| In the simplest form, an alternative fuel is one that is | | | | • Chevrolet Tahoe SUV |
| not produced by using crude oil. They are simply | | | | • Chevy Yukon SUV |
| fuels that replace conventional gasoline as a means | | | | • Nissan Titan Pickup |
| of powering vehicles. Alternative fuels have | | | | • Toyota Highlander SUV |
| desirable energy efficiency and pollution reduction | | | | • Toyota Prius |
| features. The 1990 Clean Air Act encourages | | | | Many of the vehicles listed above are hybrid vehicles |
| development and sale of alternative fuels. Basically, | | | | which mean that they can run on both conventional |
| alternative fuels include methane, propane, ethanol, | | | | gasoline as well as alternative fuels. As we said, the |
| and compressed gas among others. The use of | | | | above list is for 2006 vehicles. The list for 2007 is |
| alterative fuels informed people that they should | | | | much larger. |
| switch to alternative fuel vehicles now. | | | | There are also two other types of <a |
| There are two types of <a rel="nofollow" | | | | rel="nofollow" |
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| outgoing/article_exit_link');" href=" fuel cars < | | | | outgoing/article_exit_link');" href=" alternative fuel |
| a> - those that are originally designed to run on | | | | cars </a> that are becoming more and more |
| these new fuels and those that have been | | | | popular. First, there is the electric vehicle. This car |
| converted to run on alternative fuels. Car | | | | is exactly what it says it is. You plug it into an |
| companies will also make hybrid vehicles that can run | | | | electrical outlet to charge the battery and then drive |
| on either gasoline or other fuels. Many people call | | | | without using any fuel at all. However, these |
| these cars "green vehicles" because of their positive | | | | vehicles are generally not meant to travel at high |
| effect on the environment. | | | | speeds. |
| Since the trend is toward producing and buying | | | | A second type of AFV is the fuel cell vehicle. These |
| environmentally friendly vehicles, nearly every major | | | | cars get electrical energy from a fuel cell instead of |
| car manufacturer has at least one green vehicle in | | | | from a battery. There are different kinds of fuel |
| their inventory. We're relatively sure that as | | | | cell vehicles, but most manufacturers prefer cells that |
| alternative fuels become more and more popular | | | | use a proton exchange membrane that uses |
| because of the cost and the positive effects on our | | | | hydrogen to produce an electrical current to run the |
| environment, the number of green vehicles will | | | | motor. The only type of exhaust with this type of |
| dramatically increase in the next few years. | | | | vehicle is water - believe it or not! |
| As of 2006, here is a list of some of the green | | | | Besides the obvious advantages to owning an AFV, |
| vehicles manufactured by some of the major car | | | | the government is also stepping in to make it even |
| companies: | | | | more advantageous. People who buy these types |
| • Honda Insight | | | | of vehicles are given tax breaks on their income |
| • Honda Accord Hybrid | | | | taxes. Additionally, many states also offer |
| • Dodge Ram Pickup 1500 Series | | | | incentives and car manufacturers even offer rebates |
| • Dodge Stratus Sedan | | | | or discounts. |
| • Dodge Durango SUV | | | | It's kind of exciting to think about the fact that we |
| • Dodge Caravan Minivan | | | | can now power our vehicles using things like |
| • Ford Taurus | | | | vegetable oil, animal fats, and even wood! It brings |
| • Ford F-150 Pickup | | | | to mind the movie "Back to the Future" where Doc |
| • Ford Escape SUV | | | | would power his DeLorean time machine using |
| • GM Impala | | | | garbage as fuel! |
| • Chevrolet Silverado 4 x 2 | | | | |