The automobile is one of the most important inventions ever created by man. It has revolutionized modern society . Can you imagine our world today without automobiles?
Ever since the pioneers of automotive technology created the first car, the automobile has gone a long way in changing the world. Today, the automobile-for a car, truck or van--is an indispensable tool.
It is the primary mode of transportation used in almost all human society.
From the first rickety cars produced, automobiles have evolved to become the familiar and common motor vehicles of today. Many automotive manufacturers have introduced various innovations in terms of design, performance, safety and other technological aspects.
Automotive technologies continue to improve as automotive engineers and designers strive to enhance the vehicles they produce.
The automobile continues to develop at a very fast pace. There are scores of auto manufacturers from different countries all making their respective contributions to the development of automotive technology. Year after year, new models, innovations and features are being introduced by these automakers. Needless to say, each advancement in the automobile industry brings a slew of advantages to the lives of billions of people all over the world.
Automotive technology continues to move forward into the next big innovation.
But there are still many challenges facing the automotive industry, some of which effect the whole world. Two of the main issues are eliminating the threat to the environment posed by automobile emissions and the rising prices of oil.
Despite these and other issues, the automobile is still one of the most significant achievements of man. As the technologies continue to progress, automakers will roll out better, more sophisticated automobiles that will meet the increasing demands of consumers in terms of functionality, safety, performance and reliability. Given this, the future of the automobile looks more exciting than ever
ALTERNATIVE FUEL FOR AUTOMOBILES
The rise in price of the major automobile fuels, namely, the petroleum products petrol and diesel, has been one of the major global problems in the recent times. The price rise is even linked to the global economic meltdown. This is an ideal time to shift focus to alternative fuels for automobiles. There are various kinds of automobile fuels. The truth is that the fields of various alternative fuels have not witnessed substantial, both qualitative and quantitative, research.
Perhaps, the pollution caused by the above-mentioned fuels and the fluctuating price of these fuels are the ideal condition to do some substantial research on the alternative avenues.
The most widely used alternative fuel for automobiles is liquid petroleum gas containing mainly propane. It is not as costly as diesel and petroleum. At the same time, it does not cause as much pollution as the other two. Ethanol and methanol can also be used as effective fuels and these cause low levels of environment pollution.
Bio diesel is another kind of alternative fuels for automobiles. It can be produced from certain types of vegetables and plants. Since these have almost all the characteristics of diesel, it can be used in all diesel vehicles without any other additional components or converting equipment.
Also, the emission from the vehicle when using bio diesel contains fewer toxic substances than that when using actual diesel. The plants from which bio diesel can be extracted can be cultivated in large scale without much expense.
Electricity is another alternative fuel for automobiles. Many functional prototypes of various electrical vehicles have been developed. But the lack of pulling power and the actual shortage of electricity are the constraints for its wide spread use. Probably, electric fuels are the best in terms of reducing environmental and sound pollution levels.
The advancement in manufacture of various kinds of batteries has helped the development of vehicles that run on electric fuels.
Scientists and researchers are increasingly seeking new avenues of alternate fuels for automobiles. Hydrogen gas is one of the possible breakthrough-providing fuels in this arena. Research has been going on regarding the combustion mechanism of the gas and various methods that can be used to store the hydrogen gas in a convenient form inside a vehicle. The use of solar energy as an automobile fuel has also been explored. Right now, solar energy is used in homes for various electrical purposes. The efforts are ongoing for translating the home-use mechanism to automobile sector. The biggest problem it has is the requirement of changing the existing mechanical functioning system of automobiles to accommodate the solar fuel. Till a mechanism will be introduced for bypassing this technological bottleneck, chances of using solar energy as automobile fuel do not appear very sunny.
(adapted from ezinearticles.com)