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Automotive Industry

Fill 'er up: alternative fuel trends lean toward renewable and immediate

Automotive Industries, May, 2003 by Andrea Wielgat

Most fuel experts agree that the ideal alternative fuel for the future is hydrogen. It's clean and abundant.

But, unfortunately, it's also a long way off thanks to problems with storage and refueling.

Still automakers and government officials do not want to be dependent on gasoline for the next 10 to 15 years.

They, instead, are looking to several alternative fuels that can help not only with emissions but also with what many call national energy security.

The fuels range from biodiesel to propane. Most are renewable but most are also more expensive than gasoline.

Biodiesel

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"Biodiesel is coming on very strong," says Richard Parish, senior project leader at the Center for Transportation Technology and Systems at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Use of this fuel has grown dramatically over the last several years and is the alternative fuel receiving the most attention right now says Melissa Howell, executive director of the Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition.

Biodiesel is a diesel replacement or additive made from vegetable oils and animal fats. It comes from two primary and plentiful sources--soybean oil and yellow grease from restaurants, says Howell.

It can be blended with petroleum diesel fuels or used as pure biodiesel. Blends traditionally start at five percent biodiesel and 95 percent petroleum (B5). Blends less than 20 percent (B20) can be used in existing diesel engines without any engine alterations, Howell says.

Several equipment makers including Detroit Diesel, Cummins and Caterpillar have even endorsed the use of biodiesel in their products.

"They said if you use our products we will not void the warranty but only to a B5 blend," Howell says.

Higher blends can be used in engines built since 1994 with a few modifications but transportation and storage need special management.

Biodiesel reduces emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, sulfates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and particulates.

While it reduces emissions it does not reduce nitrogen oxide, Parish says.

Additionally, the higher the biodiesel content (65 vs. B20) the larger the environmental impact.

"The emissions benefit greatly improvess between 2 percent and 20 percent," Howell says.

It also does not reduce a vehicle's performance and can be used in virtually any type of vehicle on or off road.

"Anybody who has a diesel vehicle can use biodiesel," Howell says.

Since biodiesel is made from soybean, U.S. farmers can grow as much as needed reducing the U.S. dependency on foreign oil, Howell says.

One of the drawbacks is that the fuel is not readily available. It is also more expensive than diesel. A 62 blend costs 3 cents more per gallon than diesel while a B20 blend costs 18 cents to 25 cents more than diesel.

Another problem is that the two largest consumers of petroleum diesel are the United States Navy and the railroad industry. With the tremendous amount of diesel they use a switch to biodiesel would be extremely costly.

But the government is looking at legislation for incentives on renewable fuels and that would help biodiesel sales.

While the biodiesel industry has already started heavy marketing of the fuel to fleet owners, the average person is not aware of this fuel. If automakers decide to bring more diesel sedans and SUVs to the U.S. consumers will need to be well-informed about this alternative fuel.

Additionally, says Parish, the petroleum industry will need to be educated about biodiesel. To this point it has not shown must interest in the fuel since it offsets petroleum and is made from a biological process much different oil.

It is a foreign concept to them, he says.

Ethanol

With several million ethanol vehicles on the road today, the use of ethanol as a fuel should be higher. But unfortunately, the ethanol industry is not behind the use of the substance as a fuel which subsequently has driven up the price of ethanol.

Ethanol is an alcohol based fuel. It can be made from any biological feedstock that contains substantial amounts of sugar or materials that can be converted into sugar. Sugar beets and sugar cane contain sugar while corn can be converted into sugar. Additionally, trees and grasses can be converted to sugar since they are made up of cellulose.

"We can grow more," Howell says. "We can make more. We don't have to import it."

There is an unbelievable number of ethanol plants in the U.S., Howell says. There are even more plants coming, Parish says.

"There is something driving that," Howell says.

But it's not E85 (85 percent ethanol and 15 percent petroleum)--the ideal fuel for the flex-fuel vehicles already on the road.

Instead, ethanol is being used as an oxygenate blended with gasoline. According to the Alternative Fuel Data Center (AFOC), more than 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol are added to gasoline each year. This increases octane and improves the quality of emissions.

Automotive Industry

Fill 'er up: alternative fuel trends lean toward renewable and immediate

Automotive Industries, May, 2003 by Andrea Wielgat

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