The Potential for Alternative Fuels in Transport - Term Paper Example

The Potential for Alternative Fuels in Transport Alternative fuels began receiving more attention after the oil crisis of 1973. Concerns over energy security and inclement price hikes spurred improved fuel economy, and the development of alternative vehicles and fuels. Environmental concerns were voiced more strongly in the last two decades, leading to governmental intervention, i.e. emissions regulations and, more recently, monetary incentives for alternatives. However, the increase in the total demand for transport has grown faster than the efficiency and emissions technologies have progressed. The switch from traditional oil-based fuels to alternative fuels is necessary because concerns over energy security, climate change, and air quality have only strengthened in recent years. The various regions of the globe and transportation applications may present different challenges requiring different alternative fuels, but the need to preserve the environment and its resources is universal. (Pelkmans, p.1-3) The Associate Director of the Energy Program at Rice University, Amy Myers Jaffe, argues that the situation is more dangerous now than in 1973 or 1979, as the United States is more dependent on the oil from Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries of uncertain geopolitical stability. "Of the Saudi oil, two-thirds goes through one processing plant and two terminals. " (qtd. in EBS, pars. 3-4) The electric vehicles touted after the oil crisis have not yet made it past the significant hurdles of economic and technical factors. Battery technology has not progressed as predicted, and remains the major weakness in electric vehicles. In the last few years, hybrid vehicles have become available, compromising the fuel-efficiency and environmental benefits of electric vehicles without their long-charging times or short range. Last year, over 86,000 hybrid vehicles were sold in the United States. (Barnitt and Eudy, p. 15) "It turns out that if, in 2025, every car and light truck were as efficient as today's hybrid cars and sports utility vehicles, that would displace two Gulf's worth of oil or a sixth of all the oil in the country," says Amory Lovins, CEO of the Rocky Mountain Institute. (qtd. in EBS, pars. 3-4) The use of alternative fuels, operating within assumptions of current fuel use and oil supplies, are inevitable. (Sperling, DeLuchi and Wang, p. 1) The United States owns only three percent of the world's oil reserves, but consumes 25 percent of the world's oil. There is a concensus that drilling our way to energy independence is not a feasible solution. (EBS, par. 4) The transportation fuel market represents about 53% of the world refinery product demand. If upstream (the fuel used in producing the fuel itself) consumption, asphalt and lubricant use are included, the transportation sector is responsible for about 60%. This share of the oil market is projected to increase in the next decades. The remainder of the oil products are used for heating, the production of plastics and other synthetics, and for the production of electricity. No large-scale substitute displays identical characteristics as oil-based fuels (gasoline and diesel,) and higher quality transport fuel requires higher energy use in the refining process. The demand for transporation fuel will determine the demand the for crude oil on the whole. There are sufficient oil resources in place for the period up to 2030, provided that sufficient investments and developments are made in oil recovery. (Gielen and Unander, p. 7) The World Energy Outlook 2004 predicts a growth from 77 million barrels per day to 121.3 million barrels per day in 2030, and the OPEC Middle East share in world oil production is predicted to grow from 24.7% to 42.7% by this time. (Gielen and Unander, p. 8) "Until we find a substitute for the internal combustion engine to reduce our dependence on gasoline, we're stuck with imported oil," says Robert Ebel, the Chairman of the Energy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. (qtd. in EBS, par. 3) Jeff Dukes, an ecologist at the University of Utah, conducted a study estimating the total amount of fossil fuel burned in 1997 was composed of 97 million billion pounds of carbon, the equivalent of at least 400 times the entirety of global plant matter, on both land and water, that grew during that year. "Every day, people are using the fossil fuel equivalent of all the plant matter that grows on land and in the oceans over the course of a whole year," says Dukes. The study also determined, through calculation of carbon content, that "the amount of plants that went into the fossil fuels we burned since the Industrial Revolution began is equal to all the plants grown on Earth over 13,300 years." (qtd. in California Energy Commission, par. 8-10) Carbon dioxide emissions are directly proportional to fossil fuel consumption, so the energy security benefits are bound with those related to pollution and climate change. (Casesa, p. 5) In 2002, the combustion of transportation fuels was responsible for 32.3% of the carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. This is 16% greater emissions than were detected twelve years before. (TEDB, chap. 11, p. 2) Other greenhouse gases are manufactured as byproducts during the use of fossil fuels for transport (chiefly, methane and nitrous oxide.) For half a million years, the atmospheric content of carbon dioxide has fluctuated between 200 and 300 ppm. In 2001, the carbon dioxide levels were 370 ppm. At this rate, the carbon dioxide level will be 700ppm by 2100. (Boyle, p. 10) The use of fossil fuels may be limited to 60-80% of the current scheme before the end of the 21st century, in order to prevent an increased frequency of climatic extremes (floods, droughts, etc.,) serious disruption to agricultural and natural ecosystems, and the rise of the global sea level. The sea level could rise even further, should the antarctic ice sheets melt. (Boyle, p. 10) Pollutants also take the form of secondary pollutants, formed by the chemical and photochemical reactions of primary pollutants after being released into the atmosphere. Ozone and peroxyacyl nitrate, which is known to be significantly damaging to plants, are examples of secondary pollutants. Some pollutants occur in both categories, such as nitrous oxide, aldehydes, and carbon monoxide. The photochemical ozone formation of smog at ground level is a result of the reactions between nitrous oxide and hydrocarbons. Ozone is a strong oxidizer which negatively affects the respiratory system, causing damage to lung tissues. Chronic exposures to elevated ozone levels accelerate the aging process and weaken the immune system. (“Smog Formation Review“, par. 8) Diesel exhaust contains more than 40 toxic chemicals, some of which are carcinogenic, others suspected in causing asthma and other respiratory ailments. (Alternative Fuels in Public Transit, p. 10) Air quality regulations currently provide incentive to auto manufacturers to create cleaner exhaust systems, but this does nothing to lessen the reliance on foreign oil. Thus the oil-based transportation system threatens not only the environment, but the health of those in metropolitan areas with large numbers of polluting vehicles. As always with oil, there is a danger of further economic loss should the oil be spilled. In areas like Hawaii, relying on tourism for a good portion of income, and imported oil for transportation, a spill could be devastating. The more shipments of oil that are needed, the more likely such an accident is to happen. (Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, par. 14) Alternative fuels are defined as all fuels that can be used for motive energy except the petroleum-derived gasoline and diesel fuel. (Sperling, DeLuchi and Wang, p. 39) More specifically, the following are alternative fuels as described in the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct): pure biodiesel, electricity, denatured ethanol(+85%), methanol(+85%), hydrogen, natural gas (in compressed or liquefied form), and propane. In 2003, petroleum accounted for 96.4% of total transport fuel, and the remainder of the market is, in large part, diesel. Only the remaining 3.6% of the total transport fuels used in 2003 were alternative fuels. (TEDB, chap.2, p.2) The alternative fuels which account for the major portion of the 3.6% at the current time are the gaseous fuels propane and natural gas, the alcohols ethanol and methanol, and, for use in diesel engines, biodiesel. (Pelkmans, p. 39) The use of any listed alternative fuels help reduce pollution, the effects of climate change, as well as dependence on the depleting oil reserves. Alternative fuels require less change in personal behavior than other solutions (although fuel conservation consciousness would only assist the environment, if taught.) Some alternative fuels would result in environmentally benign travel, and unrestricted motor vehicle use. (Sperling, DeLuchi and Wang, p. 1) Each fuel has its own characteristics, costs, and benefits. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (propane) is currently the dominant alternative fuel on the market, less than half produced by refining oil (the remainder derived from natural gas.) Propane is safer than gasoline, and often cheaper in most places, when you compare the price of a gallon of gasoline with the price of the equivalent volume of LPG needed to drive the same distance. An engine running on propane is more likely to produce a longer service life and reduced maintenance costs. Its high octane rating (about 105) means that power output and/or fuel efficiency can be increased, without the knocking that occurs otherwise. (Gielen and Fridtjof, p. 28) Compressed Natual Gas, a compressed form of the gas used for heating and cooking, is the least expensive alternative fuel (excluding electricity.) Pressures of similar magnitudes to those of LPG, result in a vehicle of high safety. The CNG vehicles have some of the lowest emissions ratings of any combustion engine. Liquefied Natural Gas, another option for using a more plentiful fossil fuel, can be incorporated into vehicles in a form not requiring high-pressure tanks. Modern methanol vehicles act as flexible-fuel vehicles, operating on alternate fuels when available, and standard gasoline when methanol is not present. (California Energy Commission, par. 12) Ethanol, a renewable resource made from corn or other biomass and when combusted is neutral in relation to global warming concerns, can also be utilized in a flexible-fuel vehicle. Even considering the production fuel costs of efficient farming with fertilization, field plowing, there is an improvement in greenhouse gas emissions. (Casesa, p. 23) Biodiesel acts precisely as petroleum-based diesel fuel, although it is composed from biomass. It is renewable, and of itself, does not increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In addition, a diesel engine is capable of running on vegetable oil, even waste grease from a fast food restaurant. Biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine without modification, and helps reduce pollutants and soot. (Alternative Fuels and AFVs, p. 14) Hybrid electric vehicles can be made to run with any fuel (gasoline, diesel, or alternative fuels) in addition to electricity, the most readily available form of energy in the United States. Vehicles running on electricity can, potentially, serve as the cleanest form of transportation. The efficiency is higher than other forms of motive energy, including the losses caused from producing the electricity and transmitting it, recharging a battery and powering the motor. The motor can be reversed, generating power as it absorbs energy during braking. Like hydrogen fuel cells automobiles, there are no tailpipe emissions from a vehicle running on electric power. As the powerplants produce less energy from fossil fuels and are upgraded to renewable sources, the use of the electric car will become still cleaner. The electric car is estimatd to create 98% less pollution than an average car in its lifetime. (EUREC Agency, p. 46) There would be immense savings in maintainance as well, as the electric motor has only one moving part. With a distribution infrastructure, hydrogen could become another alternative fuel of the future. It is, like electricity, a method for transporting energy. It can be made from electrolysis using electricity. Emissions are extremely limited when combusted, and hydrogen produces zero emissions when working within a fuel cell. No carbon exists in the fuel, and, as such, there is no carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. The waste product from the exhaust is potable water. If the electricity is generated from a renewable source (solar, wind, tidal) the result is an unlimited supply of clean fuel. Hydrogen can be rechaged faster than a battery pack, reducing hours to minutes, and requires less space and weight than recharging. For long-distance trips, hydrogen could be more convenient than battery-charged electric cars. (Casesa, p. 11) While government direction to cut emissions and raise fuel efficiency will assist the lack of resources and environment, continued burning of fossil fuels ultimately leads to a fate of polluted air, climate change and scarce resources. Increased incentives to purchase and use alternative fuels will preserve our dwindling fossil fuel supply and the tottering ecosystem. Ultimately, a combination of factors will decide how quickly alternative fuels are accepted: the amount invested in research and development, the impact of population and economic growth on government priorities, and the social acceptability of these alternative fuels. Works Cited Barnitt, Robb, and Leslie Eudy. Overview of Advanced Technology Transportation, 2005 Update. Oak Ridge, TN: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. August 2005. Boyle, Godfrey, ed. Renewable Energy: Power for a Sustainable Future. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004 ed. California State. California Energy Commission. A Student´s Guide to Alternative Fuel Vehicles. Sacramento: California Energy Commission. 11 July 2005. 20 December 2005. Casesa, John, ed. Energy Security and Climate Change: Investing in the Clean Car Revolution. New York: Merril Lynch, 16 June 2005. Doyle, Ned Ryan. "Alternative Vehicles: Myths and Misconceptions." Ecomall. 2005. 20 December 2005. EUREC Agency. Future for Renewable Energy 2: Prospects and Directions. London: James and James, 2002. Educational Broadcasting Corporation. "Alternatives to Oil Dependency." The Journal Editorial Report. 7 January 2005. 20 December 2005. Gielen, Dolf, and Fridtjof Unander. Alternative Fuels: An Energy Technology Perspective. IEA Committee on Energy Research and Technology. Office of Energy Technology and R&D, International Energy Agency. Paris. 1-2 March 2005. Hawaii State. Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Alternative Fuels and Alternatively-Fueled Vehicles in Hawaii: Alternative Transportation Fuels Fact Sheet. Honolulu: Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. 23 March 2005. 20 December 2005. Pelkmans, Luc, ed. Trends in Vehicle and Fuel Technologies: Review of Past Trends. Luxemburg: Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, 2003. 20 December 2005. "Smog Formation Review." National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium. West Virginia University. 2005. 20 December 2005. Sperling, Daniel, Mark A. DeLuchi, and Quanlu Wang. "Alternative Transportation Fuels Incentive-Based Regulation of Vehicle Fuels and Emissions." CPS Brief: A Publication of the California Policy Seminar. 3.6 (1991): 1-39. United States. Department of Energy. Alternative Fuels and AFVs: A Fact Sheet. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, December 2003. 20 December 2005. United States. Department of Energy. Alternative Fuels in Public Transit: A Match Made on the Road. Oak Ridge, TN: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. March 2002. 20 December 2005. United States. Department of Energy. Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 24- 2004. Oak Ridge, TN: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2003. Read More