Alternative Choices

Three dollars and forty-seven cents per gallon of gas. We never expected it to go this far. Yes, most of our wallets have cringed at the pump, slaves to the cycle of expensive gas. The good news? Thanks to today's scientific innovations, the dependence on diesel fuel may soon be a thing of the past. There are a bevy of choices for the driver of today; choices that offer both economic savings and environmental efficiency.

Ethanol

Toyota announced in May 2007 that it will start selling 100 percent ethanol-powered cars in Brazil, where ethanol is already extensively used as a fuel. Brazil is the world's second largest producer of ethanol. The first? The United States.

Ethanol is a renewable source of energy made by fermenting any biomass high in carbohydrates. It has been used as fuel since the 1880s when Henry Ford and other transportation pioneers were developing automobiles.

It is most commonly used in cars and light trucks in a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. Together they are called E85.

Using ethanol fuel made from corn rather than gas would lead to a 13 percent reduction in greenhouse emissions. Using ethanol also reduces smog emissions as much as 50 percent when compared to gasoline.

Ethanol, however, can be more expensive than gasoline depending on where one lives. It is 35 cents cheaper per gallon in the Midwest, where much of the country's ethanol is produced. However, in California and the rest of the West Coast, it would cost 35 cents more than gas.

A car also has less mileage on a gallon of E85 because ethanol contains less energy than gasoline.

Lithium-Battery

Recently, lithium ion batteries have been developed to produce electric vehicles.

Hybrid Technologies, the only U.S. company that sells lithium-powered cars, plans to sell a complete version of a lithium-powered vehicle.

A single charge of this car for about 5 hours results in approximately 300 miles distance. The cars can travel up to 100 mph.

And the good news for eco-friendly consumers is that these cars produce zero emissions.

These swanky vehicles will not cramp anyone's style or preferences either. They can take any model of any vehicle and put in an adapted lithium motor.

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