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-- NEW FEATURE --
TECH CORNER with Tai Robinson of Intergalactic Hydrogen
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Cleaner Fuel
Vehicles: Saving You Money |
Imagine driving the car of your
dreams. Now realize the engine in this vehicle cleaning the air as you drive. Visualize
the fuel for your automobile costing less than what you pay today for gasoline. Picture
your motor lasting longer than any you have ever had before. Now think about filling your
tank with a fuel that does not require hostility, greed or fear.
This is not a dream. Right now this is reality and this author is
enjoying all the benefits of cleaner fuels. I am going to share some of my knowledge to
help you choose the best fuel for you today and tomorrow.
I want you to be able to use a locally produced fuel that decreases
your transportation cost and reduces airborne emissions. Why pay more for dirtier, life
threatening oil from foreign sources?
I know of seven "alternative" fuels that people use today
that can all be obtained at less cost than gasoline or diesel. All of these options
contribute to the good health of our economy, and of Earth's inhabitants. |
Photo copyright 2005 Fred Robinson
Tai Robinson with President Bush's propane Ford F-250 and one
of the Crawford
ranch hands.
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Propane has been used
successfully in gasoline engines as a motor fuel for decades. Its price used to be much
cheaper before current taxes. Most all of the country can enjoy this slightly cleaner than
gasoline fuel at a lower cost than premium unleaded. As of October, 2004, Dallas had the
highest propane prices at $1.93 per gallon of gasoline equivalent (g.g.e.) Billings, MT
reported the lowest price at $1.22 per g.g.e.
Propane can also be used to boost performance of compression ignition
engines. Pilot point ignition of propane on top of diesel or biodiesel increases
combustion. This will provide more horsepower while reducing exhaust gas emissions. This
is great for saving time and money while towing heavy loads.
Biodiesel is an amazing replacement for diesel fuel, because it can be
used directly without any modifications. Biodiesel can be produced from any fatty ester
such as fresh plant oils, animal fat or used cooking oils. When mixing these oils with the
proper amounts of methanol, or ethanol and lye, an individual can produce their own fuel
for as little as $0.70 cents per gallon. Biodiesel can be purchased at commercial fuel
stations and regional co-ops around the country right now. Dallas has the lowest price
B-20 (20% bio, 80% petro) for $1.72 per gallon and Honolulu sells B-100 for $2.15. For
anyone driving a vehicle that requires diesel, biodiesel is clearly the alternative. Among
the many advantages of this non-toxic fuel is the fact that it is produced by American
farmers. In some engines, especially the older, dirtier, more worn in ones, biodiesel
reduces friction. This can provide increased horsepower and miles per gallon while
reducing visible smoke and nasty smell.
Another option for compression ignition engines is straight veggie oil,
(SVO) from raw, virgin oil. Or waste veggie oil, (WVO) from the grease traps of the
nation. This stuff straight, or filtered is not the same as biodiesel, but is what Rudolph
Diesel designed his engine to run on which debuted at the Worlds Fair in Paris, 1900. Talk
about cheap fuel, some restaurants will pay you to haul away their waste oil, so you can
actually get paid to fill your tank!
Going back further to Germany in the mid 1800's, a man named Nicolaus
Otto developed a cycle to run what we now know as the 4-stroke internal combustion engine
(ICE). Although there were a variety of fuels available to run this new engine on, Otto
chose producer gas. Producer gas, also called Towns gas or lamp fuel is basically
carbonated hydrogen. Otto chose this fuel not because of its wide availability, but
because it was safer than the new alternative. Benzene was then the new alternative and is
now what we know as a component of gasoline. |
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Today we have two different kinds of hydrogen
available for use as a motor fuel. Both renewable and non-renewable forms of hydrogen come
with many different names to describe them. The least desirable H2 is what I call
"caged" hydrogen. This could be considered "dirty" hydrogen made from
non renewable sources. This "black" hydrogen is available from a low of $4.50
per kilo derived from grid powered electrolysis, to a high of over $100 per kilo from the
steam reformation of methane. A kilo of hydrogen has almost exactly as many BTU's as a
gallon of gasoline. However, when hydrogen is burned in an internal combustion engine
(H2ICE), you can expect roughly twice as many miles per kilo as you would get miles per
gallon. This makes the cost of dirty hydrogen anywhere from 2x times, up to 50x times the
cost of gasoline.
The good news is we have a clean, green and renewable source of
hydrogen at much lower cost. When hydrogen is produced through electrolysis of water using
renewable, or solar, electricity, we get what I call "free-range" hydrogen. |
 Arizona Public Service, in downtown
Phoenix, offers "green" hydrogen for $2.25 per kilo. This breakthrough allows
motorists to operate their vehicle for 1/2 the cost of gasoline! Solar derived hydrogen is
the cleanest fuel available. Hydrogen not only |
keeps your engine oil clean, but burning it can produce cleaner air
out the tailpipe than the air we breathe in any metropolitan city.
Methane is another fuel that has two distinct varieties. Most of the
natural gas used for vehicles today, whether liquefied at cold temperatures, or compressed
to high pressure comes from oil wells and coal mines. Although this supply is finite,
natural gas in Utah is .91 cents per g.g.e. today. At that price, CNG is less than half
the cost of gasoline!
Natural gas does have greatly reduced exhaust emissions when burned in
an engine. Since this fuel is so clean, the oil in your engine stays clean a lot longer
and can increase the life of your engine. This reduces maintenance costs which in the long
run can save fleet operators and individuals lots of time and money.
There is a very large, untapped source for "renewable"
methane in this country. Piling up in feed lots, brewing in land fills and bubbling out of
sewage is a usable fuel that would be much better put to use for transportation than
allowed to escape into Earth's atmosphere. We can also make bio gas from grass clippings
and other decomposing matter. Collecting these gasses and compressing them for use as a
motor fuel is easy and inexpensive. This is the clean fuel of choice in Sweden. With
renewable natural gas we can support our local farmers, bolster our economy and increase
our nation's security. Most of the components that refuel and make an engine burn natural
gas are the same components needed to run hydrogen through any engine. By embracing
natural gas, we get one step closer to a hydrogen powered future. |
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 Another locally produced fuel we
can use right now with these same benefits is ethanol. Today there are millions of
flex-fuel vehicles on the road that can use either gasoline, or up to 85% ethanol.
Although more E-85 pumps are being installed at |
gas stations everyday, we could use a whole lot more to meet the
demand of existing vehicles. When ethanol is produced in large quantities in "energy
parks," where multiple industries are using each others' waste, the fuel is efficient
and economical. In Columbus, Ohio, a gallon of E-85 sells for $1.43 and the National
Ethanol Vehicle Coalition regularly promotes E-85 at stations around the nation for .85
cents a gallon.
Individuals can also produce alcohol from a still at their business,
school or residence to save money on fuel and reduce their use of gasoline. You do not
need a flex-fuel vehicle to use this American made fuel. Just about any car out there,
without modification, can use up to 30% ethanol mixed with gasoline. Ethanol can lower
tailpipe emissions, but when used in a non flex-fuel vehicle a fuel economy loss of about
10% will result. Depending on the cost of ethanol available to you this can still add up
to a savings to your pocket book.
While natural gas is paving the highway to hydrogen, today's electric
cars are building a bridge to fuel cell vehicles. There are many capable electric vehicles
today. With a charger at home and one at work or onboard your EV, you can be charging your
vehicle whenever it is parked. Your fuel cost will depend on the price of electricity
available to you. The current electricity market lists New York with the highest price per
kilo watt hour at $0.12 cents. West Virginia has the lowest electricity prices at 5.3
cents per kilo watt hour. With the current electric vehicle and quick charger station
project in Hawaii you do not even have to wait 8 hours for a full charge of your EV's
batteries. While shopping or taking a lunch break on the island of Oahu, the batteries on
an EV can obtain an 80% charge in just 20 - 30 minutes! With 11 quick charge stations on
the island, EV's are a practical and economical way to travel around this forward thinking
community. Electric vehicles also reduce an often overlooked pollution, noise.
The only way to grow demand for these cleaner, safer, healthier and
more economical fuels is to let people know about their benefits. Most people do not know
these options exist. When in reality they are not new, it is just that we are coming full
circle in our fuel choices and returning to the fuels that engines were originally
intended to run on. That is why I implore you to join the clean fuel revolution. If you
put E85 in your SUV, put a sticker on it too that lets people know you are using less
gasoline. If your trade in your car for a CNG vehicle to have the ability to use in the
car pool lane with only a single occupant, tell your co-workers about this time and money
saving advantage. If you drive a diesel truck, school bus, or big rig, fill it up with
biodiesel. Your engine will love it and all the kids breathing the exhaust will thank you.
If an EV or neighborhood EV can fit your needs, then use it for errands or short commutes
and leave your family hauler parked at home. If you can afford the initial investment to
convert your vehicles engine to run on hydrogen, you will be paid back continually through
less expensive "solar" hydrogen and through the do good factor. If you simply
must use petroleum, get a hybrid and burn less of it.
More information on buying cleaner fuel and multi-fuel vehicles can be
found at www.IntergalacticHydrogen.com.
There, you will find helpful links to the fuels available in your region and the vehicles
that can use them.
Thanks for your interest in American Fuel Vehicles!
Tai W. Robinson, Clean Fuel Specialist
President, Intergalactic Hydrogen Email: tai@h2go.info
Article copyright 2005 Tai Robinson
All Rights Reserved
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