ESJH Chemistry - Med 101

Complete the Following Internet WebQuest after the Titration Demonstration

ALTERNATIVE FUELS

Introduction

It seems that every year when the summer travel season comes around, the price of gasoline goes up. Because most Americans depend upon personal vehicles to get from one place to another, this increase in price affects all of us. Gasoline is one of the products of the petroleum refining process. Much of the petroleum used in the United States is imported from overseas. This means that gasoline prices are tied to the prices that oil-exporting countries charge for crude oil.

However, it doesn’t have to be this way. For the last thirty years, many researchers and scientists have been experimenting with alternatives to gasoline. Some alternative fuels have been developed that can be added to gasoline to reduce the overall cost. Other alternative fuels can be used directly in present-day engines. Most alternative fuels can be considered renewable resources because they can be replenished easily, and can never run out. Petroleum, on the other hand, is a nonrenewable resource that can be used up. What are alternative fuels? Where do alternative fuels come from? What alternative fuels are in use today? In this WebQuest, you will explore the topic of alternative fuels and find the answers to some of these questions.

Resources

Look at the web sites given here to find the information that will enable you to answer questions about alternative fuels.

• Alternative Fuels Data Center. Visit this U.S. Department of Energy site to learn all about alternative fuels, alternative fuel vehicles, and refueling sites. Scroll down and click on frequently asked questions to find out the definition of alternative fuels. Explore the site for information on biodiesel fuel, electric fuel, ethanol, methanol, hydrogen, natural gas, propane, and more.
  
  
• Alternative Fuels. Go to this Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) site to learn more about alternative fuels. Scroll down and click on clean fuels: an overview to find out what clean fuels are and how they can reduce overall vehicular air pollution.
  
  
• Topical Reports: Alternative Fuels for Fleet Vehicles. Visit this site by the Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center to see how government and private industry have experimented with alternative fuels in their vehicles. Scroll down to learn more about alternative fuels such as natural gas, propane, ethanol, methanol, electricity, hydrogen, and biodiesel fuel. This site lists web sites for each of these alternative fuels.
  
  
• Bio Energy. Visit this site by the Farm Service Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to learn how this agency seeks to expand the industrial consumption of agricultural products by promoting their use in the production of bioenergy, primarily ethanol and biodiesel fuel.
  
  
• The BioEnergy Home Page. Go to this site to find out all about bioenergy, bioconversion, and bioprocess technology. Although this is a more technical site intended for those in the energy industry, you can scroll down and click on frequently asked questions for a brief explanation of how biomass energy forms.
  
  
• Biofuels Program Research. At this site by the National Biofuels Program of the U.S. Department of Energy you can learn more about biofuels. Biofuels can supply the U.S. with alternatives to imported oil. Scroll down and click on bioethanol to learn how biomass is converted to bioethanol fuel.
  
  
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Go to this U.S. Department of Energy site to read about this laboratory where scientists evaluate biomass fuels such as ethanol and methanol, as well as other renewable energy resources such as hydropower and wind energy.
  
  
• Ethanol Information Centre. Visit this Canadian site to learn more about ethanol as a fuel. Click on fuel ethanol and food supply to see how growing crops to produce ethanol might affect food production in Canada

• Questions about Alternative Fuels - please answer individually on notebook paper
  

1. What is an alternative fuel and how does it differ from regular gas?
   
   
2. Give two examples of alternative fuels and where you might find them.
   
   
3. What is biomass?
   
   
4. Give three examples of biomass fuels.
   
   
5. What are the four types of biomass that can be converted into alternative fuels?
   
   
6. What is bioenergy?
   
   
7. What is biodiesel fuel? What is it made from?
   
   
8. What is ethanol? What is it made from? And what is methanol? What is it made from?
   
   
9. How is biomass converted to ethanol?
10. Do you think that we should provide tax incentives for people to use alternative fuels? Why or why not?