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.
Top
Your job in this WebQuest is to discover what alternative
fuels are, and find out how the use of such fuels can reduce
overall air pollution from vehicles. You will explore the
different types of alternative fuels, and identify those
that appear to be most cost-effective. You will also learn
about other energy sources that could be used to power
vehicles. Finally, you will answer a set of questions about
alternative fuels to demonstrate what you have learned.
Top
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.
Top
1 class period for research and answering the set of
questions
Top
Read through the following set of questions before you
begin your Internet research. As you explore each site, look
for answers to the questions.
Questions about Alternative Fuels
- What is an alternative fuel?
- Give three examples of alternative fuels.
- What is biomass?
- Give three examples of biomass fuels.
- What are the four types of biomass that can be
converted into alternative fuels?
- What is bioenergy?
- What is biodiesel fuel? What is it made
from?
- What is ethanol? What is it made from?
- What is methanol? What is it made from?
- How is biomass converted to ethanol?
Top
In the process of completing this WebQuest, you've become
informed about alternative fuels that can be used to power
vehicles. You have learned what biomass is and how it can be
used to produce a wide variety of alternative fuels. You
have also learned more about renewable energy resources. You
have developed research skills as you explored the web sites
given and identified the relevant information to answer the
set of questions above. Did you know that there are many
different names for alternative fuels produced from living
things? Besides alternative fuels, what other types of
renewable resources might be used to power vehicles?
Top
