As the demand for fossil fuels lessens, so does the negative impact on the environment that harvesting and using these resources produces. Although the economy has driven down the number of new cars being built, there is still a hefty car population that needs restructuring. Making personal transportation cleaner and more efficient can help build a sustainable transportation industry.
Alternative Fuels for Cars
Some countries like China and Canada have implemented strategies to sway the consumer away from older vehicles. Emissions testing in Canada keeps cars with too much toxic fumes off the road. A recent Electric Vehicle Incentive Program is also encouraging consumers to ditch their gas powered cars. China has introduced new car taxation that will tax car owners according to engine size. However lack of marketing or availability of alternatively fuelled cars has kept the gas engine car affordably in demand.
Perhaps a better idea is how and what will happen to the vehicles on the road today. It seems a more likely solution is to work with what we already have available. Billions of gas powered engines are being used daily for transportation, millions more for other uses. Will there be incentives to junk new gas engine vehicles for electric? Will all gas engined vehicles be recycled? It seems like an enormous effort. If only there was an easy way to convert the engines already in place to run on bio-diesel or hydrogen.
Well there is, on both accounts. Firstly all gas powered engines running oil can work just as well using animal fat or vegetable oil as an additive. However running a car on pure bio-diesel would have to be with a diesel engine. Converting a gas engine into a diesel engine can be done but it may be easier to buy a diesel engine for the vehicle. After switching, making one’s own bio-diesel would be the most sustainable way to fuel a personal vehicle.
Still there are now many guides available on how to convert a gas powered engine to a hydrogen fuelled system. The process is very complex and will take an experienced machinist to work out the details, however there are a variety of hydrogen fuel kit converters on the market. Although this won’t completely eradicate the need for oil in the engine, the hydrogen systems can increase your miles per gallon up to 60 percent.
It will take many years before we can eliminate all gas powered engines or convert them to run more efficiently. In the meantime it is best to use the technology we have available to us until these outdated engines are no longer being produced and sustainable well built cars and engines using renewable energy are the norm.