Future Fuels “To Reduce the Dependency of Fossil Fuels”

Abstract

From the last few years all over the world to reduce the dependency on the conventional fuels (which is limited to use), every automobiles company jointly working with fuel industry and trying our best by considering with each aspects which is most importantly environment friendly, cost effective, improve the mileage of vehicles to reduce running cost etc. Alternate fuels also called as the non-conventional fuels. Natural Gas (NG), LNG (Liquefied natural Gas), Electricity, Hydrogen fuel, fuel mixtures containing not less than 85% ethanol or methanol fuel like are some are the most usable Alternate fuels for automotive application. Natural gas, when it is pressurized at higher pressure, it is called compressed natural gas (CNG), when natural gas is condensed into a liquid form at close to atmospheric pressure by cooling it to approximately ?162 °C then it is called the liquefied Natural Gas. (LNG), electricity is also the one power source to derive the automotive vehicles which is called the electric vehicle. Hydrogen gas is also one more power source for the automotive application. Mixture fuel/blending fuel which is mix with Gasoline/Diesel fuels with less than 85% of ethanol or methanol is called the blending fuels. When matter comes related to powertrains it cannot complete without the discussion of ICE (Internal Combustion Engine). ICE is most suitable for gasoline (Diesel/Petrol. Since CNG has low fuel density as compared to conventional (Diesel/Petrol) fuel, so more space required for the storage of CNG fuel on vehicle. Space constraints are bigger challenges for passenger as well as commercial vehicles for the accommodation of CNG cylinders on the vehicles. It is also highly impact dead weight in case of passenger vehicle and lowering the pay load in case of commercial vehicle, which is again add-on highly effect of customer profitability. Although using of non-conventional fuels or non-renewable having the advantages WRT conventional fuel but these fuel also having different challenges & safety related issues. Blending fuels ethanol with Petrol & Diesel, BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), Hybrid vehicle

Introduction

This text discusses the use of alternative fuels in the automotive industry as a solution to the depletion and high cost of conventional fuels like petrol and diesel. Due to limited fossil fuel reserves and increasing environmental concerns, the industry is shifting toward cleaner and more sustainable options such as CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), electricity, and blended fuels (ethanol/methanol mixes). These alternatives help reduce fuel costs and lower carbon emissions.

CNG (Compressed Natural Gas)

CNG is one of the most widely used alternative fuels. It is stored in high-pressure cylinders installed in vehicles and passed through filtration and pressure regulators before being supplied to the engine. The pressure is reduced from about 200–250 bar to 5–8 bar for combustion. CNG cylinders are classified into four types:

• Type 1: Fully metal, heavy but low cost.
• Type 2: Metal liner with partial composite wrap, lighter and costlier.
• Type 3: Metal liner with full composite wrap, lighter than Type 2.
• Type 4: Plastic liner with full composite wrap, lightest but most expensive.

CNG Fuel System

CNG is filled into cylinders through a receptacle and monitored using pressure gauges. The gas passes through filtration and a high-pressure regulator before reaching the engine, where it is used for combustion to generate power.

LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas)

LNG is natural gas cooled to around -260°F (-162°C), reducing its volume by about 600 times for easier storage and transport. It is used to transport gas over long distances where pipelines are not available. At the destination, LNG is converted back into gas for distribution and use.

LNG System

LNG is stored in cryogenic, vacuum-insulated tanks. Before use in engines, it is converted from liquid to gas using a heat exchanger that uses engine coolant. The gas is then filtered and its pressure reduced before being supplied to the engine for combustion.

Conclusion

We have seen in depth different types of fuel for the automotive application, dependency only on the fossil fuels will not be more than sufficient in upcoming days, also it is not cost effective & most importunately environment friendly, so alternate fuel is the only solution for next generation. We need to shift on the alternate fuel to fulfill the future requirements.

References

Journals [1] Singh, G.K., Kumar, S., and Petale, M., “Flexible Type End Restraint to CNG Cylinders for NGV, ”https://doi. org/10.1016/j.matpr.2022.11.002 [2] Singh, G., Kumar, S., Patil, P., and Sharma, M., \"Design Implementation through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Analysis to Reduce Fuel Filling Time in NGVs,\" SAE Technical Paper 2024-26-0309, 2024, https://doi.org/10.4271/2024-26-0309. Website [1] https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/natural-gas-basics

Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Gaurav Kumar Singh, Praveen Dnyandev Patil, Mukesh Kumar Sharma, Shoaib Mustafa, Rajat Srivastava, Sunil Hemachandran. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.