Originally published October 15 2005
Newscasters explore alternative energy sources for vehicles
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Hurricane Katrina sent U.S. gas prices soaring, and Hurricane Rita is likely to do the same, so the trend of Americans looking to vehicles driven by alternative energy sources is swelling even faster, and CBS News explores some of those alternatives' pros and cons.
Gas prices are at an all time high across the country.
In fact, according to fuelgaugereport.com, gas prices are a dollar more than they were last year.
In the first of a three-part series called "The Energy Crunch," The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith finds out from Green Car Journal Editor Ron Cogan about some creative ideas that could save you some money.
Most of the alternative fuels come from renewable energy sources like corn and soybeans, but other sources are byproducts of natural sources, Cogan says.
"The way you get ethanol is as E85," Cogan says from a state-of-the-art gas station in San Diego, Calif., that offers alternative fuels.
You can use that fuel in a diverse number of vehicles like the Ford Explorer.
There are more than 20 models that are available that run on any mixture of gasoline or E85 ethanol in the same tanks."
Any car that takes ethanol is called a Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV).
One way to find out is to look inside the gas tank cover for a sticker that says something like "this is a flexible fuel car" or "it takes E85 or ethanol."
However, if your car does not have this sticker it is not wise to use this type of fuel.
E85 is cheaper by about 50 cents a gallon, he says, but buyers need to consider that alcohol fuels are also not as energy-dense as gasoline.
"There are two ways of looking at biodiesel," he says.
"We hear about folks that buy fryer oil and make their own diesel.
Cogan says the problem with biodiesel is that it is not widely available.
However, there are more production facilities being constructed across the country.
"Natural gas prices have gone up and down," Cogan says.
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