In fact, alternative fuel vehicles are those vehicles, which can be cars, trucks, trains, planes and even ships, that run on fuels other than traditional gasoline, diesel and even kerosene.

There are many types of fuels and even fuel combinations that we can use, and by using them alternatively or even combining them, not only can we ensure a cleaner environment, but we can also make fossil fuels available for longer.

What are alternative fuels?

In essence, alternative fuels are power sources that allow for partial or complete replacement of traditional fossil-fuels in the transportation sector. Some examples of alternative fuels are hydrogen, biofuels and even electricity.

Additionally, some of those fuels are cleaner than others, so not all are the ideal long-term replacement, but rather a bridge towards a cleaner transportation system.

Electric vehicles, the future of personal transportation

When we think of EVs, most of us tend to only think of electric cars, but in reality, there are a lot of vehicles that we currently use that can be powered by batteries, including trains, ships and trucks.

Firstly, EVs are essentially vehicles powered exclusively by batteries, unlike hybrid vehicles, which rely on electric motors and combustion engines.

Electric cars have a much lower environmental footprint when compared to traditional cars, since they only release emissions when they're manufactured, but once they're on the road they don't release any emissions, essentially offsetting the initial impact.

Their main issue currently is range and the charging infrastructure, which is not exactly ideal in most places.

There are EVs that can charge a good amount of their batteries in around 30 minutes, such as Teslas, but that still takes a long time compared to fossil-fuel vehicles, which represents one of the major drawbacks of EVs.

Still, they allow for much better air quality and are usually cheaper to drive and maintain, with less parts that need to be replaced and their power resource being cheaper.

Battery-powered vehicles in public transport

Batteries can be used as an alternative fuel to power other types of vehicles, including buses, ships and even planes, all of them being tested or even rolled out in order to cut on carbon emissions

Some coastal communities want to fit their fleet of transportation ships with batteries, in order to transition to a cleaner maritime transport.

This is especially useful for towns or cities that are based on islands close to the main lands, which rely on ferries for frequent transport.

There are also countries, like Denmark, that invest in sustainable railway transport. Recently, the European country ordered seven battery-powered trains from Siemens Mobility in order to make railway transportation greener and more sustainable.

The trains can charge from the power grid when it is available and it can also recover some of the energy through braking, similar to EVs.

Hybrids, the bridge between the present and the future

Hybrid vehicles rely on an electric motor usually to get the vehicle moving and they switch to the gas or diesel engine at higher speeds, enabling lower fuel consumption and a lower carbon footprint.

In the city, these vehicles are nearly as clean as battery electric vehicles, since they mostly run on their batteries, which in turn means no emissions, being a great compromise between the traditional cars and EVs.

In the future, there are going to be hybrid vehicles that will use an electric motor as well as a hydrogen powered engine, such as the Renault Scenic Vision, which will enable a clean transportation system with fewer emissions than fossil-powered vehicles.

Hybrid vehicles can be plug-in or non-plug-in, the difference between the two being that plug-ins need to be connected to an external power source, such as a charging station, in order to replenish the batteries, whereas non-plug-ins will start the combustion engine in order to charge the battery back or they will rely on the regenerative braking to recover some of the power.

Hydrogen fuel cells, an unexplored contender

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are an alternative fuel type of vehicle that is more similar to EVs rather than fossil-powered vehicles, since they use hydrogen in order to power an electric motor.

The major advantage of these vehicles is that they are just as easy to top up at a fuel station as gas or diesel cars compared to EVs, which have to wait tens of minutes to do that.

The drawback is the fact that there are not that many hydrogen-refilling stations around the world and there aren't that many hydrogen-powered cars, either.

Toyota is a car manufacturer that researched this alternative fuel for vehicles since 1992 and in 2014 the Japanese carmaker released the Mirai, a hydrogen-powered sedan.

The company now wants to enter in the hydrogen-powered bus market, testing the alternative fuel on the Sora hydrogen-powered bus.

BMW is another carmaker that is currently exploring the possibilities of using hydrogen in its factories to cut the dependence on natural gas.

Some companies, such as ZeroAvia and Universal Hydrogen, want to implement hydrogen-based engines on airplanes as well, with the first commercial planes possibly running on this fuel from 2024.

Mixing biofuels with fossil, a sustainability cocktail

The key of using alternative fuels is to reduce, if not remove greenhouse gas emissions completely, which is why biofuels can prove to be a great helper in this direction.

Biofuels, two of which are ethanol and biodiesel, are obtained by processing biomass.

Ethanol is a renewable type of fuel made from plants, and it is an alcohol that is mixed with gas in order to increase its octane rating and to cut its emissions.

Biodiesel is another type of alternative fuel produced from renewable sources, like new or used vegetable oil, and it is a cleaner alternative to traditional diesel.

Compared to regular diesel, biodiesel is non-toxic and biodegradable and it is used in a mix with regular diesel in order to make the traditional fossil-fuel more eco-friendly.

Alternative fuels, advantages and disadvantages

Using alternative fuels to power our cars means that each of them has its own ups and downs.

First of all, the advantage of EVs is that they are silent, don't release emissions, bringing multiple benefits to the environment and the communities, such as improving on air quality and decreasing noise levels, which can cause stress, among other diseases.

The drawback comes when they need to be recharged, since there are not really enough charging stations in most countries, especially ones with fast charging capability, and even then, not all EVs support fast charging.

Plug-in-hybrid vehicles are cleaner than petrol-powered cars, since they can run on the electric motor that is powered by the battery, especially in the city or in a traffic jam, which limits the amounts of emissions that are being released, reduces noise levels and even helps the car get better gas mileage.

Compared to non-plug-in-hybrids, they require to be connected to the power grid when their battery is low or discharged completely, which causes drivers to be stressed out with regards to their charge levels since if they don't charge the vehicle, it will resort to using the combustion engine, which in turn defeats the purpose of such a vehicle.

Biofuels help us lower the reliance on fossil-fuels, since they can be blended with the traditional fuels in order to reduce their emissions and also helps us preserve fossil-fuels for longer.

The drawback is that in the fuel mixes, fossil-fuels still take the most percentage, which means that the benefits that come from using biofuels is rather small and they can't be used as a standalone power resource, either.

If we want to be successful with regards to helping the transportation sector become more environmentally friendly, we must use all available alternative fuel sources until EVs will become the norm for the masses and will completely replace fossil-powered vehicles.