Do you want to buy a car that runs on water? Well, this might have sounded fun a few years ago, but not anymore. To beat the growing threat of air pollution, scientists have actually developed cars that use 100% water for fuel. And what’s more, these cars are possibly the vehicles of the future, at a time when gasoline and diesel cars will become obsolete and relegated to museums.
Cars that run on alternative energy sources are the latest craze in the automotive world. In fact, scientists have developed cars that run not only on water, but also on other unconventional energy sources, such as electricity, solar energy, biodiesel, ethanol, and LPG. This is a necessity, considering the depletion of fossil fuel reserves and the increase in pollution levels in the world. In this article, we take a quick look at the various pros and cons of cars that run on alternative energy sources.
To date, the most popular form of alternative energy that has been used to run cars is electricity. Cars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight can run on both electricity and gasoline. These cars, labeled as hybrids, contain an electric motor in addition to the normal one, giving the driver a choice of power source. Compared to other cars, hybrids are more environmentally friendly and are also cheap to operate. Hybrid electric vehicles contain batteries that can be charged using a standard home electrical outlet.
The use of LPG and CNG has also been promoted by various governments in recent years to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. CNG powered cars are extremely fuel efficient and produce very low levels of emissions. It is possible to convert a conventional petrol engine to a CNG compatible one using a simple hybrid conversion kit, giving owners of petrol cars the opportunity to reduce emission levels.
In addition to these, a lot of research has been done in recent years in the development of cars that run on solar energy and biodiesel. While the former typically harvests energy from the sun using solar panels on its body, the latter uses fuels derived from natural, renewable energy sources such as plants and vegetable oils. Astrolab, designed by French transportation futurists Venturi, is the world’s first commercially available solar-powered car. Solar-powered cars have zero emission levels and are ideal vehicles for a pollution-free world. However, solar car development is still in its early stages and we do not yet have a solar-powered heavy duty vehicle on the roads. On the other hand, cars running on biofuels are easier to manufacture, but their popularity has slowed due to the limited availability of biofuels.
The water-powered car is also one of the possible solutions that scientists have devised to meet the challenges of increasing air pollution. This car uses the technique of electrolysis to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, thus generating the necessary energy in the process. Although it is a completely pollution-free vehicle, the water-powered car is expensive to manufacture, and research is still being done to make the car commercially viable.
What is promising, however, is the enormous amount of interest that hybrid cars have generated among people all over the world. With oil supplies depleting and fuel prices rising, vigorous research and development is going on to develop cars that run on alternative forms of energy. The increase in air pollution and the greenhouse effect has also contributed to the search for an economical and non-polluting car. In fact, we’re not too far from the day when the perfect green car becomes a reality for consumers. Hybrid cars are indeed the vehicles of tomorrow and they are here to stay.