In recent years automotive technologies offering increased fuel economy and alternative fuels have been flooding the domestic market. Most of these technologies have been driven by consumer demand for more fuel effeicent cars in times where fuel prices have risen substantially and where financial penalties have placed upon higher poluting vechicles. Find below details on some of the most popular technologies available on todays market.

Petrol Hybrid

A hybrid electric vehicle is a vehicle which combines a conventional propulsion system with an on-board rechargeable energy storage system to achieve better fuel economy than a conventional vehicle without being hampered by range from a charging unit.

Regular HEVs most commonly use an internal combustion engine or ICE in tandem with electric motors to power their propulsion system. Modern mass-produced HEVs prolong the charge on their batteries by capturing kinetic energy via regenerative braking, and some HEVs can use the combustion engine to generate electricity by spinning an electrical generator (often a motor-generator) to either recharge the battery or directly feed power to an electric motor that drives the vehicle. Many HEVs reduce idle emissions by shutting down the ICE at idle and restarting it when needed. An HEV's engine is smaller and may be run at various speeds, providing more efficiency.

The most well know Petrol Hybrid car available today is the Toyota Prius. The Prius uses the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive system that is available in this and other cars in the Toyota / Lexus group. Instead of boring you with the ins and outs of Toyota's Hybrid system works see the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive website.

Bioethanol

The principle fuel used as a petroleum substitute is bioethanol. Bioethanol is mainly produced by the sugar fermentation process, although it can also be produced by the chemical process of reacting ethylene with steam. The main source of sugar required to produce ethanol comes from fuel or energy crops. These fuel crops are normally grown specifically for energy use and include maize, corn and wheat crops, waste straw, willow, sawdust, reed canary grass, cord grasses, jerusalem artichoke, myscanthus and sorghum plants. There is also ongoing research and development into the use of municipal solid wastes to produce ethanol fuel.

For more information on Bioethanol see http://www.makebiofuel.co.uk

EV - Electronic Vehicle

An electric car or EV is a type of alternative fuel car that utilizes electric motors and motor controllers instead of an internal combustion engine (ICE). The electric power is usually derived from battery packs in the vehicle.

In general terms an electric car is a rechargeable battery electric vehicle. Other examples of rechargeable electric vehicles are ones that store electricity in ultracapacitors, or in a flywheel.

Although electric vehicles have few direct emissions, all rely on energy created through electricity generation which will emit pollution unless it is generated by power plants that do not use fossil fuels, such as renewable source or nuclear power plants. Even with power plants emitting CO2, the overall levels would be reduced because the entire process of moving a car is more efficient using electricity than producing gasoline and burning it in a car's engine.

Dual Fuel (Petrol / LPG)

Liquefied petroleum gas (also called LPG, LP Gas, or autogas) is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles, and increasingly replacing chlorofluorocarbons as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant to reduce damage to the ozone layer.

Varieties of LPG bought and sold include mixes that are primarily propane, mixes that are primarily butane, and the more common, mixes including both propane (60%) and butane (40%), depending on the season—in winter more propane, in summer more butane. Propylene and butylenes are usually also present in small concentration. A powerful odorant, ethanethiol, is added so that leaks can be detected easily.

When LPG is used to fuel internal combustion engines, it is often referred to as autogas. In some countries, it has been used since the 1940s as an alternative fuel for spark ignition engines. More recently, it has also been used in diesel engines. Its advantage is that it is non-toxic, non-corrosive and free of tetra-ethyl lead or any additives and has a high octane rating (108 RON). It burns more cleanly than petrol or diesel and is especially free of the particulates from the latter.

There are two downsides. Firstly it has a lower energy density than either petrol or diesel, so the equivalent fuel consumption is higher, but since many governments impose less tax, it is still usually more cost effective. Secondly, some designs of internal combustion engine require the lubrication of petrol or diesel with lead or lead substitute, and LPG's lack thereof can damage valves or shorten their life. Engines designed for unleaded fuel, equipped with hardened valve seats, are suitable for use with LPG without added upper cylinder lubrication.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel is the name of a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic and renewable resources such as vegetable oils. Biodiesel does not contains any petroleum, but can be blended at any level with diesel to create a biodiesel blend. Biofuel can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with no major internal modifications. Biodiesel is clean, simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics.

Biodiesel is actually one of the most thoroughly tested alternative and renewable fuels on the market. A number of independent studies have been completed with results showing that biodiesel performs very similar to petroleum diesel and benefits the environment when compared to diesel. Biodiesel is also the first and only alternative fuel to have completed the rigorous Health Effects testing requirements of the Clean Air Act. Biodiesel has been proven to perform similarly to petroleum diesel in more 60 million successful road miles and in virtually all types of diesel engines, countless off-roading miles, and marine hours.

For more information on Biodiesel see http://www.makebiofuel.co.uk