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    Renewable Motor Fuels: The Past, the Present and the Uncertain Future
    Renewable Motor Fuels: The Past, the Present and the Uncertain Future
    Renewable Motor Fuels: The Past, the Present and the Uncertain Future
    Ebook210 pages2 hours

    Renewable Motor Fuels: The Past, the Present and the Uncertain Future

    By Arthur M. Brownstein

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    About this ebook

    Considering the ever-rising costs of traditional fuel paired with the increasing scarcity of its resources, it’s easy to see why exploring renewable fuels has become an increasingly critical goal for engineers, researchers, and end-users alike. However, due to the great diversity of technologies, policies, and attitudes, it can be difficult to gain a good well-rounded understanding of these types of fuels. Renewable Motor Fuels: The Past, the Present and the Uncertain Future presents an opportunity to gain an insightful understanding of all the key aspects of alternative automotive fuels in one book. Author Arthur Brownstein describes various sources of renewable motor fuels (including ethanol, algae, isobutanol, natural gas, and battery power) and their production processes, specific properties, and economic advantages/disadvantages. This comprehensive coverage of such an important topic is crucial for anyone with an interest in renewable fuels, from researchers to engineers to end-users.
    • Presents a clear overview on a variety of renewable motor fuel technologies, balancing history, technology, and policy
    • Provides the status of current and developing renewable motor fuel technologies and their uses worldwide
    • Discusses the competitive economics of renewable fuel processes and their respective market interactions
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherElsevier Science
    Release dateOct 7, 2014
    ISBN9780128010136
    Renewable Motor Fuels: The Past, the Present and the Uncertain Future
    Author

    Arthur M. Brownstein

    Arthur M. Brownstein has had more than forty years of experience working in senior management in fuel companies such as Chem Systems Inc. and Exxon Chemical. Most recently, he has worked as the General Manager of New Ventures Technology Division at Exxon Chemical. He is now retired. Dr. Brownstein received his PhD in Chemistry from The Ohio State University. He has written two books (US Petrochemicals: Technologies, Markets & Economics and Trends in Petrochemical Technology: The Impact of the Energy Crisis) and nearly one hundred papers and articles that have been presented at conferences worldwide.

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      Book preview

      Renewable Motor Fuels - Arthur M. Brownstein

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      Chapter 1

      History and Legislation

      The concept of renewable fuels for motor vehicles dates back to 1896 and the quadricycle designed and built by Henry Ford. This was a modified four-wheeled bicycle that had a 4 horsepower, 2 cylinder engine powered by pure ethanol. The Standard Oil Company of New Jersey began the addition of ethanol to gasoline in the 1920s to increase its octane number and to decrease knocking. Concurrent with these efforts, Rudolf C.K. Diesel in 1892 invented the engine that bears his name. It was originally powered by coal dust and subsequently vegetable oil.

      In 2005, the US Congress determined that fuels from renewable resources would play a major role in US energy independence. A collateral objective was to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. This legislation had the Renewable Fuels Standard as a centerpiece. This stipulated the minimum volume of biofuels, such as ethanol, that was to be added annually to motor fuels. An intrinsic feature of this legislation was the introduction of the Renewable Identification Number, a 38 digit number that must be assigned to each gallon of renewable fuels imported or produced in the United States.

      Keywords

      Energy Policy Act; Renewable Fuels Standard; Renewable Identification Number; Advanced Biofuels; Federated Transaction System; fracking; shale

      1.1 Past

      The concept of renewable fuels in motor vehicles is not new and dates back more than 100 years to 1896 and the quadricycle designed and built by Henry Ford. This was a modified four-wheeled bicycle that had a 4 horsepower, 2 cylinder engine powered by pure ethanol. The Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (ESSO) began adding ethanol to its gasoline in the 1920s to increase the octane number and to decrease knocking. The US Army built and operated the first fuel ethanol plant in the same decade.

      Concurrent with efforts in the United States, Rudolf C.K. Diesel in Europe in 1892 invented the engine that bears his name. The diesel engine was originally designed to run on coal dust. Since the petroleum industry was then in its infancy, Diesel experimented with engine modifications that permitted the use of vegetable oil as fuel. As the petroleum industry grew, a fuel was developed that enabled its use in an automobile in 1927. This was followed by the use of diesel fuel in the first production automobile, the Mercedes-Benz 206 in 1936.

      Volkswagen introduced the first compact car, the Diesel-Jetta, in 1975. This was the most fuel efficient car at the time. Because diesel fuels initially had a high sulfur content, many nations, including the United States, banned its use in passenger cars because of pollution. In 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated the use of low sulfur diesel fuel in the United States. With minor engine modifications, most modern diesel engines can use waste vegetable oil directly by simply filtering out any solid impurities. In a sense, this returns us to Rudolf Diesel’s original efforts of more than 100 years ago. This is a commonplace practice and is pursued by many do-it-yourself innovators.

      In 2005, the US Congress determined that fuels produced from renewable resources, i.e., biofuels, would play a major role in ensuring US energy independence. A collateral objective was an effort to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. The legislation was enacted at a time when US reserves of natural gas and crude oil were seen to be in decline and imports were dramatically increasing. As will be noted later in this chapter, the US energy situation changed radically only 5 years

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