Alternative
Fuels
By: Marco A. Rodriguez, Jose Luna, Jose Maldonado
Engineering 101: Engineering Ethics
Professor Danielle Swiontek
March 07, 2007
President Bush once stated “America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from
unstable parts of the world.”1 It is a fact that about half of the oil that America consumes comes
from abroad, much coming from unstable countries with unstable governments. It is estimated
that our current consumption of fossil fuels is about 100,000 times faster than it is being
produced.2 Clearly at this rate we will consume all the worlds’ oil reserves within the next couple
of decades or make oil a commodity only available to the rich. This alarming consumption has
led to much of the world's pollution and degradation of the environment. Given that we have a
finite amount of non-renewable fossil fuel it is clear that it cannot be used to sustain our society
in the future. To alleviate dependence on oil, alternative forms of fuel such as hydrogen fuel cell
technology, along with solar and wind power needs to be employed extensively. Conversion to
alternative fuel sources has positive and negative social, economic and ethical implications that
need to be examined.
1
Various Authors, “ Alternative Energy,” Wikipedia.org, March 6, 2007, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_energy
2
Various Authors, “ Alternative Energy,” Wikipedia.org, March 6, 2007, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_energy
2
Figure 1: Power Production
Alternative fuels aim at cutting down pollution while at the same time decreasing
dependence on fossil fuels. This will lead to a healthier and clean environment that will in turn
reduce conflict overseas. To accomplish this, society as a whole needs to fully employ existing
alternative fuel forms including solar cell technology, hydroelectric technology and solar/wind
power. Current alternative fuel forms provide clean renewable energy, though with some
drawback. For example a photovoltaic power station is expensive to build and is about 10%
efficient.3 In today's society the need to reduce oil dependence means to target the modern
automobile specifically. American's drive more than 2.5 trillion miles per year which would
equate to 14,000 round trips to the sun.4 Eliminating gasoline use in modern cars would
substantially reduce and close to eliminate the use of oil as a fuel source altogether. We propose
3
Various Authors, “ Alternative Energy,” Wikipedia.org, March 6, 2007,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_energy
4
Bonsor, Kevin, “Gas Price,” How Stuff Works, March 2007, http://auto.howstuffworks.com/gas-price.htm
3
that in order to eliminate dependence on petroleum products such as gasoline, we need to adapt
vehicles to hydrogen fuel cell technology. Hydrogen fuel cells are an attractive alternative to
gasoline since the major by product of this using this fuel is water. Using this technology would
drastically cut pollution, especially in big cities and metropolitan areas where it is of major
concern. The health and well being of people in general would thus be improved.
We chose hydrogen fuel cell technology over other fuels such as biomass, electric and
biodiesel due to its promising efficiency of energy conversion which is almost twice the
efficiency over current combustion engines and the ability to extract hydrogen from wherever
there is water and electricity. 5 Biomass and biodiesel fuels although environmentally friendly,
would require enormous amounts of land to produce the consumption that is required everyday
by Americans. Electric powered cars also pose a similar challenge due to the limitedness of
current technology. If someone invented a battery with a large capacity and quick charging time
then electric cars would take off as an alternative fuel source technology but current the current
technology we have today poses limits. We believe that by pushing for using hydrogen fuel cell
technology, the overall well being of the environment and the health of people would thus be
improved.
Alternative Fuel Dynamics
The U.S. provides an alarming 25% of the world’s green house gases such as carbon
5
Nice, Karim, “How Fuel Cells Work,” How Stuff Works,, http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-cell.htm (March 1,
2007)
4
dioxide therefore from existing solutions it was observed that hydrogen fuel technology would
be the best alternative fuel to replace gasoline. 6 Currently throughout the United States, the
hydrogen fuel stations that are set up are only for technological demonstration, but once
hydrogen fueled vehicles are introduced into U.S. auto markets, these private stations will open
to the public and more will be constructed. Although more stations will be established, there is
one drawback with hydrogen fuel cell technology pertaining to the process of obtaining pure
hydrogen; gasoline is used as part of the process. We propose that instead of having the reaction
take place within the car, it should take place at fueling stations in order to diversify the use of
reactants. The energy needed to cause this reaction will be provided by a combination of solar
power, wind, and biodiesel alternatives. Solar power will be generated by solar panels that can
be placed on any solar exposed surfaces at the station. Wind power will be gathered by having 2
to 3 turbines at the station. Also, diesel engines which are currently mass produced and
commonly used with “Blends of 20% biodiesel with 80% petroleum diesel (B20) can generally
be used in unmodified diesel engines”; diesel engine generators will be utilized at the fuelling
stations to alleviate the remaining energy needed to produce pure hydrogen7. In order to
supervise and maintain hydrogen fuelling stations, “mother” stations, 1 per 50 stations, will need
to be constructed to provide the technical expertise and relevant supply of parts to help maintain
6
“From 66 percent to 90 percent,” http://english.people.com.cn/200702/06/eng20070206_347957.html (February 6,
2007)
7
“Biodiesel” http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/altfuel/biodiesel.html (February 26, 2006)
5
the fuelling stations. The modifications mentioned can easily be made in the U.S. in order to
transition from fossil fuel dependence to renewable energy sources. Our solution proposes that in
order to alleviate fossil fuel dependence, we not only have to employ hydrogen fuel technologies
but also other sources of renewable energy given that they all have some sort of drawback
independently.
As promising as a newer technology may seem, it is not without its drawbacks and trade
offs need to be made. The problem stems from the basic idea of renewable fuel. Hydrogen is
renewable and abundant in water; however it is rare to find pure hydrogen (H2). Energy is
needed to produce pure hydrogen which tends to be produced by gasoline and sometimes
alternative fuels such as solar power. This means that we can either slow the process of
consuming fossil fuels or spend more to stop it. Another drawback to Hydrogen fuel is the
transportation and storage, nothing is leak proof. This especially applies to hydrogen because of
its small molecular size, which tens to easily leak out into the atmosphere. Thus the production
of hydrogen fuel can potentially posses problems that affect the environment and society
directly.
The bush administration pledged $1.7 billion for hydrogen research and development to
make fuel cell vehicles and in 2002 the National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap was proposed8. In
this road map 90 percent of all pure hydrogen production would be produced by fossil fuels,
8
“Does Hydrogen Fuel Pose Environmental Problems”
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/hydrogen/environment.html (February 27, 2007)
6
which undermines the purpose of producing hydrogen3. With this proposal, the environment still
looses and oil companies stay in business. Carbon dioxide emission will slightly decrease but
not to a great degree when compared to hydrogen fuel produced by solar and wind power.
However given that transitioning to alternative fuels is a slow process, initial use of fossil fuels
can be beneficial to this transition. For example, oil companies will start decommissioning
people at a slower rate since 90% of hydrogen production will be done by fossil fuels. As fossil
fuel use decreases the rate of unemployed oil company workers will increase. This slower rate
of change will give workers time to find other jobs. Eventually all hydrogen fuel will be
produced by solar, wind and other alternative fuels which will eliminate the U.S.’s dependence
on foreign oil and ozone’s damage by carbon dioxide emission.
Our solution requires fuelling stations to use solar, wind and biodiesel to produce pure
hydrogen. The solar panels, wind mills and biodiesel generators will be controlled by a
computer in the station that is directly monitored by the “mother” station. This eliminates the
need for technicians within minor stations and the need for any large scale factory production of
hydrogen. So the environment benefits since a small amount of fossil fuel will be needed in the
biodiesel fuel mixture. However there are shortcomings to this system. The amount of energy
each station is able to put out to create hydrogen and the reliability and communication between
“mother” stations and fuelling station would be potential problems. At the fuelling station, four
energy sources will be used simultaneously; if one fails the rate of hydrogen production will be
7
decreased placing pressure on employees and “mother” station technicians to fix the problem.
Meanwhile, the “mother” station will have 49 other stations to worry about. Organization and
communication will be placed at a high priority to keep each station running smoothly. As
technology advances and our solutions are modified by trial and error, these fuelling stations will
provide enough clean energy to meet consumer demand.
“Researchers from the California Institute of Technology estimate that leaked hydrogen
in a hydrogen economy could cause as much as a 10 percent decrease in the stratospheric zone.”9
Another problem with hydrogen is that it easily leaks into the atmosphere. Leaky hydrogen
containers can’t be avoided so solutions have to be created to reduce the amount of hydrogen
being leaked out. Our solution requires hydrogen to be produced at fuelling station, eliminating
the possibility of hydrogen being lost through transportation. The only hydrogen that will be
leaked out would be at the station and within vehicles. Hydrogen fuel can also escape in
locations such as parking structures and garages giving rise to the need for proper ventilation in
these areas to prevent clouds of hydrogen in static air. From this assessment it is clear that
storage devices need to be properly engineered to ensure maximum containment.
9
“Does Hydrogen Fuel Pose Environmental Problems”
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/hydrogen/environment.html (February 25, 2007)
8
Social Assessment
Switching from gasoline to an alternative fuel source like hydrogen would not only
decrease our dependence of foreign fuels, but there would be a substantial decrease in pollution
emissions. People have been willing to convert to an alternate fuel source because there is a big
concern about global warming which is mostly caused by carbon dioxide. Thirty percent of the
total carbon dioxide is released by cars10. But people have been skeptical about switching to
hydrogen as an alternative fuel source because of its very high flammability and think that it is
going to be more dangerous than driving around with a tank full of gasoline11. Hydrogen has a
bad reputation with people because of the Hindenburg accident, in which the blimp was engulfed
in flames in just a matter of seconds, and many people blamed the hydrogen as the cause of the
disaster, but in fact many scientists believe that the hydrogen gas was the reason why so many
people were able to survive12. Hydrogen may be highly flammable, but it dissipates ten times
faster than gasoline does, so it rapidly disperses when it is released in the air13. The concentration
of hydrogen has to be three times higher than that of gasoline in order for a flammable mixture to
exist2. If there was ever a leak and the car was in an open environment, the hydrogen would
dissipate into the air so quickly that it would be very difficult for the gas to stay at a high enough
10
“The car, pollution, and the environment” http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=10771 (March 1, 2007)
11
“Hydrogen, the Fuel of the Future.” http://www.plugpower.com/technology/Hydrogen%20Brochure.pdf (February 27, 2007)
12
“Theories.” http://www.hindenburg.net/theories.htm (March 1, 2007)
13
“Hydrogen, the Fuel of the Future.” http://www.plugpower.com/technology/Hydrogen%20Brochure.pdf (February 27, 2007)
9
concentration to cause a fire or explosion. If there was a gasoline leak, the gas would just simply
leak on the ground, which has the potential of starting a fire. Hydrogen has the fastest burning
velocity than any other gas14. One of the problems with hydrogen is that it is colorless and
odorless and without a sensor a person would be unaware of the leak and would be in a very
dangerous if not fatal situation Many people would consider that a very negative trade off from
gasoline. That means they would have less time to escape if there a fire started by hydrogen. But
in experiments conducted where two cars had a leak in the fuel tank, one had hydrogen and the
other had gasoline, the car that contained gasoline was engulfed in flames and was completely
charred. And the hydrogen fire was over in a matter of two minutes and there was very little
damage done to the car (See figure 2.)
Figure 2. Hydrogen vs. Gas leak
When hydrogen burns it can be invisible under bright lights and that is a major concern
for people. But there is a simple solution in avoiding such accidents, installing an alarm that will
alert the driver when there is a gas leak or a fire, so they will know to approach the car with
caution.
14
“Hydrogen, the Fuel of the Future.” http://www.plugpower.com/technology/Hydrogen%20Brochure.pdf (February 27, 2007)
10
Hydrogen has been massed produced in the United States in the last 50 years and there
has not been a major accident while it was being transported or while it was being used. The
companies that were dealing with the hydrogen knew exactly what the risks were while dealing
with the gas and knew exactly how to handle it15. Those same precautions would have to be
taken and only well trained professionals should be allowed to handle the hydrogen to prevent a
major a disastrous accident from happening.
Hydrogen has to be constantly kept at a very low temperature. As of right now there are
gas tanks that can be used to store the hydrogen at a low temperature but it is currently too
expensive, but as time passes and the industry starts shifting their focus towards using hydrogen,
the resources will become more readily available causing a decrease in the price of the tanks.
The ideal temperature for the hydrogen to be stored at is -250°C16. The customer would have to
very careful and make sure not to touch the nozzle to avoid getting burnt. So a totally new
automatic dispensing pump would have to be designed to avoid direct contact between the nozzle
and the customer. The current gasoline pump would have to be totally redesigned to
accommodate the demand of hydrogen being stored at such a low temperature.
Knowing that hydrogen has such a high flammability puts the car manufacturer in front
of an ethical question. If they do decide to manufacture their cars to run on hydrogen, and many
lives are lost because of it, the manufactures will then be held ethically responsible because they
15
“Hydrogen, the Fuel of the Future.” http://www.plugpower.com/technology/Hydrogen%20Brochure.pdf (February 27, 2007)
16
“The Power of Hydrogen” http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/sci_tech/highlights/000926_hydrogen.shtml (March 1, 2007)
11
knew the dangers they were putting their customers in when they were making the changes.
Economic Assessment
Going from using gasoline to hydrogen as fuel for our vehicles will not much effect on
the consumer because study has shown that hydrogen gas would be able to sell for the same
amount of money that gasoline is currently being sold for. With hydrogen, the United States
would have more control of the price of their fuel, whereas they had little control over the price
of petroleum. The Middle East could easily hike up the prices at any time and we would have to
suffer through the price hike. With the production of our own fuel to use in the transportation of
our goods, our economy would become more stable because it will not rely much on foreign
countries petroleum. The United States would then start on the construction of the factories that
would produce hydrogen, creating thousands of jobs and bettering of our economy.
Environmental Assessment
Hydrogen will be mixed with oxygen to create electricity creating water as the byproduct,
which is totally harmless to the environment. The byproduct of gasoline is carbon dioxide, which
is very harmful to the environment. Having a very harmful toxin to having water as a byproduct
would be very beneficial to our environment. There are other dangers to the environment from
petroleum other than the pollution emitted from cars. There is always a high risk of an oil spill
happening while trying to ship the petroleum overseas. The spillage of fuel in seas will have a
very negative effect on all the animals that surround the contaminated area. If the spill were to
12
become concentrated in an enclosed area, there would be a high risk of a fire or explosion
happening. Currently we spend billion of dollars annually in cleaning up the spills. With
hydrogen being produced in the United States, most deliveries of hydrogen would be through
land. We would not have to worry that much about polluting our water with hydrogen. Not only
is carbon dioxide a major threat to the environment but it can have devastating effects on our
unborn children. There is a possibility that it may cause heritable genetic damage to an unborn
baby if the mother is exposed to high concentrations of gasoline fumes17.
Political Assessment
In order for this hydrogen economy to take full swing, it’s going to need some help from
the government. Currently hybrid cars can cost a couple of thousand dollars more than gasoline
cars, but the government is currently giving tax incentives for buying a hybrid car. The incentive
currently allows from $400 to $3400 in tax credit depending on how efficient the car is18. After
hydrogen powered cars start coming out in the market, the government would have to move the
tax incentives towards the hydrogen cars. To help out the hydrogen economy even further, the
government is going to have limit sales on how many cars can be sold that still run on gasoline.
After each quarter, the limit should drop until they will no longer be sold. The government is
totally for the switch of fuels. In the year 2003, President Bush signed a bill which allocated $1.2
17
n/a “Shell global solutions” http://www.imeche.org.uk/formulastudent/pdf/E85%20GASOLINE%20V2%20(june%2006)1.pdf
(February 25, 2007)
18
n/a“Hybrid car tax credit.” http://hybridcars.about.com/od/news/a/hybridtaxcredit.htm (March 1, 2007)
13
billion over the next five years to switch to hydrogen as our main power source19.
The nation as a whole would benefit with this switch. The amount of pollutants released
in the atmosphere would decrease a great amount. The reduction of air pollutants would mean a
decrease in babies being born with health problems caused by pollution. The environment would
also see a decrease of pollution that resulted from oil spills; therefore all those billions of dollars
that we spend annually cleaning the spills can be allocated some where else. The people that
would lose with this switch would be the petroleum industry. The United States dependence on
fossil fuels would drastically decrease.
Conclusion
Our overall solution focused primarily on hydrogen fuel technology but from a
thorough assessment it is clear that it has its shortcomings. It was observed that although it is a
promising technology in efficiency, it lacks portability and safe storage devices. Money is also
an issue; some of the possibilities explored in this article are cut short due to expense.
Manufacturing hydrogen fuel technologies as this stage would be unprofitable for many
companies which would leave them at a loss. Every alternative fuel mentioned throughout this
article has a drawback that prevents it from being the sole solution to our fuel dependence. Based
19
“The President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative” http://www.hydrogen.gov/thepresidentshydrogen_fi.html (March 2, 2007)
14
on the current technology and individual drawbacks of each fuel, the solution seems to lie in the
use of each alternative fuel simultaneously. It seems more plausible to use each alternative fuel
where it is best suited, rather than adopt a single one for the whole nation to use. Until we find a
safe, cost effective alternative fuel, fossil fuels will continue to be the dominant source of energy.
Only time and technological innovation will tell what alternative energy source we transition to.
15
Works Cited
Bonsor, Kevin, “Gas Price,” How Stuff Works, March 2007,
Nice, Karim, “How Fuel Cells Work,” How Stuff Works. March 1, 2007
Various Authors, “ Alternative Energy,” Wikipedia.org, March 6, 2007,
“Biodiesel” February 26, 2006.
“Does Hydrogen Fuel Pose Environmental Problems.” February 27, 2007.
“From 66 percent to 90 percent,” February 6, 2007,
“Hybrid car tax credit.” March 1, 2007.
“Hydrogen, the Fuel of the Future.” February 27, 2007.
“Shell global solutions” February 25, 2007.
“Theories.” March 1, 2007.
16
“The car, pollution, and the environment.” March 1, 2007.
“The Power of Hydrogen” March 1, 2007
“The President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative” March 2, 2007.
17