Alternative Fuel Sources
What Does It Mean?We need alternative fuel sources to replace non renewable energy. But what does alternative mean? Is it the same as renewable energy resources, or is it something else? I know it isn't easy to understand what is really meant with alternative fuel sources, and the mixing of the words alternative, renewable and sustainable. But hopefully it gets a bit clearer when you reach the end of this page. The term alternative comes from the intention of developing new and better options of energy, with the aim to replace fossil fuel like petroleum (oil) and coal.
We want to replace fossil fuel because of BAD impacts on the environment, especially the increasing threat from the green house effect, but also because fossil fuel reserves are running out. Alternative fuel is usually therefore also about
renewable energy.
It is easily reproduced and can provide us with a more secure energy access. Fossil fuels on the other hand are formed by natural processes that take millions of years to happen. It is impossible for us humans to create new fossil fuels and for that reason they are seen as non renewable energy. Nuclear energy is often mentioned here as it uses uranium,
which is a non renewable energy resource. So here, alternative fuel sources are meant to replace uranium and avoid negative impacts from the mining, radiation and waste from the
nuclear power.
Some people include nuclear power as an alternative which I find strange, as the idea of alternatives is to not use up natural resources or harming the environment. Conventional and Non-Conventional Fuel Alternative fuel is also called non-conventional fossil fuels, which is a name for fossil fuel sources that haven't been used very much until now. These non-conventional fossil sources are harder to extract, but as conventional oil reserves are getting scarcer, there is an increased interest in exploring more of these less accessible sources. One non-conventional fossil source is oil sands (also called tar sands or bituminous sands) which has become a controversial issue because of the HUGE environmental impacts. Emissions of carbon dioxide, one of the major green house gases now causing global climate change, are for example much higher when extracting oil sands than when extracting conventional fossil fuel. And What about "Sources"?The term sources include a lot, for example raw materials like trees and crops, often called
feedstock,
which are used for
biomass energy.
Some other important energy sources are: The term sources can also be about equipment and technology. To summarise, alternative fuel sources are all kinds of stuff that in one or another way are related to alternative fuel. But what is meant with fuel? If you browse to the page
what is alternative fuel,
you'll get some answers there. Clean and SustainableYou may finally wonder if alternative fuel is clean and sustainable. And this is a very important question! Some people claim that being renewable automatically means it is sustainable, but this is far from the truth. Even renewable alternative fuel can be produced in harmful ways. We have to calculate how alternative sources are extracted, as well as produced and used, to be able to provide
renewable sustainable energy.
Only then we will get the REAL advantage of renewable energy. See you on next page!
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