From Ecopedia

Overview

Alternative fuels are advanced or non-conventional fuels, which make use of any material or substance other than natural gas, coal, oil, propane or nuclear material like uranium for fuel production.

Essentially, any material that can be used as a chief power source, apart from other conventional energy sources is termed as an alternative source of energy.

Some popularly used alternative fuels include:

• Biogas
• Biodiesel
• Bioalcohol including ethanol, methanol and butanol
• Fuel cells (chemically stored electric energy)
• Non-fossil methane
• Hydrogen
• Non-fossil natural gas
• Vegetable oil and such other biomass sources
• Solar batteries

Environmental Information

Alternative fuels provide an eco-friendly and cost-effective option to people looking for greener and cheaper power sources. Since alternative fuels are abundantly available in nature, conventional energy sources that pose great danger to the environment could easily be replaced with the greener alternative fuels.

Alternative Fuel Technologies

Some popularly used alternative fuel technologies are developed from most-cleanest sources of power such as: · Wind energy · Hydropower · Solar energy · Geothermal energy · Tidal energy

Solar Energy

Solar energy, derived from the sun’s radiant heat and light, is harnessed globally using continuously evolving eco-friendly solar technologies.

Certain solar technologies such as active solar technologies make use of solar thermal panels and photovoltaic panels for energy harnessing. Others indirectly harness the energy (passive solar technologies) through natural air circulation, selection of materials possessing favorable thermal-mass (any heating storing material) or light dispersion properties.

Solar technologies offer an eco-friendly alternative energy option to conventional electric power generation that produces environmentally-harmful carbon emissions.

Hydropower

Energy harnessing using hydropower could provide a viable alternative to countries such as the US, which rely heavily on Gulf countries for oil supply, oil being the country’s major power source. However, although hydropower could be harnessed in a cleaner manner, the method is not totally clean. Certain environmental drawbacks, including damage to the surrounding eco-systems, could not be ignored.

Better Alternative to Fossil Fuels

Unlike fossil fuels, alternative fuels are eco-friendly fuels as the use of alternative fuels would contribute to significant reduction in exhaust emissions, besides minimizing carbon footprint on the environment.

Moreover, unlike conventional fuels, which might last for another twenty years in future, alternative fuels are increasingly regarded as ideal sources for power generation with minimal environmental footprint.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_fuel http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fuels/alternative-fuel-roundup.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/matter_energy/alternative_fuels/ http://alternativefuels.about.com/od/alternativefuels101/a/1altfuel.htm http://www.altfueltechnology.com/ http://environment.about.com/od/fossilfuels/Environmental_Issues_Fossil_Fuels_Alternative_Fuels.htm http://alternativefuels.about.com/od/environmentalimpact/Environmental_Impact.htm http://www.abcarticledirectory.com/Article/Alternative-Fuels---Conserve-The-Environment/169173 http://www.123helpme.com/assets/13174.html