A Portable Methanol Fuel Cell For Laptops

Gasification ... The advantage of gasification is that using the syngas is potentially more efficient than direct combustion of the original fuel because it can be combusted at higher temperatures or even in fuel cells, so that the thermodynamic upper limit to the efficiency defined by Carnot's rule is higher or not applicable... Syngas may be burned directly in gas engines, used to produce methanol and hydrogen, or converted via the Fischer-Tropsch process into synthetic fuel... During both world wars especially the Second World War the need of gasification produced fuel reemerged due to the shortage of petroleum...

Alternative Fuel Vehicle ... Hybrid electric vehicles such as the Toyota Prius are not actually alternative fuel vehicles, but through advanced technologies in the electric battery and motor/generator, they make a more efficient use of petroleum fuel... Other research and development efforts in alternative forms of power focus on developing all-electric and fuel cell vehicles, and even the stored energy of compressed air... As of 2011 there were more than one billion vehicles in use in the world, compared with around 70 million alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles that had been sold or converted worldwide as of December 2011, and made up mainly of: 27.1 million flexible-fuel vehicles through December 2011, led by Brazil with 16.3 million, followed by the United States with almost 10 million, Canada (600,000), and Europe, led by Sweden (228,522)...

Fossil Fuel ... It was estimated by the Energy Information Administration that in 2007 primary sources of energy consisted of petroleum 36.0%, coal 27.4%, natural gas 23.0%, amounting to an 86.4% share for fossil fuels in primary energy consumption in the world. Non-fossil sources in 2006 included hydroelectric 6.3%, nuclear 8.5%, and others (geothermal, solar, tide, wind, wood, waste) amounting to 0.9%...

Vegetable Oil Fuel ... In the 1990s Bougainville conflict, islanders cut off from oil supplies due to a blockade used coconut oil to fuel their vehicles... Application and usability While engineers and enthusiasts have been experimenting with using vegetable oils as fuel for a diesel engine since at least 1900, it is only recently that the necessary fuel properties and engine parameters for reliable operation have become apparent... Modified fuel systems Most diesel car engines are suitable for the use of SVO, also commonly called pure plant oil (PPO), with suitable modifications...

Peak Oil ... This concept is based on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, projected reserves and the combined production rate of a field of related oil wells. In order to understand physical Peak oil, the growing effort for production must be considered...

Fuel ... Commonly, the term fossil fuel also includes hydrocarbon-containing natural resources that are not derived entirely from biological sources, such as tar sands... Fission The most common type of nuclear fuel used by humans is heavy fissile elements that can be made to undergo nuclear fission chain reactions in a nuclear fission reactor; nuclear fuel can refer to the material or to physical objects (for example fuel bundles composed of fuel rods) composed of the fuel material, perhaps mixed with structural, neutron moderating, or neutron reflecting materials... The most common fissile nuclear fuels are 235U and 239Pu, and the actions of mining, refining, purifying, using, and ultimately disposing of these elements together make up the nuclear fuel cycle, which is important for its relevance to nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons...

Biofuels By Region ... A senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Congressman Fred Upton introduced legislation to use at least E10 fuel by 2012 in all cars in the USA... Federal subsidies alone cost $7 billion a year (equal to around $1.90 a gallon)." General Motors is starting a project to produce E85 fuel from cellulose ethanol for a projected cost of $1 a gallon... GM has over 4 million E85 cars on the road now, and by 2012 half of the production cars for the US will be capable of running on E85 fuel...

Attribution Of Recent Climate Change ... Attribution of recent change to anthropogenic forcing is based on the following facts: The observed change is not consistent with natural variability. Known natural forcings would, if anything, be negative over this period...

Uranium Nitride ... Uranium mononitride was used as driver fuel for two core loads of the sodium cooled BR-10 reactor in Russia... The property which makes uranium mononitride highly attractive as a nuclear fuel is the combination of a high melting temperature with high thermal conductivity... Increased thermal conductivity results in lower thermal gradients between inner and outer sections of the fuel, potentially allowing for higher operating temperatures and reducing macroscopic restructuring of the fuel, which limits fuel lifetime...

Future Car Technologies ... With rising gas prices, the future of the automobile is now leaning towards fuel efficiency, energy-savers, hybrid vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and fuel-cell vehicles... A variety of alternative fuel vehicles have been proposed or sold, including electric cars, hydrogen cars, compressed-air cars and liquid nitrogen cars...

Biofuel ... Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a gasoline additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions... Current plant design does not provide for converting the lignin portion of plant raw materials to fuel components by fermentation... Biodiesel can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a diesel additive to reduce levels of particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons from diesel-powered vehicles...

Automotive Market In The United States ... With the high fuel prices and the world petroleum crisis, the United States has seen its automotive market become more like the European market with fewer large vehicles on the road and more small cars...

Uranium Carbide ... Like uranium dioxide and some other uranium compounds, uranium carbide can be used as a nuclear fuel for nuclear reactors, usually in the form of pellets or tablets... Uranium carbide pellets are used as fuel kernels for the US version of pebble bed reactors; the German version uses uranium dioxide instead...

MOX Fuel ... One attraction of MOX fuel is that it is a way of utilizing surplus weapons-grade plutonium, an alternative to storage of surplus plutonium, which would need to be secured against the risk of theft for use in nuclear weapons... On the other hand, some studies warned that normalising the global commercial use of MOX fuel and the associated expansion of nuclear reprocessing will increase, rather than reduce, the risk of nuclear proliferation, by encouraging increased separation of plutonium from spent fuel in the civil nuclear fuel cycle... Normally, with the fuel being changed every three years or so, most of the 239 94Pu is "burned" in the reactor...

Second Generation Biofuels ... In comparison, second generation biofuels are made from lignocellulosic biomass or woody crops, agricultural residues or waste, which makes it harder to extract the required fuel... Second generation biofuels can help solve these problems and can supply a larger proportion of our fuel supply sustainably, affordably, and with greater environmental benefits...

Road Traffic Safety ... The standard measures used in assessing road safety interventions are fatalities and Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) rates, usually per billion (109) passenger kilometres. Countries caught in the old road safety paradigm, replace KSI rates with crash rates - for example, crashes per million vehicle miles...

Automotive Industry ... The term automotive industry usually does not include industries dedicated to automobiles after delivery to the customer, such as repair shops and motor fuel filling stations...