The Future of Transportation Alternative Fuel - Essay Example

Introduction The future of transportation is promising. The need to move people and goods from one area to another is a necessity. The need for transport is natural to all people. People are endowed with the ability to move from one place to another by virtue of having legs. From this natural state, it is evident that a person cannot get all his needs from one geographical area; thus, he needs to move from one area to another with the aim for fulfilling his needs. In the past, the main forms of transport included human and animal. Transport through water came after. As time progressed, there was invention of other forms of transport including motor vehicles and railways. Transport by air is the most current. From the evolution of transportation, it is evident that the greatest motivation was volume and speed. The newer forms of transportation led to more goods to be carried and increase in the speed. Overview Transportation is through the land, air, water and outer-space. For all the modes of transportation, energy is needed. In traditional forms of transportation, human and animal, the energy was provided by humans and animals. In traditional water transportation, the energy needed was provided by wind [1]. The major contribution of energy for the modern mode of transportation is petroleum products. The source of fuel is very important to different modes of transport. The fuel used differs from one mode to another. Innovation of new modes of transportation led to innovations on the form of fuels used. Today, innovations that are made improve the current mode of transport and come up with other better modes. The greatest motivation to innovations is to increase speed and safety of transport. In addition, there is need for exploring other parts of space. Land Transportation Land transportation is the oldest mode of transport. This mode includes all forms of transports that are made though the land. Apart from the human and animal transport, the other forms include: railroad, under road, motor cars, buses, motor bicycles and bicycles. There have been various developments in the forms of fuel used in these modes. Motor vehicle There are great hopes in better and faster motor vehicles in the future. The future motor vehicle will be environmentally friendly. Use of ethanol and bio diesel is already on the way but there is still more hope for automobiles. The most promising source of fuel in the future is hydrogen. Auto mobile makers are already making progress in making hydrogen fuel cell. Unlike the other types of fuel, hydrogen is renewable. Thus, when this technology is adopted, there will be no fear of losing fuel [1]. This technology on fuel makes the use of a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. The product of the reaction is electricity that will be used to drive the vehicles. Thus, the future vehicle will be driven by electricity and thus, it will be moving at a very high speed. The speed at which the vehicles will be moving at can only be compared to the speed at which the current electric trains move at. At this speed, there will be need to change infrastructures and transport rules to accommodate the new technology. The greatest motivation to innovations is the desire to protect the environment. Fuels from fossil products are accused of releasing a lot of green house gases in the environment. Thus, there has been a desire to come up with other alternative fuels that would reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the environment. Enhanced and synthetic gasoline Gasoline mixed with other elements is a promising alternative fuel in the future. Gasoline that does not come from petroleum products will also be produced and used as fuel. Engines that are able to use gasoline as a form of fuel have been made and implemented. The green house gases produced by gasoline are about half of the gases released by liquid petroleum products. Despite this, the desire to reduce the amount of green house gases continues [1]. The crude oil reservoirs are decreasing with the fuel. With over reliance on crude oil as the source of energy, there is a risk of the world having a major energy problem. In the future, the major source of fuel will not be crude oil but resources. Most current researches are coming up with alternative fuels. Hydrogen is identified as a very important form of energy in the future. The main research being made on hydrogen is how to produce synthetic hydrogen in high volumes for use in the transport industry [1]. Carbon Monoxide is another gas that is identified as a possible form of fuel for the future. The major research being made on the use of carbon Monoxide is its production from carbon products. There is also research being made on the motor vehicle engine. These researches aim at coming up with engines that will conserve energy and allow the use of other alternative sources of fuel. Bio fuels The major success made on alternative energy is on the use of bio products to produce fuel. There have been successful results on production of ethanol from bio products [1]. Ethanol is used as fuel on light vehicles. However, fifty years to come, the vehicle will not be driven by ethanol or bio-diesel but it will instead be driven by hydrogen. Train Hydrogen fuel cell is a promising fuel for future trains. Transport through the rail has become very popular around the world. This form of transport is preferred for its ability to transport great volumes of goods. Innovations in rail transport have also increased the speed of trains making them the fastest in land transport. Trains had relied on petroleum products as their main source of fuel. However, innovations have changed this trend. Today, other forms of energy are used in trains. Electric energy is the main type of energy being adapted. Nuclear fuel is a major area that researches have focused on as a source of energy for trains. Nuclear energy is preferred as a form of fuel for its capacity to produce large amounts of energy. The energy produced by nuclear fuel is much higher than the energy produced from petroleum products. Use of nuclear energy in trains will therefore solve the energy problems that challenge this form of transport. In addition, this form of fuel does not release carbon dioxide to the environment and thus, it will be a part of the solution to the environmental problem. In the future, most of the trains will be using nuclear fuel. Hydrogen fuel is another area that is seen as of high potential fuel for trains in the future [1]. With this technology, a train will not need to be connected to electric lines. The train will be able to produce its electricity through the hydrogen cells. These future trains will move faster and will be self-sustaining in fuel. Bicycles The motor cycle was an improvement to the bicycle. This improvement led to the use of petroleum fuel. However, the bicycle used human energy to drive. Electricity has been used as a form of fuel for motor cycles; however, it is not likely that we will have other forms of fuel for bicycles. Water transport Water transport is one of the oldest forms of transport. Initially, ships made use of wind as a form of fuel. The main form of fuel used in water transport today is the petroleum product. Ships and motor boats are designed to use petroleum products. Ships make use of heavy petroleum products while motor boats make use petrol [1]. Nuclear fuel for Water transport There have been researches done on the kind of fuel used in water transport. The major improvement on ship fuel is nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is preferred for its ability to produce more energy. In future, most ships will be using nuclear fuel as a form of energy. Air transport Air transport is the fastest mode of transportation over a long distance. Improvements have been made on this industry to produce air crafts that are faster and safer [1]. The main form of fuel for aircrafts is aviation fuel. Aviation fuel is a form of petroleum product. This enables the aircraft to float in the air and move at a high speed. Innovations are being made on alternative forms of fuel for aircrafts. There are major studies aimed at replacing the petroleum based aviation fuel. Bio-fuels, ethanol, methanol and liquid gases are identified as possible alternatives to aviation fuel. Synthetic fuel Synthetic fuels made from coal are also a major alternative [1]. This form of fuel will not depend on natural deposits .Hydrogen gas is a major area in alternative aviation fuel. Hydrogen is identified as a potential form of energy for its ability to produce more energy. It is also a clean form of energy. In the future, it is likely that most aircrafts will use synthetic fuels, bio fuels and hydrogen as a form of fuel. Outer-Space transport Atomic reactors have been the main form of fuel for outer-space transport. The major challenge to outer-space transport is to produce enough energy to sustain the outer-space craft in space for a long period of time. The alternative form of fuel to outer-space is nuclear energy. This form of energy will enable the outer space crafts to have sustained energy for a long period of time. In the future, most outer-space transports will be fueled by nuclear fuel. Hydrogen fuel cell Hydrogen fuel cell provides the best alternative to the other forms of fuels used today. This form of fuel uses Hydrogen as the form of fuel. Hydrogen is a clean form of fuel for it does not release carbon dioxide in the environment. The Hydrogen fuel cells are being designed and improved [1]. This form of fuel is being experimented in busses and trains. If researches on this method are successful, this kind of fuel will be the main form of fuel in the future. There is also successful research on the use of this type of fuel for outer space shuttles. Thus in the future, it may be an important fuel for outer-space transport. Conclusion Transport is an important element for human beings. Movement of people and goods from one place to another is a necessity. The forms of fuels used in various modes of transport have evolved with time. Today, the greatest motivation to innovations of different forms of fuels is environmental degradation. The forms of fuels that will be used in the future are those fuels that do not produce green house gases. Nuclear fuels and Hydrogen cell fuels are the most likely forms of fuels that will be used fifty years from now. Synthetic fuel will be important in air transport. In motor vehicles, synthetic and enhanced gasoline will be used. Reference [1] Armand A, Patrick C, Jean A Heraud:- The Economic dynamics of fuel cell technologies:- New York;-Springer, 2003; PP 43-77; Read More