Alternative Fuels for Internal Combustion Engines

Jorge Martins and F. P. Brito
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Jorge Martins: MEtRICs, Universidade do Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
F. P. Brito: MEtRICs, Universidade do Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-34

Abstract: The recent transport electrification trend is pushing governments to limit the future use of Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs). However, the rationale for this strong limitation is frequently not sufficiently addressed or justified. The problem does not seem to lie within the engines nor with the combustion by themselves but seemingly, rather with the rise in greenhouse gases (GHG), namely CO 2 , rejected to the atmosphere. However, it is frequent that the distinction between fossil CO 2 and renewable CO 2 production is not made, or even between CO 2 emissions and pollutant emissions. The present revision paper discusses and introduces different alternative fuels that can be burned in IC Engines and would eliminate, or substantially reduce the emission of fossil CO 2 into the atmosphere. These may be non-carbon fuels such as hydrogen or ammonia, or biofuels such as alcohols, ethers or esters, including synthetic fuels. There are also other types of fuels that may be used, such as those based on turpentine or even glycerin which could maintain ICEs as a valuable option for transportation.

Keywords: biofuels; fuels; synthetic fuels; internal combustion engine; alternative fuels (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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