over seventy million people, the majority of whom were civilians, were killed, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.

The start of the war is generally held to be September 1, 1939, with the German invasion of Poland and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by most of the countries in the British Empire and Commonwealth, and by France. Many countries were already at war before this date, such as Nationalist China and Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War, and many who were not initially involved joined the war later, as a result of events such as the German invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa), and the attacks on Pearl Harbor and British and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia.

In 1945 the war ended in a victory for the Allies. The Soviet Union and the United States subsequently emerged as the world’s superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. The United Nations was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict. The acceptance of the principle of self-determination accelerated decolonization movements in Asia and Africa, while Western Europe itself began moving toward integration.

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Steam cars take a long time to start, but some can reach speeds over 100 mph (161 km/h) eventually. the late model doble could be brought to operational condition in less than 30 seconds, and were fast, with high acceleration, but they were ridiculously expensive.

A steam engine uses external combustion, as opposed to internal combustion. Gasoline-powered cars are more efficient at about 25-28% efficiency. In theory, a combined cycle steam engine in which the burning material is first used to drive a gas turbine can produce 50% to 60% efficiency. However, practical examples of steam engined cars work at only around 5-8% efficiency.

The best known and best selling steam-powered car was the Stanley Steamer. It used a compact fire-tube boiler under the hood to power a simple two-piston engine which was connected directly to the rear axle. Before Henry Ford introduced monthly payment financing with great success, cars were typically purchased outright. This is why the Stanley was kept simple; to keep the purchase price affordable.

Steam produced in refrigeration also can be use by a turbine in other vehicle types to produce electricity, that can be employed in electric motors or stored in a battery.

Steam power can be combined with a standard oil-based engine to create a hybrid. Water is injected into the cylinder after the fuel is burned, when the piston is still superheated, often at temperatures of 1500 degrees or more. The water will instantly be vaporized into steam, taking advantage of the heat that would otherwise be wasted.

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Uses :

Propane is used as fuel in cooking on many barbecues, portable stoves and in motor vehicles. The ubiquitous 4.73-gallon (20 lb.) steel container is often dubbed a “barbecue tank”. Propane remains a popular choice for barbecues and portable stoves because its low boiling point of −42 °C (−43.6 °F) makes it vaporize as soon as it is released from its pressurized container. Therefore, no carburetor or other vaporizing device is required; a simple metering nozzle suffices. Propane powers some locomotives, buses, forklifts, taxis and ice resurfacing machines and is used for heat and cooking in recreational vehicles and campers. In many rural areas of North America, propane is used in furnaces, cooking stoves, water heaters, laundry dryers, and other heat-producing appliances. In this application, it is usually stored in a large, permanently-placed cylinder which is recharged by a propane-delivery truck. As of 2000[update], 6.9 million American households use propane as their primary heating fuel.

Commercially-available “propane” fuel, or LPG, is not pure. Typically in the USA and Canada, it is primarily propane (at least 90%), with the rest mostly butane and propylene (5% maximum), plus odorants. This is the HD-5 standard, (Heavy Duty-5%maximum allowable propylene content) written for internal combustion engines. LPG, when extracted from natural gas, does not contain propylene. LPG, when refined from crude oil does contain propylene. Not all products labelled “propane” conform to this standard. In Mexico, for example, the butane content is much higher.

Domestic and industrial fuel :

In North America, local delivery trucks called “bobtails”, with an average tank size of 3,000 gallons, fill up large tanks (sometimes called pigs) that are permanently installed on the property, or other service trucks exchange empty cylinders of propane with filled cylinders. Large tractor-trailer trucks called “cargo-liners”, with an average tank size of 10,000 gallons, transport the propane from the pipeline or refinery to the local delivery plant. The bobtail and transport are not unique to the North American market, though the practice is not as common elsewhere, and the vehicles are generally referred to as tankers. In many countries, propane is delivered to consumers via small or medium-sized individual tanks.

Propane use is growing rapidly in non-industrialized areas of the world. Propane is replacing wood and other traditional fuel sources in such places, where it is now sometimes called “cooking gas”. North American barbecue grills powered by propane cannot be used overseas.[citation needed] The “propane” sold overseas is actually a mixture of propane and butane. The warmer the country, the higher the butane content, commonly 50/50 and sometimes reaching 75% butane. Usage is calibrated to the different-sized nozzles found in non-U.S. grills.[citation needed] Americans who take their grills overseas — such as military personnel — can find U.S.-specification propane at AAFES military post exchanges.

North American industries using propane include glass makers, brick kilns, poultry farms and other industries that need portable heat.

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Liquefied petroleum gas (also called LPG, GPL, LP Gas, or autogas) is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles, and increasingly replacing chlorofluorocarbons as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant to reduce damage to the ozone layer.

Varieties of LPG bought and sold include mixes that are primarily propane, mixes that are primarily butane, and the more common, mixes including both propane (60%) and butane (40%), depending on the season—in winter more propane, in summer more butane. Propylene and butylenes are usually also present in small concentration. A powerful odorant, ethanethiol, is added so that leaks can be detected easily. The international standard is EN 589. In the United States, thiophene or amyl mercaptan are also approved odorants.

LPG is a low carbon emitting hydrocarbon fuel available in rural areas, emitting 19 percent less CO2 per kWh than oil, 30 percent less than coal and more than 50 percent less than coal-generated electricity distributed via the grid.[citation needed] Being a mix of propane and butane, LPG emits more carbon per joule than propane and LPG emits less carbon per joule than butane.

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A liquid nitrogen vehicle is powered by liquid nitrogen, which is stored in a tank. The engine works by heating the liquid nitrogen in a heat exchanger, extracting heat from the ambient air and using the resulting pressurized gas to operate a piston or rotary engine.

Liquid nitrogen propulsion may also be incorporated in hybrid systems, e.g., battery electric propulsion and fuel tanks to recharge the batteries. This kind of system is called a hybrid liquid nitrogen-electric propulsion. Additionally, regenerative braking can also be used in conjunction with this system.

A liquid nitrogen economy is a hypothetical proposal for a future economy in which the primary form of energy storage and transport is liquid nitrogen. It is proposed as an alternative to liquid hydrogen in some transport modes and as a means of locally storing energy captured from renewable sources. An analysis of this concept provides insight into the physical limits of all energy conversion schemes.

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A small number of prototype hydrogen cars currently exist, and a significant amount of research is underway to make the technology more viable. The common internal combustion engine, usually fueled with gasoline (petrol) or diesel liquids, can be converted to run on gaseous hydrogen. However, the most efficient use of hydrogen involves the use of fuel cells and electric motors instead of a traditional engine. Hydrogen reacts with oxygen inside the fuel cells, which produces electricity to power the motors. One primary area of research is hydrogen storage, to try to increase the range of hydrogen vehicles while reducing the weight, energy consumption, and complexity of the storage systems. Two primary methods of storage are metal hydrides and compression. Some believe that hydrogen cars will never be economically viable and that the emphasis on this technology is a diversion from the development and popularization of more efficient hybrid cars and other alternative technologies.

High speed cars, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, submarines, and space rockets already run on hydrogen, in various forms. There is even a working toy model car that runs on solar power, using a reversible fuel cell to store energy in the form of hydrogen and oxygen gas. It can then convert the fuel back into water to release the solar energy.

BMW’s Clean Energy internal combustion hydrogen car has more power and is faster than hydrogen fuel cell electric cars. A limited series production of the 7 Series Saloon was announced as commencing at the end of 2006. A BMW hydrogen prototype (H2R) using the driveline of this model broke the speed record for hydrogen cars at 300 km/h (186 mi/h), making automotive history. Mazda has developed Wankel engines to burn hydrogen. The Wankel uses a rotary principle of operation, so the hydrogen burns in a different part of the engine from the intake. This reduces pre-detonation, a problem with hydrogen fueled piston engines.

The other major car companies like Daimler, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, Ford and General Motors, are investing in hydrogen fuel cells instead. VW, Nissan, and Hyundai/Kia also have fuel cell vehicle prototypes on the road. In addition, transit agencies across the globe are running prototype fuel cell buses. Fuel cell vehicles, such as the new Honda Clarity, can get up to 70 miles on a kilogram of hydrogen (roughly equivalent to a gallon of gasoline.)

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Worldwide, there are more than 7 million NGVs on the roads as of 2008[update], with the largest number of NGVs in Argentina, Brazil, Pakistan, Italy, India, China, and Iran, with South America leading the global market with a share of 48%. In Europe they are popular in Germany and Italy and are becoming more so as various manufacturers produce factory made cars, buses, vans and heavy vehicles. In the United States CNG powered buses are the favorite choice of several public transit agencies, with an estimated CNG bus fleet of some 130,000. Other countries where CNG-powered buses are popular include India, Australia, Argentina, and Germany.

CNG vehicles are commonly used in South America, where these vehicles are mainly used as taxicabs in main cities of Argentina and Brazil. Normally, standard gasoline vehicles are retrofitted in specialized shops, which involve installing the gas cylinder in the trunk and the CNG injection system and electronics. By 2006 there were more than a 1.2 million retrofitted vehicles in Brazil, with a higher concentration in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

In 2006 the Brazilian subsidiary of FIAT introduced the Fiat Siena Tetra fuel, a four-fuel car developed under Magneti Marelli of Fiat Brazil. This automobile can run on 100% ethanol (E100), E25 (Brazil’s normal ethanol gasoline blend), pure gasoline (not available in Brazil), and natural gas, and switches from the gasoline-ethanol blend to CNG automatically, depending on the power required by road conditions. Other existing option is to retrofit an ethanol flexible-fuel vehicle to add a natural gas tank and the corresponding injection system. Some taxicabs in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, run on this option, allowing the user to choose among three fuels (E25, E100 and CNG) according to current market prices at the pump. Vehicles with this adaptation are known in Brazil as tri-fuel cars.

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Biogas typically refers to a gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Biogas originates from biogenic material and is a type of biofuel.

One type of biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion or fermentation of biodegradable materials such as biomass, manure or sewage, municipal waste, green waste and energy crops.[1] This type of biogas comprises primarily methane and carbon dioxide. The other principal type of biogas is wood gas which is created by gasification of wood or other biomass. This type of biogas is comprised primarily of nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide, with trace amounts of methane.

The gases methane, hydrogen and carbon monoxide can be combusted or oxidized with oxygen. Air contains 21 percent oxygen. This energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel. Biogas can be used as a low-cost fuel in any country for any heating purpose, such as cooking. It can also be used in modern waste management facilities where it can be used to run any type of heat engine, to generate either mechanical or electrical power. Biogas can be compressed, much like natural gas, and used to power motor vehicles and in the UK for example is estimated to have the potential to replace around 17 percent of vehicle fuel. Biogas is a renewable fuel, so it qualifies for renewable energy subsidies in some parts of the world.

Production :

Biogas is practically produced as landfill gas (LFG) or digester gas.

A biogas plant is the name often given to an anaerobic digester that treats farm wastes or energy crops.

Biogas can be produced utilizing anaerobic digesters. These plants can be fed with energy crops such as maize silage or biodegradable wastes including sewage sludge and food waste. There are two key processes: Mesophilic and Thermophilic digestion.

Landfill gas is produced by wet organic waste decomposing under anaerobic conditions in a landfill. The waste is covered and mechanically compressed by the weight of the material that is deposited from above. This material prevents oxygen exposure thus allowing anaerobic microbes thrive. This gas builds up and is slowly released into the atmosphere if the landfill site has not been engineered to capture the gas. Landfill gas is hazardous for three key reasons. Landfill gas becomes explosive when it escapes from the landfill and mixes with oxygen. The lower explosive limit is 5 percent methane and the upper explosive limit is 15 percent methane. The methane contained within biogas is 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Therefore uncontained landfill gas which escapes into the atmosphere may significantly contribute to the effects of global warming. In addition landfill gas’ impact in global warming, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) contained within landfill gas contribute to the formation of photochemical smog.

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Biodiesel (Fatty acid methyl ester), is commercially available in most oilseed-producing states in the United States. As of 2005, it is somewhat more expensive than fossil diesel, though it is still commonly produced in relatively small quantities (in comparison to petroleum products and ethanol). Many farmers who raise oilseeds use a biodiesel blend in tractors and equipment as a matter of policy, to foster production of biodiesel and raise public awareness. It is sometimes easier to find biodiesel in rural areas than in cities. Biodiesel has lower Energy Density than fossil diesel fuel, so biodiesel vehicles are not quite able to keep up with the fuel economy of a fossil fuelled diesel vehicle, if the diesel injection system is not reset for the new fuel. If the injection timing is changed to take account of the higher Cetane value of biodiesel, the difference in economy is negligible. Because biodiesel contains more oxygen than diesel or vegetable oil fuel, it produces the lowest emissions from diesel engines, and is lower in most emissions than gasoline engines. Biodiesel has a higher lubricity than mineral diesel and is an additive in European pump diesel for lubricity and emissions reduction.

Some Diesel-powered cars can run with minor modifications on 100% pure vegetable oils. Vegetable oils tend to thicken (or solidify if it is waste cooking oil), in cold weather conditions so vehicle modifications (a two tank system with diesel start/stop tank), are essential in order to heat the fuel prior to use under most circumstances. Heating to the temperature of engine coolant reduces fuel viscosity, to the range cited by injection system manufacturers, for systems prior to ‘common rail’ or ‘unit injection ( VW PD)’ systems. Waste vegetable oil, especially if it has been used for a long time, may become hydrogenated and have increased acidity. This can cause the thickening of fuel, gumming in the engine and acid damage of the fuel system. Biodiesel does not have this problem, because it is chemically processed to be PH neutral and lower viscosity. Modern low emission diesels (most often Euro -3 and -4 compliant), typical of the current production in the European industry, would require extensive modification of injector system, pumps and seals etc. due to the higher operating pressures, that are designed thinner (heated) mineral diesel than ever before, for atomisation, if they were to use pure vegetable oil as fuel. Vegetable oil fuel is not suitable for these vehicles as they are currently produced. This reduces the market as increasing numbers of new vehicles are not able to use it. However, the German Elsbett company has successfully produced single tank vegetable oil fuel systems for several decades, and has worked with Volkswagen on their TDI engines. This shows that it is technologically possible to use vegetable oil as a fuel in high efficiency / low emission diesel engines.

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Both ethanol and methanol have been use as an automotive fuel. While both can be obtained from petroleum or natural gas, ethanol has attracted more attention because it is considered a renewable resource, easily obtained from sugar or starch in crops and other agricultural produce such as grain, sugarcane, sugar beets or even lactose. Since ethanol occurs in nature whenever yeast happens to find a sugar solution such as overripe fruit, most organisms have evolved some tolerance to ethanol, whereas methanol is toxic. Other experiments involve butanol, which can also be produced by fermentation of plants. Support for ethanol comes from the fact that it is a biomass fuel, which addresses climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, though these benefits are now highly debated, including the heated 2008 food vs fuel debate.

Ethanol has the property of slowly decomposing certain rubber compounds such as are found in the fuel lines and seals used in vehicles produced before the mid 1980s. Also, because gasoline is more volatile than ethanol, it can be harder to start some engines using higher ethanol percentages than they were designed to use, especially when the engine is cold during the winter. Ethanol is also electrically conductive (gasoline is an effective insulator) which can cause problems with some early electric fuel pump designs and fuel tank sensors. Corrosion of magnesium and aluminium parts is also a concern at higher ethanol percentages. Most modern cars are designed to run on gasoline are capable of running with a blend from 10% up to 15% ethanol mixed into gasoline (E10-E15). With a small amount of redesign, gasoline-powered vehicles can run on ethanol concentrations as high as 85% (E85), the maximum set in the United States and Europe due to cold weather during the winter, or up to 100% (E100) in Brazil, with a warmer climate. Ethanol has close to 34% less energy per volume than gasoline, consequently fuel economy ratings with ethanol blends are significantly lower than with pure gasoline, but this lower energy content does not translate directly into a 34% reduction in mileage, because there are many other variables that affect the performance of a particular fuel in a particular engine, and also because ethanol has a higher octane rating which is beneficial to high compression ratio engines.

For this reason, for pure or high ethanol blends to be attractive for users, its price must be lower than gasoline to offset the lower fuel economy. As a rule of thumb, Brazilian consumers are frequently advised by the local media to use more alcohol than gasoline in their mix only when ethanol prices are 30% lower or more than gasoline, as ethanol price fluctuates heavily depending on the results and seasonal harvests of sugar cane and by region. In the US, and based on EPA tests for all 2006 E85 models, the average fuel economy for E85 vehicles was found 25.56% lower than unleaded gasoline. The EPA-rated mileage of current American flex-fuel vehicles could be considered when making price comparisons, though E85 has octane rating of about 104 and could be used as a substitute for premium gasoline. Regional retail E85 prices vary widely across the US, with more favorable prices in the Midwest region, where most corn is grown and ethanol produced. In August 2008 the US average spread between the price of E85 and gasoline was 16.9%, while in Indiana was 35%, 30% in Minnesota and Wisconsin, 19% in Maryland, 12 to 15% in California, and just 3% in Utah. Depending of the vehicle capabilities, the break even price of E85 usually has to be between 25 to 30% lower than gasoline. (See price comparisons for most states at e85prices.com)

Reacting to the high price of oil and its growing dependence on imports, in 1975 Brazil launched the Pro-alcool program, a huge government-subsidized effort to manufacture ethanol fuel (from its sugar cane crop) and ethanol-powered automobiles. These ethanol-only vehicles were very popular in the 1980s, but became economically impractical when oil prices fell – and sugar prices rose – late in that decade. In May 2003 Volkswagen built for the first time a commercial ethanol flexible fuel car, the Gol 1.6 Total Flex. These vehicles were a commercial success and by early 2009 other nine Brazilian manufacturers are producing flexible fuel vehicles: Chevrolet, Fiat, Ford, Peugeot, Renault, Honda, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Citroën, and Nissan. The adoption of the flex technology was so rapid, that flexible fuel cars reached 87.6% of new car sales in July 2008. As of August 2008, the fleet of “flex” automobiles and light commercial vehicles had reached 6 million new vehicles sold, representing almost 19% of all registered light vehicles. The rapid success of “flex” vehicles, as they are popularly known, was made possible by the existence of 33,000 filling stations with at least one ethanol pump available by 2006, a heritage of the Pro-alcool program.

In the United States, initial support to develop alternative fuels by the government was a also response to the 1973 oil crisis, and later on, as a goal to improve air quality. Also, liquid fuels were preferred over gaseous fuels not only because they have a better volumetric energy density but also because they were the most compatible fuels with existing distribution systems and engines, thus avoiding a big departure from the existing technologies and taking advantage of the vehicle and the refueling infrastructure. California led the search of sustainable alternatives with interest in methanol. In 1996, a new FFV Ford Taurus was developed, with models fully capable of running either methanol or ethanol blended with gasoline. This ethanol version of the Taurus was the first commercial production of a E85 FFV. The momentum of the FFV production programs at the American car companies continued, although by the end of the 90’s, the emphasis was on the FFV E85 version, as it is today. Ethanol was preferred over methanol because there is a large support in the farming community and thanks to government’s incentive programs and corn-based ethanol subsidies. Sweden also tested both the M85 and the E85 flexifuel vehicles, but due to agriculture policy, in the end emphasis was given to the ethanol flexifuel vehicles.

Today the most common commercially available FFV in the market is the ethanol flexible-fuel vehicle, with almost 16 million automobiles and light duty trucks on the roads around the world by early 2009, and concentrated in four markets, the United States (almost 8 million), Brazil (7.1 million) Canada (600,000), and Europe, led by Sweden (147,000).

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Hydrogen, ethanol, electric and air cars, the media has covered many alternative fuel vehicles in recent months due to rising oil and gas prices. But, one alternative fuel that hasn’t gotten much attention is the use of liquid anhydrous ammonia (NH3). Liquid ammonia burns inside internal combustion engines without any CO2 emissions.

Ammonia is one of the most produced chemicals today and is primarily used in fertilizers for crops. Ammonia can also be recovered in significant quantities from the urine of farm livestock.

And, using ammonia as fuel is not a new concept. In 1869, Emile Lamm introduced the first ammonia-powered motor. Many other inventors would follow. In World War II, ammonia ran the buses in Belgium when fossil fuels were in short supply. Liquid anhydrous ammonia also ran the X-15 rocketplane.

In 2004, Zap Motors came out with a hydrogen fuel cell car that used an Ammonia Cracker to release the hydrogen to run the automobile. The Hydrogen Engine Center in Algona, Iowa has also developed an ammonia/hydrogen-fueled Oxx Power engine that burns cleanly.

Anhydrous ammonia can run in automobiles with few modifications and there is also a vast infrastructure partially in place for using this chemical in automobiles. On September 29 – 30, 2008, the Iowa Energy Center is holding the Ammonia As Fuel conference to talk about and make plans for this gasoline alternative.

Ammonia fuel is not as farfetched as it seems. There is more of a public relations issue holding it back from the transportation marketplace rather than significant technological challenges. Now is the time for people to get over the image of putting this “stinky chemical” in their cars and consider using anhydrous ammonia since it is far cheaper than the current price of gasoline.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

The North American Solar Challenge is a solar car race across North America. Originally called Sunrayce, organized and sponsored by General Motors in 1990, it was renamed American Solar Challenge in 2001, sponsored by the United States Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Teams from universities in the United States and Canada compete in a long distance test of endurance as well as efficiency, driving thousands of miles on regular highways.

Nuna is the name of a series of manned solar powered vehicles that won the World solar challenge in Australia three times in a row, in 2001 (Nuna 1 or just Nuna), 2003 (Nuna 2) and 2005 (Nuna 3). The Nunas are built by students of the Delft University of Technology.

The World solar challenge is a solar powered car race over 3021 km through central Australia from Darwin to Adelaide. The race attracts teams from around the world, most of which are fielded by universities or corporations although some are fielded by high schools.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Attempts at building viable, modern battery-powered electric vehicle began in the 1950s with the introduction of the first modern (transistor controlled) electric car – the Henney Kilowatt. Despite the poor sales of the early battery-powered vehicles, development of various battery-powered vehicles continued through the 1960(notably General Motors with the EV1), but cost, speed and inadequate driving range continued to make them impractical. Battery powered cars have primarily used lead-acid batteries and NiMH batteries. Lead-acid batteries’ recharge capacity is considerably reduced if they’re discharged beyond 75% on a regular basis, making them a less-than-ideal solution. NiMH batteries are a better choice, but are considerably more expensive than lead-acid. Lithium-ion battery powered vehicles such as the Venturi Fetish have recently demonstrated excellent performance and range, but they remain very expensive.

Providing the range limitation issue of battery powered cars can be overcome, their great advantage over say hydrogen, or ammonia, as a means of using renewable electricity as the ultimate power source, is that they have around 3 times the fian efficiency, from say wind turbine to wheel.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Motor Development International SA (MDI) is a french company that is famous for designing compressed air car prototypes marketed under the title “the Air car”. The adress in Luxembourg was only for financial purposes, there has never been a factory or whatever industrial activity there.

In 2002, a team of Swedish journalists from magazine Teknikens värld went to Nice to meet Guy Nègre and try out the air car. They test-drove the car and took pictures of it.

The OneCAT Air Car (later renamed OneFlowAIR)was shown at the 2008 New York Car Show from March 21-30, 2008. It was displayed under the Exhibitor: “Automotive X-Prize” in location: Crystal Palace CP12.

Development history :

The Air Car has been in development for twenty years. The design, particularly the engine, has undergone several radical changes.

In the original Nègre air engine, one piston compresses air from the atmosphere to mix with the stored compressed air (which will cool drastically as it expands). This mixture drives the second piston, providing the actual engine power. Nègre’s engine works with constant torque, and the only way to change the torque to the wheels is to use a pulley transmission of constant variation, losing some efficiency. Armando Regusci’s version of the air engine has several advantages over the original Nègre design.

In Regusci’s version, the transmission system is direct to the wheel, and has variable torque from zero to the maximum, enhancing efficiency. When the vehicle is stopped, Guy Nègre’s engine has to be on and working, losing energy, while the Regusci’s version need not. In 2001-2004 MDI switched to a design similar to that described in Regusci’s patents, which date back to 1990.

Zero Pollution Motors and MDI are among the teams who’ve committed to participation in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize competition. As of September 2009 they do not appear on the list of registered teams. Design judging has commenced.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.