FUEL FOR THOUGHT - A FUTURE WITH CARS, Part 5

摘要

If not fossil fuels, what should we run our cars on? Richard P Believe it or not, if free-thinking engineers and scientists were to invent an all-new optimum motor fuel today, they Would probably come up with something very close to petrol or diesel. The truth is that the combination of explosive hydrogen atoms and stable carbon atoms in petrol and diesel makes them an ideal energy source for a car. Carbon dioxide and water, the primary products of the combustion of petrol and diesel, are nontoxic. Neither petrol nor diesel produces ash when burned. They can be easily poured, pumped and stored. Best of all, their energy density is extremely high. However, burning them produces large quantities of CO{sub}2, so we need to switch away from them if we are to check rising global temperatures. So what should fuel the car of the future?