Disadvantages of Alternate Fuels

Disadvantages of alternate fuels The truth about the manufacturing and use of alternate fuels, as with everything else in life, is a mix of benefits and cost. Electricity is one of the alternate fuels that made it to production. The Chevy Volt is one such vehicle. The problem with this car is that it cost $41,000 to buy one, and the battery life for a charge is only 37 miles. There would be no value for us to use electric cars. (Courture,2011). Ethanol is a grain- based alcohol that has been used to supplement petroleum since the 1970’s. A disadvantage is it costs about three times more to produce then gasoline. It also will take about 1.5 times the amount of ethanol as it would with gas to operate a vehicle. Additionally, current fertilizer is petroleum-based, thus undercutting the true value of using alternate fuels. Hydrogen is a difficult fuel to produce. First you must extract gas from water, the water must be purified and then a strong electric current passes through the water, and the gas must be captured and stored in nonconductive containers to prevent accidental explosions. This process is not easy. Bio-diesel is a food- or plant- based similar to ethanol. The disadvantage of bio-diesel is the same as ethanol. It is too costly to produce. Another problem with this is that the food must be turned into fuel rather then eaten. Methanol is a liquefied form of methane. The disadvantage of converting this into fuel is that it is very costly if you compare it to producing gas. The value in using alternate fuel sources is not going to save any money. The addition cost will eat into our profits and affect future earnings. It is not the right time to try this adventure. We have not developed enough to make this a viable solution. Hopefully, some day in the near future technology will allow us to slow down on our use of gas, and switch to other fuels that will not