Alternative Fuel History


Believe it or not, the history of alternative fuels dates back to the early 1900’s.  Back then, gasoline power cars were difficult to start and more and more people chose to opt for electric cars.  Electricity was actually the first type of alternative fuel.  However, the history of alternative fuels is really long and varied as we travel from those electric cars of yore to the alternative fuels we use today.

In the 1970’s, America experienced a severe gasoline shortage.  This is really where the modern history of alternative fuels began.  Scientists began to scramble for other ways to power our cars and trucks so that our dependence on oil and gasoline wasn’t so definitive.  What they found was a product called ethanol which was made from corn.  

Ethanol is basically grain alcohol – moonshine, if you will.  Researchers found that a form of grain alcohol with denatured product added could effectively power a combustion engine just as well as petroleum based gasoline and with less harmful emissions.  Ethanol was good for the environment and a lot cheaper to make than gasoline.  Plus, it helped American farmers since large amounts of corn were required to make ethanol.

Scientists also found that other types of gases such as methane, propane, and hydrogen could also power vehicles.  However, there were problems with running these gases through traditional engines and modifications had to be made.  This is where another part of the history of alternative fuels starts – the development of the alternative fuel vehicle.

Some say that the history of alternative fuels has less to do with technology and environmental concerns so much as it has to do with political power.  Perhaps to a certain extent, this is true.  Politicians like to be heroes.  With global warming becoming a huge political issue, many of those politicians support efforts to develop and market alternative fuels en masse.

However, you have to admit that studies have proven that alternative fuels do help the environment in many ways.  Whether the use of alternative fuels is politically motivated or done so for genuine reasons, it really doesn’t matter.

The history of alternative fuels continues to be made and added to.  As new technologies emerge, new chapters will be added to the history book of alternative fuels.  It’s an exciting and promising area of the history of man-made fuels and one that can help revolutionize the automobile industry in ways that would be so good for everyone in the world!