From electricity to biodiesel; we bring you the low down on the fuels of the future…

Oil refinery’s like this one could soon be a thing of the past…

The way we fuel our cars is changing; with C02 emissions playing havoc with the environment and oil on a slow and steady decline; alternative fuels may provide the answer to lowering emissions and sustainability, allowing us to keep driving long into the future.

With an overwhelming amount of information out there in the ether, we thought we’d do the hard work and sift through the research so we can bring you our guide to alternative fuels and the low down on the technology that’s being developed.

Biodiesel

Rape seed oil can be converted into Biodiesel

Oil and grease may be bad for you, but it could be the answer for your car if you drive a diesel and you’re looking for a cheap and more environmentally friendly way to run it!

Made from cooking oil and grease, any diesel car can run biodiesel; but don’t go pouring chip fat into your engine just yet; the oil and grease needs to be converted using a chemical process. Many enthusiasts do this themselves at home but it’s not without its risks; if done incorrectly it could do a lot of damage to your car, or even your home; so we suggest leaving it to the professionals!

A Biodiesel bus in brighton                                                                                                                                                                           Image credit

Pros: Biodiesel is safe, biodegradable and reduces air pollutants associated with vehicle emissions.

Cons: Hard to get hold of as there’s limited production and distribution in place.

Electricity

Electric cars are not powered by lightning, but by high tech fuel cells

Although electric cars have been around for ages; recent advances in battery technology have really pushed them into the spotlight. Lithium-ion batteries, like the kind in your mobile phone or laptop, mean that cars are able to go for longer between charges.

Cars like the Peugeot iOn offer a great alternative to petrol; able to nip about any city centre with ease, it has a range of 93 miles.

The nifty Peugeot iOn

Hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius use electricity to maximise fuel efficiency, switching between petrol and electricity at the optimum time to power the car.

The Toyota Prius is the hybrid car of choice for many

Pros: Fuel cells produce electricity without combustion or pollution; electric cars are the greenest option around.

Cons:  Most electric vehicles have a maximum range of around 100 miles and take several hours to recharge; batteries are very expensive.

Hydrogen

Water and renewable energy can be utilised to create Hydrogen

Hydrogen is seen by many as the fuel of the future. Produced from water using renewable energy sources and used either in a fuel cell within the engine or in a converted internal combustion engine; the only by-product of hydrogen is water!

Rather than running off of battery power alone, a hydrogen-powered car can use a fuel cell to generate its own electricity; a chemical process within the fuel cell combines hydrogen and oxygen, and electricity is born.

Cars like the Toyota FCV are in production and set to utilise this technology. Going on sale in Japan in May of next year, it might not be long before they hit the UK shores; the only problem being, where to ‘fill up’ with hydrogen.

The sleek Toyota FCV can be yours next year for a mere £40,000

Pros: No nasty emissions and hydrogen can be made from sustainable energy sources.

Cons: There is currently no fuelling infrastructure for hydrogen, and putting one in place will be costly and take time.

LPG

Buses in Hong Kong running on LPG                                                                                                                                                          Image credit

Liquefied petroleum gas or LPG has been around for a few years, and offers a cleaner and greener way to run your car. It could also mean savings when filling up at the pumps, with a tank of LPG coming in at roughly half the price of a tank of petrol.

LPG is a hydrocarbon gas kept under low pressure. Mainly made up of Propane, it is kept pressurized so that it remains in liquid form; this also makes the gas denser and more useful for powering cars.

Any car can be converted to run on LPG, there are many installers on the market and conversions generally start from around £1000; make sure you do your research and go with a trusted installer. Head to LPG Forum for more advice and information!

Pros: LPG produces fewer emissions than petrol, offers cheaper refuelling and is widely available.

Cons: The smaller tank means more trips to the forecourt.

Compressed natural gas

A Washington DC bus running on Compressed Natural Gas                                                                                                                  Image credit

A nice idea if made viable; a compressed natural gas car runs off Methane stored at high pressure and uses a modified combustion engine and the gas supply that comes direct to your home. You couldn’t just hook your car up to the oven though; you’d need a fuelling station in your house to compress the gas.

CNG is cheaper and cleaner than petrol or diesel, so it is possible that we could see this fuel gain in popularity. As there is no network of gas refuelling stations at present though, if you found yourself with an empty tank far from home, you’d be in a tricky spot.

Pros: Can produce fewer emissions than petrol or diesel cars.

Cons: A by-product of producing natural gas is methane, which is far worse for the environment than C02.

If reading about alternative fuels has made you curious about your own car’s emissions; head to Next Green Car and enter your details to find out how green your current car is!

For a family more used to Easter ski trips, the decision to take a week early in the season, pre Christmas, was very unusual.  As we now normally drive to our chosen resort, it took some extra planning; driving a long way across Europe in December promised to be quite different to taking to the road in the spring.  The shorter days and colder temperatures looked set to make the whole journey wintery, unlike Easter travel which often has an early summer feel to most of the journey.

So, it was time to get the family, kit-carrying VW Transporter Kombi winterised.

CDG-Cars.com ordered me a set of Pirelli Sotto Zero 3 winter tyres and, in case of deeper snow, two pairs of suitably sized Snoxs, or snow socks – these are very easy-to-fit elasticated, fabric, faux ‘snow chains’.

I had researched the concept of winter tyres a little and there is much more to the topic than a chunkier, snow clearing tread pattern.  The key thing seems to be that the rubber compound is much softer which gives the tyre more grip at the lower average temperatures in the winter.

The journey went without hitch, with the tyres performing perfectly delivering what seemed to be a much softer ride and no hint of any loss of traction on what little snow and slush we encountered high in the Alps.

The Snoxs remain unused, waiting for the next trip or the travel chaos that 2 inches of snow seems to cause back at home!

One final point, throughout the journey, this time to Austria, I noticed once again the much better lane discipline on Northern European motorways than we have here in the UK.  On the M25 it is quite common for the overtaking lane (the outside lane) to be full and two, often three other lanes with just a handful of vehicles.  This effectively reduces the capacity of the motorway to little more than one lane.  On this trip through Europe and especially in Belgium, whose residents have long had (wrongly) a bad-drivers label attached by many Brits, drivers for the most part did not hog the outside lane but rather used it as intended as an overtaking-only lane swiftly making their way to the inner-most lane and hence the traffic flowed much more freely.  Bravo the Belgians!