Hi, I'm a writer, not a science-type person. I'm hoping someone here can help me out. I'm working on a piece of fiction that takes place in a futuristic time when fossil fuels are not available (either by depletion, lack of access or perhaps cultural taboo; I've not determined).

 

My question is this: What other fuels, not based on petroleum, would be available to this society?

If we're talking cars:

 

Hydrogen, ethanol (alcohol to the layman), electricity.

 

If we're talking power plants:

 

Nuclear fusion.

We have cars that run on cow manure I think...

But that could be considered a non-fossilized fossil fuel if you think about it.

And one STINKY car! Imagine filling up at a manure station. Whoops! All over the place! I don't like that I idea!

Wave, wind and geothermal power.

 

Biogas collection.

And hydroelectric. Steam wells/geysers. Heck, even heat from volcanoes! Radioactive decay. Burning of dead animals. That's all I can think of.

Cold fusion, of course

What is acetylene made from? (I need a fuel that can power a welder.)

 

Ethanol these days is mixed with gasoline; can it be used in pure form?

 

What about hydrogen-powered cars? Are they dependent on petroleum-based products?

 

The comment about cow manure has a serious side. It can be burned to generate electricity, or it can be composted, and the methane gas can generate electricity also.

To make acetylene, buy a coumpound called "bangsite". Add water. I don't know what bangsite is, but I might find out. I'll check.

it`ll be Calcium Carbide in the bangsite

 

the ony drawback with using it, is that it requires large amounts of electricity to make, so you`de be back to square one.

Oxy-Hydrogen torches are very good at welding or cutting however

Could geothermic heat be harnessed to charge hydrogen fuel cells?

sure, you just vent the steam through an ordinary turbine like we do today

I think there`s some northern European places that actualy do that already, it`s a good idea

A while ago i heard (via TV) that it may be possible to beam power from solar panels on the moon in the future. Sounds a bit far-fecthed though.

it could be made to work for sure, a narrow beam Microwave transmition being picked up by horn antennas and then converted back to electricity. the idea`s perfectly sound, HOWEVER... I wouldn`t want to live anywhere near the bugger!

there`s enough worries about the simple radiation from mobile fones and repeater masts, Imagine what something like that could do if it went wrong!? I have a feeling it would also effect the weather somewhat also, I could be wrong, but we all know what microwaves do to water and we all know what clouds are made off!

What about plastics or plastic-like materials? Vinyl? What are they made from?

 

I hadn't thought of microwaves, radio waves or anything like that... The story I'm writing is about a small colony with limited industrial capabilities... there's an emphasis on using recyclable materials. No mining, limited use of raw materials. If possible.

Plastics are made from fossil fuels, for the most part.

you`de be quite limited for plastics without fossil fuels as MrL said. however cellulose plastics can be made and things like polyethylene can be made from plain alcohol that you could brew from sugars, it`s also a good fuel, rubber wouldn`t be difficult either, one may say it even grows on trees LOL

Pure ethanol (99%) can be used in normal gasoline burning cars with a simple modification to the engine. Mainly, the ethanol must be heated before it reaches the engine, this is easy and can be done using the engine’s excess heat; the modifications are minimal. The only other concern is the purity of the ethanol, it must be distilled several times, or be distilled in a high reflux still (meaning the ethanol is always boiling and re-condensing, only the purest remains as a gas long enough to reach the top of the still and be collected).

 

Diesel engines can run on vegetable oils with a similar preheat modification. To run a diesel engine without modifications, the oil must be converted into biodiesel. This is a fairly simple process that can be preformed in a kitchen with little specialized industrial equipment. I won’t go into detail on how to make it, as this can be found elsewhere, but you only need 2 other chemicals besides the oil to convert it; sodium hydroxide (lye) and methanol (wood alcohol), or in a pinch ethanol. Wood alcohol can be made without advanced industry, but the lye I am unsure about.

 

Emissions from biodiesel is about half that of normal diesel. However the pollution from biodiesel is not as harmful as petroleum based diesel because the carbon stays in the ‘carbon cycle’, no -more- is introduced, i.e. dug up from the ground where it has been sealed away. The carbon levels in the atmosphere therefore stay quite constant.

 

As for the welding, I would use an electric arc welder, or perhaps a plasma welder, both of which need only electricity (possibly from a biodiesel burning generator) and an inert (with respect to metals) gas, like helium or argon.

 

I’d stay away form hydrogen power; it only introduces more problems, like how to store it safely under high pressure. The only problem is solves is how to turn raw electricity in to a concentrated fuel that can be easily transported.

 

Whew, sorry for the long post, but there were a lot of issues to be addressed.

Also the easiest way to make hydrogen is to extract it from fossil fuels. Although it is possible to do it with electricity for a net energy loss.

 

It sounds to me that that you civilisation would be well uited to biodiesel though, (as a writer myself), but dont call it biodiesel. Dieseld is named after the guy who built the first diesel engine, and the prefix bio only exists to diferentiate it from fossil diesel.

My question is this: What other fuels, not based on petroleum, would be available to this society?

 

chemicals is what springs to my mind.

 

there is a guy in cambridge uni, dont know him, heard of him, who has some really nice sport car, lotus i think, wtvr, but he makes his own fuel in the cambridge labs, outta some chemical mixture, it is cheaper, less-poluting, and faster [or more powerful fuel]. additionally, he wont tell anyone the full content of it, its his secret!

 

i cant find a link to the article on the BBC, but im sure of it, i remember the newspaper article!

 

(also, dragsters and some other really powerful race cars use alchol)

another somewhat good fuel is hydrogen peroxide. upon decomposition it yields water vapor and oxygen gas so it's great for the enviornment.

For a small civiliasation like that... with very limited acces to industry! Then Wood i guess would be the best raw material! And cars that run on alcohol/or some other bio produce. Wood products would stand for the heat and the electricity! That's the simplest form i can think of that don't need much industrial expertise. Windturbines is another got bet.. Solar power too if they are alowed to, thinking of cells here! But solar power to collect heat would shurely be most possible too!

another somewhat good fuel is hydrogen peroxide. upon decomposition it yields water vapor and oxygen gas so it's great for the enviornment.

 

i was thinking of making some hydrogen peroxide, but then i forgot how!

 

is hydrogen peroxide H2O2

 

but how do you make it? consider that i might not have access to every imagineable chemical! so suggest a way, which is possible to buy the chemicals, or better stil, being household items.

Hydrogen Peroxide in a diluted form does find some household use, so u can buy it directly.......I just can't seem to remember where its used

 

( My memory is not to be trusted on peroxide though, so I might be wrong )

you can get 3% H2O2 in pharmacies and 40-45% in glowsticks and (supposedly) salons. of course, the H2O2 in glowsticks is mixed with a bunch of other chemicals so it won't be pure but hey it is 40-45%. to concentrate it, freeze it. the H2O freezes at 0 celcius while the H2O2 freezes at -11 celcius. be careful, though, because a mixture above 70% explodes on contact with anything organic or metallic. that means dust will make it explode.