• What are alternative fuels?
• Advantages and disadvantages of alternative fuels
• What are the alternative fuels?
• Biofuels

We explain what alternative fuels are, their advantages and disadvantages. How they are classified and what are biofuels.

The search for this type of fuel began more than 150 years ago.

What are alternative fuels?

Alternative fuels are those fuels that were designed to replace those derived from petroleum (fossil fuels) and nuclear fuels. The Petroleum Not only is it highly polluting, but it has also become increasingly scarce which raises its price.

Alternative fuels are believed to be cheaper and less damaging to the environment. environment, But it's not always like this. As they are new fuels, in many cases their development is still expensive, and there is still a lot of research in front.

The search for this type of fuel began more than 150 years ago, when fossil fuels began to replace wood.

Advantages and disadvantages of alternative fuels

Deforestation can be a consequence of alternative fuels.

When talking about biofuels, advantages and disadvantages can be identified.

• Advantages:
  • Lower CO2 emission. The alternative energies help reduce greenhouse effect thanks to the fact that they practically do not emit CO2. This was one of the main reasons why they began to venture into this type of fuel.
  • It is a way of recycling. For the production of alternative fuels, many times excreta of animals or garbage.
  • They are renewable. As they are produced from sources that are practically inexhaustible (such as agricultural or livestock materials), alternative fuels belong to the category of renewable energy.
  • They preserve fossil fuel reserves. Thanks to others natural resources, the use of fuels such as gasoline is limited. This is beneficial for future generations, as they will have fossil fuel reserves.
  • They are biodegradable. Alternative energies are cleaner, not only because of the negative consequences that a spill of them can generate (which are less than those caused by a fossil fuel spill) but also when they are burned, since they produce less toxic gases than when they are burned. fossil fuels.
  • Economical The generation of alternative fuels is less expensive than that of fossil fuels because the latter are increasingly scarce, making them more expensive. Likewise, the generation of alternative fuels has a cost that it will be less and less the more the knowledge and the technology regarding its use.
• Disadvantages:
  • Pollutants While it is true that these fuels were designed in order to reduce the pollution of the environment, some still have a environmental impact negative (some when produced, others when they are used and others in both stages).
  • Impact on food. As they are produced, in many cases, from grains that are also used as food, this can have an impact on your prices. Thus, eating becomes more expensive for people and also for animals. For example, pigs feed on soybeans, which is often used as raw material to produce alternative fuels.
  • Cutting down trees. The deforestation It can be one of the effects caused by this type of fuel. This has consequences for the biodiversity, which is threatened. This not only affects plants or trees but also the animals that inhabit them.
  • Soil depletion. The generation of alternative fuels can have a negative impact on the soils, depleting their nutrients and rendering them useless in the future.

What are the alternative fuels?

Biodiesel is made from animal fats or vegetable oils.

There are different types of alternative fuels, which have been developed over the last 150 years. Some are:

• Methanol Specialists estimate that although no more cars are manufactured today that can be powered by this fuel, it is expected that it can be used as a source of hydrogen in future electric cars.
• P-series fuels. The combination of methyltetrahydrofuran, natural gas and ethanol is known under this name, which can power flexible fuel vehicles. The mixture can be used alone, or added in some quantity to gasoline.
• Natural gas. It is, in fact, several gases that can be used as fuel. It is a mixture of methane, butane, ethane and propane, which has in greater proportion methane. It is a less polluting, safer and more renewable material than fossil fuels, although the methane generated in the production of natural gas generates a greenhouse effect.
• Electricity. Stored in a battery, electricity can be used (instead of fossil fuel) to run cars. In this case, the Energy It is produced with an electrochemical reaction from the combination of oxygen and hydrogen, avoiding the combustion and pollution.
• Hydrogen. By mixing with natural gas, an alternative fuel is produced that, like electricity, can be used to power cars. Hydrogen is used to power vehicles with internal combustion engines and for those with electric batteries. As long as hydrogen is used in pure form and not combined with other fuels, it does not emit any pollutants.
• Biodiesel. This fuel is made from animal fats or vegetable oils. One of its advantages is that it is biodegradable and does not pollute, in addition to being a safe material. Biodiesel can be used in vehicles with diesel engines.
• Bioethanol. It is the most widely used alternative fuel today and the simplest to produce. Because it is in huge quantities, it is estimated that in the future it will be one of the options most taken into account because it will be able to supply the demand. It is usually produced from corn, sugar cane, beets or wheat. There is a worldwide controversy over the use of bioethanol because, as it is produced from raw material that is also food for living beingsSome speculate that food prices will increase because they will not be enough to produce bioethanol and sustain food. There is also another negative opinion, because many assume that deforestation will increase greatly to use large areas of land for crops that are used to produce bioethanol.
• Biobutanol. This fuel is the result of a fermentation equivalent to ethanol and used, for its production, sugar cane, beet, sorghum, corn or wheat, among others. It is one of the newest options and it performs better than ethanol. It can also be produced from bagasse, straw and stems of some crops, which are products that compete less with food production.

Biofuels

Biomass is the organic matter that comes from a plant or an animal.

Biofuels are a type of alternative fuel, which are produced from biomass. The biomass is the organic material that comes from a vegetable or an animal.

These organic materials are converted into energy from different processes such as pyrolysis, combustion, gasification and anaerobic digestion.

They are a part of the alternative fuels mentioned above, and are part of renewable energy sources.