What ever happened to the development of Biofuels for Cars?

Question

I mean, Scientists keep on having all these amazing ideas for alternatives to using petrol in their car like using water or vegetable oil. But it never seems to reach the market. Do you think that this is the future and would you buy a car buy a car if it could run on biofuel (even if it was more expensive). I'm just looking for opinions really, so lets hear them!

Answer 1

well it's two things.

1. the oil companies and automakers team up and get rid of any alternative. they already did it to the EV. they're a monopoly that makes billions off oil. These ideas can't reach the market with big oil in the way.

2. Even though it would save them loads of money, clean the air and free us of foreign oil and wars, most people seem to despise the idea of any alternative, claiming it's some kind of fascist liberal hippy agenda

I think it's about over for the concept of alternatives. when the planet is bled dry of every last drop of coal and oil, THEN you MIGHT see something slightly better, but by then it won't matter anyway.

I'd adore a nice solar charged electric. i'd pay a lot too. then drive past the gas stops and scream "suckers!!!"

Answer 2

Current first gen bio-fuels are useless they are using things that should be FOOD as fuel and actually use MORE CO2 to create than are saved by using them. IN the case of palm oil it takes ten times more co2 to create the palm oil than it save.

Second gen bio fuels are recycling USED food oils and ARE carbon neutral as the item has already been used - however the oil could also be recycled and re-used as a food product so this is NOT saving anything either.

in development are 3rd Gen bio fuels, these take WASTE products from food production such as straw and ferment it to produce methanol or methane - these ARE WORTHWHILE.

at the minute bio fuel vehicles are a political green-wash and save nothing. better go for a less polluting vehicle  such as s hybrid or small engined car (only petrol in urban areas as diesel  particulates are very toxic and induce asthma and pulmonary emphysema)..

NOT worth it until 3rd Gen biofuels are produced - thats about 6 years away!

Answer 3

it does exist.*

Answer 4

Biodiesel is becoming more popular with companys, however ethonol really isn't a solution to replace gas, first it isn't as effective as gasoline and really when you look more into how it is made it really doesn't help the enviroment that much. Hydrogen fuel cells are still years away from being in full swing production. About the best near term replacement for petrol is biologically created hydrocarbon fuels. While it doesn't solve the climate it would drop the price of fuel on the near term. In the end out best source of future fuel is hydrogen, it is abundent, hydrogen fuel cells are very effecient and even hydrogen combustion is 100% better then petrol since when combust hydrogen it's only byproduct is water but we haveto find a better way to produce hydrogen since current methods use more energy then we are getting back out. There are two ways that are being worked on that have promise, first using a modified bacteria to give off hydrogen as a by product and sythetic Photosynthesis.

Answer 5

Bio fuels are the go. They are the only near term solution. And in some parts they have already taken hold, not for any particular concern for the environment but for purely economic reasons. In some of the remote coastal areas of this country, coconuts are virtually free, they are worth very little as raw materials for 'copra' when the costs of getting the copra to market are more than the copra is worth, and the availability exceeds demand as a food source. It is relatively easy to extract coconut oil from coconuts, and here in the tropics coconut oil can be directly substituted for diesel. So pay over the top prices for diesel or make your own bio fuel for free? (This is not bio diesel, just plain oil)

The only sad part I see in the bio fuel industry is that not enough effort is being made to do it properly. Bio fuel need not and should not compete with food production. There is an abundance of semi productive land available for growing bio fuels. They in fact offer an oportunity for many rual communities to earn cash income from what would otherwise be unproductive land. The South Koreans have just commenced 2 large scale cassava plantations in different provinces here to produce ethanol. The land in question currently is not much use, but cassava grows in very marginal land.

Now it would be very impressive if they not only fermented the cassava to produce ethanol, but also sequestered the nearly pure CO2 produced as by product. Then the process would not just be carbon neutral, but negative as it has the potential to actually remove CO2 from the air! Ethanol is the only bio fuel with that potential.

As to ethanol being no good as a fuel, its energy per kilo is comparable to LPG, and only a little less than petrol, perfectly acceptable. It is less toxic than petrol, and is a whole lot safer to handle than either petrol or methanol. It also burns cleaner and produces little in the way of pollutants.

Best of all both bio diesel and ethanol can be used in fairly standard car engines, only minor (if any) alterations need to be made, so a bio fuel car should cost you not much more than a non bio fuel car, most existing cars can be converted at nominal cost. There is no easy bio fuel alternative to ethanol for petrol engines, and bio diesel for diesel engines is so simple its a no brainer.

I can't afford a new car of any kind, but have every intention of adding 20-40% waste vegetable oil to diesel for our company vehicles. Just need to co ordinate the collection of waste oils. (Given the ambient temperatures here I don't even have to convert the oils to bio diesel, and at those %s wont need to make any mods to the vehicles. Just need to arrange some blending tanks and high quality filters (already obtained).

So ethanol from food crops? No stupid idea, but what kind of a crazy world is it that has fuel prices so high that a farmer can earn more selling corn as fuel than as food? But ethanol as a potential bio fuel, a real winner.

I want to see some research into bio engineering to produce enzymes in bulk) that allow the fermentation of cellulose directly! When that is achieved then farm wastes will easily provide a large part of the transport energy needs. It can be done, but I don't know of a lot of effort being directed that way. Maybe as energy prices continue to climb some one will take up the challenge.

Answer 6

Big oil companies bury the ways to keep selling their vehicles.