The History of Alternative Fuels

The history of Alternative fuels, or at least the concept of it, has been around since the early days of the automobile. Alternative fuels such as biodiesel, ethanol and methanol, have been produced and used on a small scale for decades. They are now being rediscovered due to the rising cost of oil and the instability of world politics. The discovery of these fuels changed the face of the planet, but since day one people have looked for other fuels that improved over the course of history. Alternative fuel vehicles have a long history, beginning with, Henry Ford. Ford was a conservationist who preferred harnessing nature as an energy source and using zero-emission hydroelectric energy. Henry Ford advocated both recycling and renewable resources like agricultural products. One of his great inventions was the Model T it was actually designed to run on ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, produced from corn. By the time the Model T appeared in 1905, gasoline was readily available, which was not the case with ethanol. Henry Ford also designed a Fordson tractor that would burn alcohol as well as fossil fuel, but never managed to put this model into production, due to high distillation costs. During the Great Depression, Henry Ford looked for ways to recycle waste created by his factories and to help relieve the fuel burden on the public. By mixing one part light oil, a byproduct from the coal in coke ovens, and three parts gasoline, Ford created a fuel that could run automobiles. This fuel was very popular in the Detroit area, although it was never available nationally. From the very beginning, the Standard Oil Company marketed a blend of 25 percent ethanol and 75 percent gasoline in the Baltimore area, but high corn prices combined with storage and transportation difficulties terminated the project. Henry Ford and several experts built a fermentation plant in Atchison, Kansas to produce ethanol fuel. During the 1930s, more than 2,000 service stations in the Midwest

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