Alt Fuels

  • Biobot 20 tabletop biodiesel generator

    There are many facets to green motoring, but for some the prospect of buying a new hybrid or electric car is neither realistic nor desirable. For these people, biofuels may be an option, particularly those recycled from other products. Biodiesel made from used cooking oils is one such fuel, and is becoming a popular option for those with access to large quantities of cooking oil. On a large scale, it even powers large portions of McDonalds' delivery trucks. With the right tools though, you can make it in your garage. Biobot, a UK company, sells just such a tool for converting waste oil into...

  • 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500
    Zero-Emission 2014 Chevy Silverado Model Now Available

    It doesn't get much attention as a green vehicle, but the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck line is the best-selling vehicle line at General Motors. Now there's a zero-emission version, and it's available today. That means that you can acquire one even before this spring's launch of the all-new...

  • Toyota Advanced Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicles (FCHV-adv)
    Toyota Loans Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Vehicles To DoE For Research

    Their part in the future energy mix for vehicles may be small, but several companies are taking a renewed look at hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. That's if recent partnerships are anything to go by, at any rate--Toyota and BMW recently joined forces, as have Ford, Renault-Nissan and Daimler. The U.S...

  • wind farm
    Honda To Use Wind Turbines For Energy At Ohio Plant

    It's no good simply producing green cars these days--you have to be green at every stage of producing the cars, too. With GM using solar at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant and Volkswagen recently unveiling a huge solar array at its Chattanooga plant, Honda is next to display its green credentials--with...

  • Big square baler harvesting wheat straw for production of cellulosic ethanol
    EPA Quota For Cellulosic Fuels Tossed Out By Court As 'Wish'

    Whatever the merits of ethanol as a fuel or a gasoline additive--and it's taken some hits lately--it's still in the running. The same cannot be said, however, for cellulosic biofuels, those derived from advanced crops or waste products. On Friday, a Federal appeals court ruled that an EPA mandate...

  • Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-Cell
    Daimler, Ford, Nissan Agree To Share Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Costs For 2017 Or Later

    The speculation is over, as Daimler has signed a three-way agreement with Ford and the Renault-Nissan Alliance to jointly develop future hydrogen fuel-cell technology. The technology, expensive to develop and not without its drawbacks, has been explored by each company in the past, and the...

  • Solar Field, Mojave Desert [Credit: ©2012 Jamey Stillings, courtesy of the Forward Thinking Museum]

    Viewed from hundreds of feet, individual elements of Solar Field One, part of the Ivanpah power plant in the Mojave Desert take on a hypnotizing, scale-like appearance. The Californian solar plant and its thousands of heliostats are captured here by photographer Jamey Stillings as part of his Changing Perspectives project. It's all too easy to appreciate the benefits of solar energy without giving too much thought to the impact of such installations. As even large carmakers like Volkswagen are adopting solar, such as the huge array at its Chattanooga plant, it becomes even more fascinating to...

  • 2011 Toyota FCV-R Concept
    BMW, Toyota Confirm Hydrogen Fuel Cell, Technology Deals

    BMW and Toyota have finalized a deal for the future of each automaker's hydrogen fuel cell technology. The agreement will mean BMW licenses future fuel cell technology from Toyota, and marks the latest point in the two automakers' recent cooperations. BMW will begin developing a prototype fuel cell...

  • Tree [Image: Flickr user Ward.]
    Hydrogen From Artificial Photosynthesis: Future For Fuel Cells?

    For the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen is remarkably hard to come by on good ol' planet earth. While the techniques for extracting it are easy enough to understand, the energy required to do so is often significant--meaning hydrogen fuel cell vehicles aren't as squeaky-clean and...

  • Offshore Oil Rig
    Oil And Energy: Bountiful Or Dwindling? Experts Argue

    Love or hate it, oil is an incredibly useful product. Used to create everything from plastics to pharmaceuticals--and of course, fuel for transportation--its environmental credentials might be low, but it's been an essential substance in creating the world we live in today. So too have other energy...

  • Section of 1933 photo of E10 ethanol fueling station from Nebraska State Historical Society
    Ethanol Is Nothing New; E10 Gasoline Was Sold In 1930s

    Back in the 1930s, the United States produced the vast bulk of the oil it burned. It wasn't until the 1973 oil crisis that things like OPEC and fuel efficiency entered the U.S. consciousness. And it took a while longer for the phrase "energy security" to come along. That's what led to the concept...

  • McDonalds sign
    McDonald's Trucks Travel Greener On Recycled Frier Oil

    The United Arab Emirates isn't known for its aversion to fossil fuels. The country has made its money from the stuff, and rapidly expanded in the last four decades into the vastly wealthy, oil-rich nation it is today. Yet as of December last year, McDonalds delivery trucks in the country have...

  • 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas, El Segundo, CA, Nov 2011

    Natural gas is increasingly considered a cleaner alternative to coal when it comes to energy production--not to mention a greener alternative to gasoline when used in vehicles like the Honda Civic Natural Gas. However, a new study suggests its green credentials may be damaged by methane leaks--negating any benefit from shifting to gas from dirtier coal-generated electricity. As Nature reports, some plants are leaking significant amounts of methane into the atmosphere. In a meeting with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one research team suggested that a plant in the Uinta...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Volt  -  Driven, December 2012
    GE Adds Natural-Gas Vehicles To Its Electric And Alternate-Fuels Fleet

    Back in 2010, General Electric promised it would replace over half its fleet with electric and plug-in vehicles. With planned orders for 25,000 plug-ins, it was quite some commitment--particularly at a time when only a handful of cars was available, and selling in very small numbers. Three years...

  • Biofuel crops (photo: Texas A&M University biofuels research alliance)
    DoE Increases Biofuel From Biomass Funding By $10M

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has announced it will put up another $10 million in funding towards the expansion of biofuels. It's the second positive announcement in recent weeks for biofuel advocates, as the Senate's "fiscal cliff" avoidance measures have also seen many biofuel initiatives...

  • U.S. Capitol
    Green Energy Wins In Last-Minute U.S. 'Fiscal Cliff' Bill

    It wasn't until 2 am yesterday morning that the U.S. Senate voted 89 to 8 to approve a bill to avert the "fiscal cliff" that took effect on New Year's Day. The House of Representatives then took an entire day of political wrangling before voting 257-167 to approve the Senate bill late yesterday...

  • Big square baler harvesting wheat straw for production of cellulosic ethanol
    Oil Industry Sues To Overturn Ethanol-In-Gasoline Mandate

    Paying too much for that fast-food burger? Blame the government's ethanol targets, says the oil industry--and it's sueing the Environmental Protection Agency for what it describes as "overzealous" biofuel mandates. The American Petroleum Institute filed the lawsuit over the EPA's decision to...

  • Corn Ethanol Pump
    EPA Keeps Corn-Based Ethanol Mandate, Rejects Suspension Request

    Last month, the governors of eight states and almost 200 members of Congress asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to suspend rules that mandate production of ethanol for use in gasoline. On Friday, the EPA said no. The request to suspend parts of the 2007 Renewable Fuel Standard came from...

  • Algae and biofuel

    Crude oil, from which all fossil fuels are made, is a dwindling resource. There will come a point, some time in the future, where the expense of extracting it from deep under the ground becomes too great for the return on investment. While one solution is to wean ourselves off fossil fuels entirely, another is to artificially create them--and biofuel made from algae is one solution. And scientists have proven that theoretically, it's easy to create. By putting green microalgae under intense pressure and heat--replicating the pressure and heat which has created crude oil over millions of...

  • Non-ethanol gasoline pump
    On 'Pure' Gasoline, Your Mileage May Vary: What's The Difference?

    Unless you're the type to very closely read the fine print on the face of fuel pumps, you might not know that the vast majority of U.S. gasoline is truly ten-percent home grown—that's ten-percent ethanol, and with that ethanol almost certainly from corn. The upsides of adding more ethanol to...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD bi-fuel (natural gas & gasoline) pickup truck
    Chevy, GMC Bi-Fuel Natural Gas Pickup Trucks Now In Production

    GM has started production of its two new bi-fuel options in the pickup truck market. The 2013 Chevrolet Silverado HD and 2013 GMC Sierra 2500 HD bi-fuel models are able to run on either regular gasoline, or compressed natural gas (CNG). A 6.0-liter V-8 as found under the hood of each truck isn't...

  • Biodiesel pump. Image by Flickr user Horatio_Nailknot
    Renewable Diesel Fuel Shines, Production Surges

    Alternative fuels have recently suffered at the hands of the current Renewable Fuel Standard, a set of guidelines that dictate various aspects of alt fuels. Combined with droughts and political factors, the industry has had it tough recently--but renewable diesel is on track to change the...

  • Honda FCX Clarity
    Scandinavian Countries Plan For Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Cars

    Nordic countries have consistently proven to be at the forefront of electric car and alternative fuel adoption, and now look set to take the lead with fuel cell vehicles too. Several northern European countries have signed a memorandum of understanding with Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai, to...

  • Chevrolet Corvette vegetable-oil-fueled diesel "Cor-Vegge" 24 Hours of LeMons race car
    Yes, There IS A Veggie-Oil-Fueled Diesel Corvette--For Sale

    Of all the Chevrolet models, the Corvette sports car may be the one least likely to be considered green. Indeed, the world rocked on its axis when the lead engineer said two years ago that, one day, there might be a Corvette Hybrid. But considerably sooner than that, you can have your very own...

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