Along with new automotive technologies, new alternative fuels have been introduced to make our cars greener and cheaper to run.

Biodiesel

What is Biodiesel?
Biodiesel is clean burning alternative fuel, it is produced from domestic and renewable resources . Biodiesel does not contains any petroleum, but can be blended at any level with diesel to create a “biodiesel blend”. Biofuel can be used in most diesel engines with no major internal modifications. Biodiesel is clean, simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics.

Advantages of Biodiesel
Biodiesel is a CO2 neutral alternative to diesel and fuel oil, and may reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Many studies have also indicated that auto particle pollution is massively reduced with the use of biodiesel fuel, this is why it is used in urban buses in a number of large towns and cities, including Graz in Austria.

Biodiesel  provides a cleaner combustion and act as lubricant for the engine, where it can replace the standard additives. In the event of environmental spill, biodiesel also breaks down faster and also reduces the risk of pollution from residential oil tanks. Biodiesel can however result in an increase in the emission of nitrogen oxides. The future uses of biodiesel should be considered in conjunction with various filter systems that are designed to reduce the amount of hazardous and toxic materials in car exhaust fumes.

Concerns have been raised concerning biofuel competing with food crops, causing both land shortages and increased crop prices. Developments in biofuel production have led to the targeting of land that is not viable for food crops.

LPG

LPG or Liquefied petroleum gas  is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles.  When LPG is used to fuel internal combustion engines, it is often referred to as autogas or auto propane. Estimates have suggested that there are more than 11 million vehicles using LPG worldwide.

Due to the clean burning nature of LPG duty on this fuel is greatly reduced. As a result, LPG is substantially cheaper than conventional fuels. Estimates suggest that you can  save as much as 40% of their fuel costs with LPG compared to petrol, and 20% compared to diesel.

Care must be taken to ensure that you take into account the initial cost of the LPG conversion. The typical cost of the conversion varies from around £1,500-£2,000.