Alternatives to petroleum-based vehicle fuels

Demand for Alternative Fuels

In the year 2000, there were about eight million vehicles around the world that ran on alternative fuels, indicating an increasing popularity of alternative fuels[citation needed]. There is growing social interest, and a perceived economic and political need for the development of alternative fuel sources. This is due to general environmental, economic, and geopolitical concerns of sustainability.

The major environmental concern, according to an IPCC report, is that "Most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations" [1]. Since burning fossil fuels are known to increase greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, they are a likely contributor to global warming.


The main purpose of fuel is to store energy in a form that is stable and can be easily transported from the place of production to the end user which helps in many ways such as transportation. Almost all fuels are chemical fuels, that store chemical potential energy. The end user is then able to consume the fuel at will, and release energy, usually in the form of heat for a variety of applications, such as powering an engine, or heating a building, such as a home.


The definition of Alternative Fuel varies according to the context of its usage. In the context of petroleum substitutes, the term 'alternative fuel' can imply any available fuel or energy source, and does not necessarily refer to a source of renewable energy. In the context of environmental sustainability, 'alternative fuel' often implies an ecologically benign renewable fuel.

Alternative Fuels, also known as non-conventional fuels, are any materials or substances that can be used as a fuel, other than conventional fuels. Conventional fuels include: fossil fuels (petroleum (oil), coal, propane, and natural gas), and also in some instances nuclear materials such as uranium. Some well known alternative fuels include biodiesel, ethanol, butanol, chemically stored electricity (batteries and fuel cells), hydrogen, methane, natural gas, vegetable oil, biomass, and peanut oil.