The costs of driving an automobile is increasing at a very fast rate. Because it is becoming so expensive to drive a car, consumers are seeking methods to save money on fuel. Alternative fuels are being developed that can help not only the consumer's checkbook, but also our environment. These alternative fuels offer so many advantages that people are really considering using them as an option over paying for expensive gasoline.

Consumers are really helping themselves as well as the environment when they use alternative fuels to fill their automobiles and to heat and cool their homes. Burning gasoline and other similar fuels releases toxins in the air that contribute to global warming. The rising temperatures can cause changes like rising sea levels, an increase in the frequency and intensity of severe weather, decreased agricultural yields, and glacial retreats and/or disappearances. Global warming is also projected to cause the eventual extinction of many plant and animal species as they struggle to survive in warmer climates that they are not used to.

Basically, an alternative fuel is one that is not produced by the use of crude oil. Alternative fuels are ones that replace conventional gasoline as a way to run our automobiles. Using alternative fuels will conserve energy and reduce toxins released in the air. The Clean Air Act of 1990 encourages the development and sale of alternative fuels. Basically, alternative fuels include methane, propane, ethanol, and compressed gas among others. In general, alternative fuels do not fall into one compact category other than the one that defines them as an option over gasoline.

Among the many kinds of alternative fuels, ethanol is the most prominent and has been around the longest. Made from corn, ethanol is a fantastic fuel to use to help our farmers, consumers, and our environment. Ethanol is sometimes called grain alcohol. Corn ethanol today is made by converting the starch in corn to sugars and then into alcohol in a process of fermenting. In addition to corn, ethanol can be produced from organic materials including agricultural crops and waste, plant material left from logging, trash, and paper. A company in Canada has invented a process for converting agricultural waste such as corn stalks, husks, and other cellulose rich plant waste like straw into ethanol by using enzymes.

The alcohol in alcoholic beverages such as beer and wine is ethanol. The alcohol used for motor fuel is denatured, which means that poison has been added so that people cannot drink it. Some believe that it takes more energy to produce ethanol than what ethanol will give back. For the most part, this is true. However, the process of producing ethanol have evolved in such a way that it is possible to increase the efficiency of the production process. Compared with gasoline-fueled vehicles, most ethanol-fueled vehicles produce lower carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions and the same or lower levels of hydrocarbon and non methane hydrocarbon emissions.

The use of alternative fuels will probably grow as consumers become more concious of the damage being done to the environment through our habits and products we use. New alternative fuels are being developed constantly and having many choices will be a nice alternative in itself. Exploring the use of alternative fuels both for our vehicles, the number one cause of environmental damage, as well as for our homes and businesses is necessary and a step in the right direction. But it is just the first step on a long journey toward protecting the earth from further damage.