i Generation
Alternative Fuels: The Way of Tomorrow…Literally
By Alyssa Christianson

What will a world that depends heavily on quickly diminishing fossil fuels do when suddenly there are no reserves?

This is a bold and thr ice-under l ined question that governments and economies worldwide are currently trying to find a solution to.

When we are paying bills that are beginning to skyrocket as time progresses, it is time realize that change is needed. It's getting to be nearly impossible for some people to pay for a full tank of gas in their car.

Coal, oil and natural gas stood for 79.6 percent of primary energy production in 2002.

So what will we do? What can we do now to prevent a panic from breaking out as our stores of oil, natural gas and coal shrink before our eyes?

Firstly, we need to see how these products effect our environment.

Since 1950 the amount fossil carbon emissions has increased by nearly 300 percent, a shocking amount. These emissions pollute the air we breathe, destroy the ozone layer, and are the leading causes of global warming.

Over 400,000 gallons of "used oil," or oil that has been refined from crude oil, is dumped into the environment of the USA in one way or another. One quart of used oil can pollute 250,000 gallons of drinking water.

Gasoline, a derivative of oil, is one of the most controversial fuels. Prices have risen to new highs in recent years, making it difficult for many people to purchase it.

Gasoline harms both the natural environment and the social environment, as many battles have broken out between countries over the fuel.

Secondly, we need to understand our alternatives and begin moving toward change.

Hybrid cars are one of the first steps toward alternative fueling. Hybrid cars run partly on combustion with gasoline and partly on batteries powered by electricity. These cars have lower emissions and also save their owners a lot of money.

Electricity is also being used now to power many cars. The concept car, the Volt by Chevrolet, runs nearly completely on electricity. A combustion engine is used only to recharge the car's battery while being driven.

Biodiesel is also a new way to power your car or heat your home. Biodiesel is created from biological sources such as vegetable oils, but can be used in unmodified diesel engines. Its use and production are rising rapidly.

E t h a n o l is also beginning to be used for fuel. Ethanol is an alcohol produced through the fermentation of sugar and creates little pollution when burned. It is beginning to be mixed with gasoline throughout the United States.

A promising, but difficult alternative fuel is hydrogen, possibly the cleanest of the alternative fuels. Hydrogen powered cars would expel only water as an emission, but although it is only of the most prominent elements on Earth, it is relatively expensive and very difficult to store.

Vegetable oils as well as methane are also being tried as alternative fuels.

So what makes the alternative fuels so much better than the fuels we use most today? Well, besides the reasons I've already explained, these alternative fuels are renewable.

As long as lightening lights up the sky, elements float around on and around the Earth, and vegetables grow from the dirt beneath out feet, these alternative fuels will remain.

Change will happen soon and it will need to happen at rapid speed. We need to make up for the damage we've done both to ourselves and our planet and our first hope is renewable energy.

We must fuel the world without turning our pockets inside-out and without polluting the very air we breathe, water we drink, and land we live on.

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Alyssa Christianson is a member of the Oakmont Regional High School Class of 2008. She resides in Ashburnham with her parents.