Are alternative fuels on the way to a solution?

There are many innovative solutions to today’s questions about high gas prices and greenhouse emissions. Crops grown especially for fuel. Ethanol made from corn has no harmful emissions, it’s made from a reusable resource, the US government is pushing to blend 80% biofuel with 20% gasoline, they can do better than that! Biofuels produced from crops like soybeans and corn are an effective alternative to gasoline, as both are a renewable resource that help farmers have consistent demand for their crops for continued cash flow. However, if all the corn currently grown in the US were used to produce ethanol, it would only cover about 12% of current fuel demand, more and more land is being purchased for ethanol production, and it depends Depending largely on climate, a yield of about 18 gallons of corn oil per year per acre can be produced, more can be achieved with genetic alterations, the growing process also requires fertilizers, pesticides, and heavy machinery to harvest, which which actually contributes to soil contamination. It is also estimated that the process uses as much energy to produce and transport as regular oil. There are also concerns that the farmland required to produce ethanol from crops will take up valuable space previously used for food crops, as food crops have recently suffered from extreme weather conditions and natural disasters that pushed the food prices soaring, so is this land being used to make ethanol feasible or even ethical?

Other alternatives being explored are probably more efficient but less appealing to some, include reusing vegetable oil, a converter with a filter, which can be fitted to any diesel engine to allow it to take 100% restaurant-grade used vegetable oil, it’s slightly refined after it’s collected and then sold for less than half the price of regular gasoline, high-end cars like Saab and Mercedes are using this technology.

Water powered cars are also a reality by splitting the hydrogen and oxygen (H2O) combo, which comprises water, and using the energy that is produced when they are put back together, these cells can be effectively installed In cars that depend on oil, tailpipe emissions ? Water.

Biogas power sources have devised a process of using solid or liquid organic waste, remember in the movie Back to the Future, when the professor came back from the future at the end of the movie and put garbage in the fuel? tank and convert it into a usable gas product. Well, in biogas power sources, they take food waste with other degradable organic matter, like grass clippings, and placing it in holding tanks, it breaks down naturally, the gas is diverted, and the methane is used to power generators, boilers, etc., or it can be further refined to make transportation fuel.

The most exciting biofuel development, however, is the use of algae, it is a fast-growing, high-yielding product, 50% of its body weight is a source of energy, it grows quickly in ponds, and does not require pesticides or fertilizers to grow. thrive. , 20,000 gallons per acre per year can be produced in open surface ponds, Vertigro’s Glen Kertz explains that different strains of algae can be used to meet other transportation needs for jet fuel and diesel if produced in contaminant-free Vertigro, algae grow vertically in plastic bags hung in a greenhouse allowing more surface area to be exposed to sunlight and allowing a huge amount of water to be continuously recycled, it also takes up much less space and therefore the yield per acre is well over 20,000 gallons per year.

With all these alternatives, when will it be possible for these methods to be available to the general public?