Hybrid cars – a solution to environment issues

Many of us wake up every day to listen to the news ‘the Earth is dying’, ‘temperature is soaring’. Rising sea levels, melting glaciers, changing climates- all these are the results of green house effect, an abnormal rise in the atmosphere temperature due to accumulation of carbon dioxide.

There are many harmful components, which are produced by the combustion of conventional fuels such as coal and petroleum. Carbon monoxide, which is produced by the incomplete combustion of a fuel is a major health hazard. Smog, a mixture of smoke and fog, is caused by the accumulation of the solid suspensions, the unburned carbon particles in the fuels. The oxides of Nitrogen and Sulfur are the contributing factors for the acid rain that has become a common phenomenon nowadays. Lead, arsenic and such carcinogenic wastes are the byproducts of the use of fossil fuels in the existing engine technology.

Though an immediate solution is not possible, the countries are serious about working out an environmental policy to make regulations on reducing the use of hazardous pollutants and fuels and thus contribute a bit to a greener environment. The U.S Energy Policy Act, which came into existence in 1992, identified eight fuels, viz., bio-diesel, ethanol, natural gas, hydrogen, electricity, propane, and methanol, as alternative fuels that can be used in the vehicles in order to alleviate the problems associated with the harmful emissions on the roads.

Along with the selection of fuels, the technology also plays an important role in reducing the emissions to an extent. Such a technological solution is the hybrid cars, which already has hit the market. As we know, vehicles cause a significant share to the atmospheric pollution. With the help of hybrid technology, we would be able to not only reduce the density of the harmful gases in the atmosphere, but also save a significant quantity of fossil fuels which are going to be extinct from the earth.

Hybrid technology is an addendum to the existing engines of a car or an automobile. Hybrid cars work with a combination of two sources of energy – gas/oil and electricity. There are many hybrid combinations; some are already tested and found successful on the roads, and some are yet to take shapes.

In a hybrid technology, a sufficient quantity of fuel, petrol or diesel or gas according to the make of the engine, can be saved with its regenerative energy mechanism. The fuel wastage which happens during an acceleration or a sudden brake in a normal situation does not happen in the hybrid cars as the battery in the hybrid system draws energy from the fuel which is wasted in such situations and thus enable it remain charged even without the help of a separate fuel source or plug-in.

More hybrid versions such as those with fuel cells and plug-in hybrids which work on solar panels are waiting to take shapes. These are revolutionary concepts as they offer little or no emission, and these are working on the non-conventional sources such as water and solar energy.

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February 19, 2007 | Filed Under Environment