The Anti-Gasoline Movement: Powering Your Car With Alternative Fuels

I recently read an article in National Geographic about a woman named Carol Olson who drove a 1999 turbo-diesel Jetta fueled by canola and vegetable oil. Instead of paying for gasoline, Olson collects used canola oil from restaurants to power her car.

While this may sound extreme, after a little research on Google, I found that Olson is part of a small but growing group of Americans converting their cars to run on vegetable oil and other renewable resources. Woody Harrelson, like other celebrities and their cars, is famous for his role as Woody Boyd on Cheers, also drives a bio-diesel powered 2000 Beetle and has been an outspoken advocate for biodiesel energy.

While there are no manufacturers who produce cars that run on biodiesel and other alternative fuels, some people have been installing converter kits that can transform any diesel-engine car into one that could run on vegetable oil or another type of renewable energy

With all the craze about sustainable energy and environmentally friendly cars, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the ever-increasing types of alternative fuels that are available.  So I’ve researched and compiled a short list of some of the different types of alternative fuels used to power cars. But environmentalists beware, while these options are available, converting your car to use some of these fuels can be extremely expensive.

1.    Ethanol
Ethanol is an alcohol-based fuel. While ethanol was once considered inefficient because of the cost of converting corn into usable fuel, new advancements in technology now allows people to convert waste from breweries, wineries, soda manufacturers and candy companies into pure ethanol. The device is called an E-Fuel MicroFueler and can convert old wine and beer into fuel for your car. The downside? The device costs $10,000 and the fuel will cost $2 a gallon, but buyers are eligible for a $5,000 tax credit.

2.    Biodiesel
Biodiesel is manufactured from vegetable oils, animal fats and recycled restaurant grease. Environmentalists have praised biodiesel because it is biodegradable and produces less air pollutants than petroleum-based diesel. However, before you begin filling up your diesel-powered car with Crisco, you will need to convert your engine, which can be pretty pricey.

3.    Natural Gas
Natural gas is one of the cleanest burning alternative fuels. Although natural gas vehicles have been around since the 1930s, they are not produced commercially in large numbers, however, conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles can be converted for around $5,000. Currently there are around 30,000 natural gas vehicles in the United States and about a million in the world.

4.    Propane
Propane powered vehicles have been around for nearly 60 years and many taxis, buses and other high-mileage vehicles are powered by propane. Although no new passenger cars or trucks powered by propane are commercially produced, there are over 10,000 propane filling stations throughout the United States and Canada.

5.    Hydrogen
A few years ago there was a lot of buzz about hydrogen fuel because it has the potential to dramatically reduce our dependence on foreign oil and produces no air pollutants or greenhouse gases. The one downside? Hydrogen is expensive to produce and fuel cell vehicles that run on hydrogen fuel are far too expensive for the average consumer to afford.

Tagged as: alternative fuels, biodiesel, ethanol fuel, green car power, hydrogen fuel, natural gas fuel, propane vehicles, sustainable energy