The Gas Station Blog

New Perspectives on Mobility

Ethanol and biodiesel

Posted by Zakir on August 9th, 2011

There are mainly to types of biofuels that are used today: ethanol and biodiesel. Ethanol is an alcohol that is produced from biomass, corn, wheat and sugarcane. It can then be blended with traditional gasoline. The result is a type of fuel that maintains a higher octane level while still having reduced emissions of greenhouse gases. The other kind of biofuel, biodiesel, is instead derived from natural oils. Such oils include vegetable oils or animal fats.

Filling up at Propel Biodiesel © by Spencer T.

Biofuels: an introduction

Posted by Zakir on August 6th, 2011

Ethanol is produced quite similarly to the alcohol you will find in your beer. It is likewise fermented from organic materials. Afterwards it is altered and made undrinkable. Usually it is only used for blending purposes. As an additive to gasoline it is supposed to increase octane and reduce carbon monoxide emissions.

Biofuels © by USDAgov

Cheap fuel cells

Posted by Zakir on August 4th, 2011

Fuel cells are a promising future source of energy. The do not pollute the environment and are one of the very few REAL options for emmision-free mobility. A fuel cell is an electrochemical device which has the ability to turn the chemical energy of its hydrogen-based fuel into electricity. The only remaining by-product is water. Thus, one can call the fuel cell free of malicous emmissions.

Polymer electrolyte fuel cell research © by Argonne National Laboratory