Alternative

fuels

Jos Colomar
Iker Estbanez
Juan Carlos Ferri
Josep Garca
Ernest Young

Master in Energy Systems

Renewable Energy
Alternative Fuels

Index
INTRODUCTION

THE HUBBERT PEAK THEORY

GASOLINE TYPE BIOFUELS
ETHANOL (OR BIO-ETHANOL)
BUTANOL
METHANOL
P-SERIES
HYDROGEN
DIESEL TYPE FUELS
VEGETABLE OILS
BIODIESEL
OTHER TYPES OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION
COMPRESSED OR LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS
PROPANE
SYNFUEL
EXTERNAL COMBUSTION
STEAM
ORGANIC WASTE
NO COMBUSTION
ELECTRIC
SOLAR CELL CARS

5
6
6
6
6
7
7
7
7
8
8
8
8
9
9
9
9
10
10
10

BIOETHANOL

11

WORKING PRINCIPLE
PROS AND CONS OF USING BIOETHANOL

11
12

HYDROGEN

14

INTRODUCTION

14

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS

14

PROS & CONS OF USING IT AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL

OBTAINING HYDROGEN
STEAM REFORMING
PARTIAL FOSSIL FUEL OXIDATION WITH DEFECT OF O2
ELECTROLYSIS OF WATER
BIOMASS
PHOTO BIOLOGIC PRODUCTION
HYDROGEN PRODUCTION ON BOARD THE VEHICLE
COMPARING THE COSTS OF DIFFERENT WAYS OF OBTAINING HYDROGEN
USE OF HYDROGEN IN AUTO MOTION
HYDROGEN COMBUSTION IN ICES

15
15
16
16
16
17
17
17
18
18
19

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FUEL BATTERIES

20

BIODIESEL

22

INTRODUCTION
OBTAINING BIODIESEL
PROS AND CONS OF USING BIODIESEL AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL
POLLUTION REDUCTION BENEFITS OF SWITCHING FROM REGULAR DIESEL TO B20 OR B100
BIODIESEL PRODUCTION OVER THE WORLD

22
22
23
24
24

NATURAL GAS

26

INTRODUCTION
PRODUCTION AND PROPERTIES OF NATURAL GAS
NATURAL GAS BENEFITS

26
26
27

WEBOGRAPHY

28

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Master in Energy Systems

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Alternative Fuels

Introduction
To start with, an alternative fuel can be defined as any material or
substance, other than petroleum, which is consumed to provide energy to
power an engine. In the last decades it has become clear that the production
of oil will no longer supply the demand (see The Hubbert peak Theory).
Therefore, different technologies are being developed which can take
petroleums place.
In this project, a variety of such technologies will be exposed and then some
of the most spread will be explained. The aim of the project is to show the
alternatives society has to choose from, altogether with the advantages and
disadvantages of each of them.

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The Hubbert peak theory

According to Hubberts theory, for any given geographical area, from an
individual oil field to the planet as a whole, the rate of oil production tends
to follow a bell-shaped curve. Early in the curve (pre-peak), production
increases due to the addition of infrastructure. Late in the curve (post-peak),
production declines due to resource deplection.

Hubberts peak refers to a singular event in history, which is the peak of the
entire planets oil production. According to Hubberts theory, the rate of oil
production in earth will enter a terminal decline.
However, production peaks are not easy to predict, but in retrospect. U.S. oil
production peaked in 1971. The peak of world oil discoveries peaked in 1962.
Estimations for Hubberts peak range from 2005 to 2025.
Note that some scientists believe that the Peak Oil has already taken place. It
must be said that oil production is in decline in 33 of the 48 largest oil
producing countries.

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Classification
The aim of this point is to show the wide variety of technologies that era
being developed to substitute petroleum. Therefore, different fuels will be
enounced and succinctly described. A more comprehensive approach of the
most significant fuels can be found in the next chapter.
One may think that most of them will not prosper. Nevertheless, it is very
likely that most of them will, as far as each of them is appropriate for
different backgrounds.
Regarding the criteria of the encyclopaedias, different technologies have
been grouped by affinity in five categories, such us: gasoline type biofuels,
diesel type biofuels, other types of internal combustion, external combustion
and no combustion.

Gasoline type biofuels

Ethanol (or Bio-ethanol)
Derived from crops, ethanol can be used as a fuel either alone in a special
engine or as an additive to gasoline (see BioEthanol).

Butanol
Butanol or butyl alcohol, is a 4 carbon structured alcohol. It can be produced
by fermentation of biomass. It better tolerates water and is less corrosive
than ethanol, which makes it more suitable for distribution through existing
gasoline pipelines.

Methanol
Also known as methyl alcohol, methanol might be an alternative to gasoline
especially because it is very easy to manufacture it from methane, the main
constituent of natural gas. Moreover, it can also be obtained from biological
sources.
There are, however a couple of serious problems to be overcome. Firstly,
methanol is a highly toxic product and expensive exposure to it may even
cause blindness. Secondly, it is volatile and would therefore increase the risk
of fires and explosions in car accidents. Besides, higher volatility also means
more evaporative emissions.

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P-Series
P-Series fuel is a blend of natural gas liquids (pentanes plus), ethanol, and the
biomass-derived co-solvent methyltetrahydrofuran (MeTHF). P-Series fuels are
clear, colourless, 89-93 octane; liquid blends designed to be used alone or
freely mixed with gasoline in any proportion. These fuels are not currently
being produced in large quantities and are not widely used.

Hydrogen
The use of hydrogen as fuel is probably the most followed investigation line in
the car manufacturing industry. Mainly because it is a clean energy that can
be found everywhere. On the other hand, the techonology need to use it as a
fuel is not simple neither cheap. In spite of the difficulties, manufacturers are
nowadays releasing the first hydrogen car models, with which they hope to
develop the new market.

Diesel type fuels

Vegetable oils
Many vegetable oils have similar properties to Diesel fuel, except for lower
oxidative stability and higher viscosity. If these handicaps can be overcome,
vegetable oils may substitute diesel fuels.
Vegetable oils are often referred to as Waste vegetable oil (WVO) if it is oil
discarded from restaurants, or Straight vegetable oil (SVO) to distinguish it
from biodiesel.
It is important to clarify the difference between vegetable oil used as a fuel
and vegetable oil used to get biodiesel. Unfortunately, the first one is often
referred to as biodiesel, although such a denomination is incorrect.

As an interesting fact, it might be mentioned that best

known vegetable oils are those extracted from hemp
seeds and stalks. Such crops are becoming more and more
popular.

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Master in Energy Systems

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Alternative Fuels

Biodiesel
The word biodiesel refers to any diesel equivalent processed fuel, derived
from biological sources. Therefore, it is a processed fuel which is ready to be
used in common diesel-engined vehicles, which distinguishes it from SVO or
WVO, used as fuels in some modified diesel vehicles.
Despite it contains no petroleum; biodiesel can be blended at any level with
petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. Little or no modifications are
needed to use it in common compression-ignition diesel engines.

Other types of internal combustion

Compressed or liquefied natural gas
Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons, being
methane (CH4) the main one. The points that make
natural gas an interesting alternative fuel are,
mainly, its clean burning, and its commercial
availability to end users.
Because of its gaseous nature, when used as a
vehicle engine fuel natural gas must be stored
onboard either in a compressed gaseous state
(CNG) or a liquefied state (LNG).
As an interesting fact, it can be mentioned that
Sweden is the world leading natural gas user.

Propane
Motor fuel propane, also known as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has been
used as fuel in light and medium-duty vehicles around the world for over 60
years. Propane is produced as a by-product of natural gas processing and
crude oil refining.
The interest in propane as an alternative fuel stems mainly from the
availability of a infrastructure of pipelines, processing and storage facilities
for its efficient distribution.

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Synfuel
Synfuel or its long form, Synthetic fuel, is any liquid fuel obtained from coal
or from natural gas. Synthetic fuels require a high quantity of crude oil in
order to be competitive with petroleum fuels. However, as petroleum prices
rise up, synthetic fuels become a better option.
Its main advantages are that the availability of the row material is enough to
meet demand for the next hundred years, that there is no need to convert
vehicle engines to use a different fuel and that a new distribution network
needs not to be built.

External combustion
Steam
Steam engines are external combustion heat engines. They are based upon
Rankines cycle. They burn fuel which produces heat. This heat is used to
raise the temperature of the working fluid (water) in a confined space, which
at the same time is used to increase the pressure. This pressure exerts force
against a piston in the engine. The piston makes the wheels turn and so the
car moves along.
The main advantages of steam cars are that they use less volatile fuels and
that they are more efficient than gasoline cars. What is more, less expensive
fuel oil or kerosene can be used to power the steam car.

Organic waste
Organic waste is that which comes from animals or plants. It is usually found
in biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) and can be used to power cars by the
combustion produced by its gasification.

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Alternative Fuels

No combustion
Electric
Electric cars are a very reasonable alternative to combustion. Howover, some
energy is needed to power an electric car and such energy does often come
from some combustion process.

Solar cell cars

Solar cars were first built by manufacturers and universities. The sun energy
collector cells proved to be too large for consumer cars, but that is no more
the case. Development continues on solar cell design and car power supply
requirements such as heaters or air-conditioning fans.

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BioEthanol
Working principle
Bioethanol is an alcohol product produced from corn, sorghum, potatoes,
wheat, sugar cane, even biomass such as cornstalks and vegetable waste.
When combined with gasoline, it increases octane levels while also promoting
more complete fuel burning that reduces harmful tailpipe emissions such as
carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons.
Bioethanol is a readily available, clean fuel that can be utilized in combustion
engines in different ways:
Hydrous ethanol (95 percent by volume) contains some water. It is used
directly as a gasoline substitute in cars with modified engines.
Anhydrous (or dehydrated) ethanol is free of water and at least 99
percent pure. This ethanol can be blended with conventional fuel in
proportions of between 5 and 85 percent (E85). As a 5 percent additive
it can be used in modern engines without modification. Higher blends
require modified engines as run on so-called flexible fuel vehicles.
Finally, BioEthanol is also used to manufacture ETBE (ethyl-tertiarybutyl-ether), a fuel additive for conventional petrol.

To be able to use the BioEthanol as pure fuel (E100) they need to take to end
a series of modifications in the engine, not to alter significantly the
consumption; These are:
To
To
To
To
To

increase the relation of compression.

change the mixture of fuel / air.
place spark plugs resistant to major temperatures and pressures.
place conduits resistant to the assault of tar after caulking.
add a mechanism that should facilitate the take-off in cold.

The most common and simple form of utilization of this fuel is in partial form
up to 15 % (E10 or E15) without being a necessary any modification in the
engine, though small modifications in the relation of compression and relation
air / fuel, it can improve the power.
As the attach of alcohol increases in the mixing, the combustion liberates
pollutants' minor quantity to the atmosphere, especially CO.

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PROs and CONs of using BioEthanol

PROs
As it is domestically produced,
its use can reduce dependence
on imported oil and boost the
agricultural sector.

CONs
Ethanol has less energy content
than gasoline. Therefore, more
fuel is needed to run the samen
distance.

Its burning is about 10 % more

efficient than gasolines.

Fueling stations are yet difficult

to find.

FFVs are available and becoming

more affordable.

Production is yet limited,

although it is growing rpidly.
Infraestructure for fueling and
distribution is yet insufficient. It
will take time to automotive and
fueling industries to develop the
required infraestrcture.

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An example of BioEthanol combustion consumer car:

Ford Focus FFV
Ford is to become the first major
manufacturer to launch a bioethanolpowered car in the UK when deliveries of
the Focus FFV begin in early 2006. The
first FFV is currently being tested in
Somerset, where locally-grown wheat is
being used to produce the bioethanol fuel
that powers its 1.8-litre engine.

The FFV produces 70 per cent less carbon dioxide than its petrol equivalent,
and develops 123bhp. The car runs either on E85 bioethanol fuel, which is a
mix of 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent petrol, or on petrol. Initially the
Focus FFV will be available only as a fleet purchase, priced at 14,095,
although it may become available to private buyers if bioethanol fuel
becomes more readily accessible.

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Master in Energy Systems

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Alternative Fuels

Hydrogen
Introduction
Climatic change can have very serious consequences, and what it is more
important, irreversible. The combination of hydrogen and electricity
represents one of the most promising routes to make reality the sustainable
energy, whereas the fuel batteries constitute the most efficient device to
turn hydrogen, and possibly other fuels, in electricity.
Hydrogen is not a primary energy like the coal and the gas, but it is an energy
vector. Initially the hydrogen will be obtained using the existing power
systems based on different vectors and conventional primary sources. Later
the renewable energies will become the most important source for the
hydrogen production. The hydrogen regenerated and produced from nuclear
sources and the systems of conversion of energy based on fossil fuels with
capture and safe storage (fixation) of the CO2 emissions, constitute power
routes almost completely carbon free.
The fuel batteries will be used in an ample variety of products: portable
devices such as movable telephones and laptops, that they will use batteries
of very small size, movable applications like cars, transport vehicles, buses
and ships, until the generators of heat and energy in stationary applications in
the domestic and industrial sectors.
The future power systems will also include improved converters of
conventional energy based on hydrogen (motors of internal combustion,
motors of Stirling or turbines), thus like other power vectors (heat and
electricity directly produced from renewable energy and biofuels for the
transport).

Main characteristics
Hydrogen is the lightest and simple atom in the periodic system, with atomic
number 1 and weight atomic 1.00794 g/mol. In standard conditions of
pressure and temperature it is a non-toxic but very flammable diatomic gas,
colourless and odourless. It has a specific gravity of 0.0899g/l (the air is 14,4
times heavier). Its boiling temperature of only 20.27 K (- 252.88 C) and a
fusion temperature of 14.02 K (- 259,13C).
Hydrogen is by far the most common element in universe. Nevertheless, it
does not constitute a directly usable fuel and so it is not an energy source,
but an energy vector.

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Its power density is three times superior to that from gasoline. Its combustion
with oxygen produces water and heat, according to the reaction:
H2 + 1/2O2

H2O

According to present numbers, the hydrogen production is distributed of the

following form:
Source
Natural gas
Petrol
Coal
Electrolysis
Total

Amount in
billions of Nm3 Percentage
per year
240
48
150
30
90
18
20
4
500
100

Fuel cells, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. U.S. Departament Energy

Pros & Cons of using Hydrogen as an alternative fuel

PROs
Low energetic density in
volumetric base. Containers
tanks are required great and
heavy.
High availability. It can be
produced from very different
raw materials.

CONs
Low energetic density in
volumetric base. Container tanks
are required great and heavy.
Both transport and storage are
expensive and of a complex
installation.

Stable and non corrosive

Clean fuel. The combustion of
hydrogen with oxygen produces
just water.

Obtaining Hydrogen
At the present time, 95% of the hydrogen is obtained from fossil fuels.
However, there are different ways in which it is obtained. The most
significant one are to be commented.

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Steam reforming
Hydrogen is obtained from hydrocarbons, fundamentally from the natural gas.
The main component of natural gas is methane CH4 and the reaction basically
consists in separating carbon from hydrogen.
The process takes place in two stages: In the initial phase, the natural gas
becomes hydrogen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. The second stage
consists of producing additional hydrogen and carbon dioxide from the carbon
monoxide produced during the first stage. The carbon monoxide is heated
with a steam current to high temperature obtaining hydrogen and dioxide
carbon. Resulting hydrogen is stored in tanks.
Most of hydrogen used by the petrochemical industry it is generated this way.
The process has efficiency between 70 and 90%. The following global reaction
represents the process:
CH4 + H2O => CO + 3 H2
CO + H2O

=>

CO2 + H2

Partial fossil fuel oxidation with defect of O2

A hydrogen mixture is obtained that later is purified. The amounts of oxygen
and water steam are controlled so that the gasificacin continues with no
need of energy contribution. The following global reaction represents the
process:
14 CH + 03 H2O + 04 O2

=> 09 CO + 0,1 CO2

Electrolysis of water
The passage of the electrical current through water produces dissociation
between hydrogen and oxygen, components of the molecule of water H2O.
The hydrogen takes shelter in the cathode (pole loaded negatively) and
oxygen in the anode. The process is much more expensive that the reformed
with steam, but it produces hydrogen of great purity. This hydrogen is used in
the electronic industry, pharmaceutics or nourishing.
H2O + Power

=> H2 + O2

Photo electrolysis is a similar process where electrical current comes from

sun energy.

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Biomass
Biomass can be used as a source for hydrogen by two different procedures.
Gasification of biomass: biomass is put under to a process of incomplete
combustion between 700 and 1200C. The resulting product is a fuel gas
composed fundamentally by hydrogen, methane and carbon monoxide.
Pyrolysis: It is the incomplete combustion of biomass in oxygen absence, at
500C. vegetal coal and gas mixture of carbon monoxide and dioxide,
hydrogen and light hydrocarbons are obtained.

Photo biologic production

For example, cianobacterium and green seaweed can produce hydrogen, using
only solar light, water and hydrogenasa like an enzyme. At the moment, this
technology is in period of investigation and development with efficiencies of
conversion superior to 24%. More than 400 varieties of primitive plants have
been identified to produce hydrogen.

Hydrogen production on board the vehicle

Hydrogen on board production out of methanol fuel for its consumption in
situ seems to be the most suitable alternative. The hydrogen can be obtained
by three different catalytic routes:
Partial oxidation with oxygen or air: CH3OH + O2 => CO2 + 2 H2
Reformed with water steam: CH3OH + H2O => CO2 + 3 H2
Decomposition: CH3OH => CO + 2 H2
Hydrogen on board production out of ethanol fuel, where the following
reaction takes place:
CH3CH2OH + 3H2O => CO + CO2 + 6H2
In this case carbon monoxide is produced, which is a poison of the membrane
of proton interchange of the fuel batteries.
The production of hydrogen from the primary matter (hydrocarbons or water)
needs important amounts of energy. The investigation is centred now in
knowing if the use of renewable energies without carbon is possible: to obtain
hydrogen of the water from photovoltaic, geothermal or hydraulic energy.

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Comparing the costs of different ways of obtaining hydrogen

International Energy Agency (IEA)

Use of hydrogen in automotion

Hydrogen can be used in the transport industry in mainly two different ways.
It can be used as fuel in an alternative motor of internal combustion and it
can also be used in fuel batteries.
In fuel batteries, electrical energy is obtained from the opposite process to
electrolysis and such energy is used to power an electrical engine. Hydrogen
for the process can be obtained in the vehicle itself (by some of the
previously mentioned means) or refuelled at stations.
Each one of these alternatives requires different technology and
infrastructure and present advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, present
researches search for the most efficient and economically affordable method.
The investigation field is very extensive, so we will be centered in the present
developments showing some examples and comparing the alternatives.

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Hydrogen combustion in ICEs

Regarding
the
use
of
hydrogen,
car
manufacturers have developed special vehicles in
which traditional internal combustion engines are
replaced by electrical engines. In these, energy is
created on board, in the fuel cells out of
hydrogen, as explained before.
Moreover, some manufacturers like BMW or Mazda have been trying to go
further by developing vehicles that can work indifferently with hydrogen and
normal gasoline.
Mazda Rx8 Hydrogen
In March 2006 Mazda began to commercialize its rotary engine Mazda Rx8
Hydrogen in Japan. The rotary engines adapts to alternative fuels like
hydrogen better than traditional alternative piston engines.
A rotary engine works in
four
different
phases
(admission,
compression,
explosion and escape), each
of which takes place in
different cameras. The rotor
pushes the fuel mixture into
each of the cameras. By
such means, temperatures
do not get so high and risk
of detonation is dismissed.
The exit to the market of the hydrogen cars is slow because the vehicle
manufacturers wait for hydrogen to be available while at the same time fuel
providers wait for hydrogen vehicles to be operative. So Mazda has prepared
its own station that will comprise of a public network that already prepares
the Norwegian State.

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Master in Energy Systems

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BMW 7 Series Hydrogen

BMW will begin to commercialize its own

hydrogen car by April 2007. This vehicle has a
12 cylinder alternative engine with a 200 HP
power. It has a 140 litre hydrogen deposit,
with a 350 km autonomy. In addition, it has
conventional fuel feeding due to the
incomplete provision network of hydrogen.
What makes the engine different are its
particular hydrogen valves.

Fuel batteries
Fuel batteries are electrochemical systems where the energy of a chemical
reaction turns directly into electricity. Unlike the electrical battery, a fuel
battery does not finish nor needs to be recharged; it keeps working while fuel
and oxidant are provided. A fuel battery consists of two parts.
Fuel namely hydrogen - is injected in the anode, while oxidant usually air
or oxygen - is introduced in the cathode. Both electrodes of a fuel battery are
separated by a conductive ionic electrolyte.
Its operation principle is the contrary to the one of electrolysis. For example,
in water electrolysis, wateris separated into its two components, hydrogen
and oxygen, whereas in a fuel battery an electrical current would be obtained
by means of the reaction between these two gases:
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Hydrogen + Oxygen =>

Electricity + Water

Manufacturers as General Motors, Toyota, DaimlerChrysler or Ford are working

in development of fuel batteries. Fuel battery vehicles are powered with
hydrogen, but the technology is cleaner since the combustion of a hydrogen
mixture with air continues producing some small polluting emissions (NOx and
CO). The fuel battery generates electrical energy used in electrical motors
that drive the wheels of the vehicle.
Hydrogen is difficult to store and a
hydrogen network does not exist.In
addition, there is no plan to
implement one yet. For that
reason, some companies involved
in the development of fuel battery
advocate to obtain hydrogen inside
the car itself, from a fuel like
gasoline or methanol.

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Biodiesel
Introduction
Biodiesel constitutes a group of biofuels that are obtained from vegetable oils
as soy, rape and sunflower (two main cultivations of oily in the European
Union). The biodiesel are mono-alkyl esters of the vegetable oils obtained by
reaction of these with methanol, by means of reaction of transesterification
which produces glycerin as secondary product.
The physical properties of mono-alkyl esters are so similar to those of
common diesel that both can be mixed in any proportion to be used in
conventional diesel vehicles. What is more, there is no need to introduce
modifications in the basic design of the engine.
Nevertheless, it is necessary to swap the rubber conduits of the car into viton
ones when biodiesel proportion in the mix is higher than 5%. This is due to
biodiesel attacking the first.
As opposed to ethanol, the mixtures with biodiesel do not modify very
significantly great part of the physiochemical and physical properties of the
diesel oil, such as their calorific power.

Obtaining biodiesel
The process of transesferification consists of mix the oil with aglycerin which
the industry can take advantage from.
The source of vegetable oil is used to being oil of rape, since is a species with
high content of and other cosmetica light alcohol, normally metanol, and
leaves as residues of value addition Oil, that adapts well to the climates
colds. Nevertheless other varieties with greater performance exist by
hectarea, such as the palm, the jatropha curcas etc. Also oils used can be
utilized (for example, oils of fried food), in whose case the commodity is very
cheap and, besides, they recycle themselves what in another case would be
residues.

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The biodiesel does not count in the carbon dioxide production because is
supposed that the plants absorbed that gas in their growth, so, because of it,
aid to contain the emission of greenhouse gases. In reality the account is not
so simple, therefore the metanol that is employed in its production is used to
obtaining itself of the petroleum, for which the balance of CO2 is not nil. It
would be able to obtain metanol of the wood, that serious a renewable
source; nevertheless turns out to be more costly.
On the other hand, the glycerin can also burn, therefore neither its
combustion counts in the production of CO2.

PROs and CONs of using biodiesel as an alternative fuel

PROs
Biodiesel is produced from
oilseed crops, animal fats and
waste cooking oils.

CONs
Some users have reported
problems when using biodiesel at
low temperatures.

Emissions from using biodiesel

are far cleaner than those of
diesel.

There is a slight increase in

nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.
Additives are being researched
to solve the problem.

Biodiesel reduces waste oils that

otherwise would have to be
disposed.
Biodiesel can be locally
produced, which rises local
economies.

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Pollution reduction benefits of switching from regular diesel to B20 or

B100
Particles

B20
-12 %

B100
-47 %

Total unburned hydrocarbons

- 20%

-67%

Carbon monoxide

-12%

.48%

+2 to +4 %

+10 %

Greenhouse gases

- 40 %

- 80 %

Sulfates

- 20 %

- 100 %

Plycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

- 13 %

- 80 %

Nitrogen oxides

The table represents the emission per hundred changes from regular diesel.

Biodiesel production over the world

A very wide range of crops are used for small-scale biodiesel production
around the world, but there are a few popular choices. The first, and most
common, was rapeseed or canola. Rapeseed-oil is an ideal raw material for a
European climate which tends to have cold winter conditions. Other raw
materials used are palm-oil in Malaysia and sunflower oil in France and Italy
while soybean-oil became the raw material of choice in the USA. In Nicaragua
the locally available oil of Jatropha curcas plant is processed.

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This table show the worlds leading biodiesel productions.

country

capacity install (tn/year 2000)

Production (tn/year
2000)

Germany

550.000

415.000

French

290.000

286.000

Italy

240.000

160.000

Belgium

110.000

86.000

England

2.000

2.000

Austria

20.000

20.000

Sweden

11.000

6.000

Total

1.270.000

1.005.000

:SAGPyA, Biodiesel: El pasado del futuro by Eugenio F. Corradini.

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Natural gas
Introduction
Natural gas is domestically produced and readily available to end-users
through the utility infrastructure. It is also clean burning and produces
significantly fewer harmful emissions than reformulated gasoline or diesel
when used in natural gas vehicles. In addition, commercially available
medium- and heavy-duty natural gas engines have demonstrated over 90%
reductions of carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter and more than
50% reduction in nitrogen oxides (NOx) relative to commercial diesel engines.
Natural gas can either be stored onboard a vehicle as compressed natural gas
(CNG) at 3,000 or 3,600 psi or as liquefied natural gas (LNG) at typically 20150 psi. Natural gas can also be blended with hydrogen.

Production and properties of natural gas

Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons
mainly methane (CH4)and is produced
either from gas wells or in conjunction
with crude oil production. Gas streams
produced from reservoirs contain natural
gas, liquids, and other materials.
Processing is required to separate the gas
from petroleum liquids and to remove
contaminants. In addition, natural gas
(methane) can also come from landfill gas
and water/sewage treatment.
First, the gas is separated from free liquids such as crude oil, hydrocarbon
condensate, water, and entrained solids. The separated gas is further
processed to meet specified requirements. For example, natural gas for
transmission companies must generally meet certain pipeline quality
specifications with respect to water content, hydrocarbon dewpoint, heating
value, and hydrogen-sulfide content.
A dehydration plant controls water content; a gas processing plant removes
certain hydrocarbon components to hydrocarbon dewpoint specifications; and
a gas sweetening plant removes hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur compounds
(when present).The interest in natural gas as an alternative fuel stems mainly
from its clean burning qualities, its domestic resource base, and its
commercial availability to end users. Because of the gaseous nature of this
fuel, it must be stored onboard a vehicle in either a compressed gaseous state
(CNG) or in a liquefied state (LNG).

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Chemical Properties: The main constituent of natural gas is methane, which is

a relatively unreactive hydrocarbon. Natural gas as delivered through the
pipeline system also contains hydrocarbons such as ethane and propane; and
other gases such as nitrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and
water vapour.

Natural gas benefits

Natural gas is one of the cleanest burning
alternative fuels available and offers a
number of advantages over gasoline. In
light-duty
applications,
air
exhaust
emissions from natural gas vehicles are
much lower than those from gasolinepowered vehicles. In addition, smogproducing gases, such as carbon monoxide
and nitrogen oxides, are reduced by more
than 90% and 60%, respectively and carbon
dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is reduced by
30%-40%.
For
heavy-duty
and
medium-duty
applications, natural gas engines have
demonstrated more than 90% reduction of
CO and particulate matter and more than
50% reduction of NOx relative to
commercial diesel engines.
According to the Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition (NGVC), as of 2005 there are
130,000 light- and heavy-duty compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied
natural gas (LNG) vehicles in the United States and 5 million worldwide.
Dedicated natural gas vehicles (NGVs) are
designed to run only on natural gas; bi-fuel
NGVs have two separate fuelling systems that
enable the vehicle to use either natural gas or a
conventional fuel (gasoline or diesel). In
general, dedicated NGVs demonstrate better
performance and have lower emissions than bifuel vehicles because their engines are
optimized to run on natural gas. In addition,
the vehicle does not have to carry two types of
fuel, thereby increasing cargo capacity and
reducing weight.

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Master in Energy Systems

Renewable Energy
Alternative Fuels

Webography
In order to accomplish the current project, the following web pages have
been consulted. The authors of the project would like to thank the following
for their accuracy, clarity and conciseness.
English wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
U.S. Department of energy: http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/
General Motors: http://www.gm.com/automotive/innovations/altfuel/
Eco for the world: http://www.eco4theworld.com
Renewable fuels, LTd.: http://www.renewablefuels.co.uk
U.S. national biodiesel board: http://www.biodiesel.org/
Encarta online encyclopedia: http://encarta.msn.com/
Steam automobile club of America:
http://www.steamautomobile.com/
U.K. Institute of science in society (ISIS) : http://www.isis.org.uk/index.php
ZAP: http://www.zapworld.com/
Tesla motors: http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php?js_enabled=1
WASTE: http://www.waste.nl/
NY state department of environmental conservation:
http://www.dec.state.ny.us/
Invest Northern Ireland: http://www.investni.com/index/
West Virginia University: http://www.wvu.edu/
ONI: http://www.oni.escuelas.edu.ar/
Motorpasion: http://www.motorpasion.com/
Abengoa Bioenergy, LTd.: http://www.abengoabioenergy.com/
Crisis energtica: http://www.crisisenergetica.org/
Engineering faculty of the Universidad de Buenos Aires:
http://www.fi.uba.ar/
European commission energy research:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/energy/index_en.htm
International Energy Agency (IEA) Hydrogen Implementing Agreement
(HIA) : http://www.ieahia.org/
Fuel cell store : http://www.fuelcellstore.com
U.S. National Renewable energy laboratory: http://www.nrel.gov/
CIEMAT: http://www.ciemat.es/
Oregon department of Environmental Quality:
http://www.deq.state.or.us
Canadian renewable fuels association: http://www.greenfuels.org/
Springvale Business: http://www.springvale.biz/
Institut fr Energie- und Umweltforschung: http://www.ifeu.org
NaturalGas.Org: http://www.naturalgas.org/

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