Alternative Fuels
Why Alternative Fuels?
Most of the energy we use is produced by burning fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural gas. These fuels formed millions of years ago out of the remains of dead plants and animals.Fossil fuels have served us well for the past 200 years or so, but they have serious disadvantages. For one thing, they are not being made any more. There is more and more discussion on the 'Peak Oil' theory everyday and it is undoubted that the day will come when the last piece of coal has been burned and the last drop of oil has been found. Our homes could grow cold. Our factories could stop working. And our transport could grind to a halt. Everyone has probably experienced the effects of high oil prices and the effects it has on an economy, now imagine that there is no oil!
As far as oil is concerned, that day might not be more than years away! The world collectively uses about 30 billion barrels of oil a year and, thanks to the growing demand by China and India for energy to fuel their economic growth, world demand is likely to continue to expand. Or that more coal has been burned since the Second World War than in the whole of Our former history. The demand for coal grows greater every day, so it is being used up more and more quickly.
Burning fossil fuels creates serious pollution. When things burn they release gases into the air. Some of these gases are called greenhouse gases. They are called greenhouse gases because they keep the Sun's heat in just as the glass in a greenhouse does. Much of the energy from the Sun that reaches the Earth escapes back into space. Some of it is trapped by the greenhouse gases in the air, though. These gases keep our planet warm enough to live on.
By burning huge amounts of fossil fuel we are actually increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the air. This means that more heat is being trapped and the Earth is becoming warmer. This sounds like a good thing, but a change in the climate will do more harm than good. For instance, there may be crop failures due to lack of rain and sea levels may rise as icebergs at the North and South Poles melt.
Other gases are released by burning fossil fuels. These gases dissolve in rain as it falls to the ground and turn the rain into a strong acid. Lakes and forests in many parts of the world have been polluted by acid rain.
Fortunately there are other ways, of producing the energy we need. We are learning how to effectively generate electricity using wind and wave power. We can now convert sunlight directly into power using solar panels. One of the bigger growth areas is the use of biomass (plants and parts of plants) being converted to bioenergy.
Some would say there has never been a more important time than now for change to happen and push alternative fuels into the mainstream.
Leave a Comment
{ Last Page } { Page 16 of 25 } { Next Page }Untitled Comment
11:33 PM, 26/2/2008 .. Posted by Anonymousi like this article. it helped me with my science project that im doing in school. thanks!
Navigation
HomeArchives
Links
Green Vehicle GuideAustralian BioFuel Users
Fuel Cell Institute
GreenHouse.gov.au
Directory of Energy in Australia
RSS feed for Alternative Fuels
Categories
ArticlesBio Fuels
Diesel Vehicles
Hybrid Vehicles
LPG
Peak Oil
Recent Entries
Faux Green: Handouts for Toyota Little for Australian RenewableThe Looming Energy Crisis
Wave Energy - Australia could do that
Volkswagen: From Supercar to Superfrugal
Chevrolet Volt gets closer to production
Wild Grass Biofuel - Cars can eat grass too!
Should Australia go Nuclear
Solar Power - Solar Systems for Australia
Global Warming is it Just a Big Con?
Five Ways To Save The World
A Car that Runs on Air
GM Hy-wire - Fuel Cell Technology at work
The Fossil Fuel Generation
Biofuels - ethanol
Biogas