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Sustainable Fuels

New solutions for powering vehicles are emerging every day, along with new ways of generating hydrogen for fuel cells.  Read about what I'm choosing and why, and explore links to exciting new possibilities.

Hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles are almost, but not quite, at the tipping point. Small fleets of hydrogen powered buses are on the road in some cities.  But very few places have hydrogen fueling stations.  Most hydrogen is generated using fossil fuels, but there have been a number of recent breakthroughs in solar powered hydrogen generators, using, variously, zinc, magnesium and hematite to generate current that splits water.  My hope is that the combination of the right hydrogen powered vehicle and the right portable solar generator will come together in the next few years, so that I can travel on sunlight and water, with my own fueling station on board!
Vegetable oil biofuel is for the young and able bodied, people who can undertake the arduous labor of converting deep fryer leftovers into clean fuel.  I'm not one of them.  While using leftover food crop oils is good recycling, much of the world sees conversion of corn and other food crops into fuels, while people are starving, to be a crime against humanity. I'd much rather see corn going into bellies than fuel tanks.  Ecuador had outlawed the use of food crops for fuel and is experimenting with inedible plant oils as new fuels. 

Current electric vehicles don't have the power to haul something as heavy as my house, and require long charging times for limited distances. 

So what do I do in the meantime? 

It's not a great solution, but a diesel truck has the towing power I need, and allows me to use biodiesel where it's available.  Diesel fumes are very toxic. The new generation of "clean" diesel engines are much more effective for cars than for trucks, and while they reduce emissions, don't bring them down to safe levels. But gasoline fueled trucks can't use alternative fuels and don't have the power to pull my house.  I will need to seal my bedroom windows tightly to make sure exhaust doesn't get in.

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