A Report
On
Electricity and Magnetism- Source of alternative fuel in Transportation

Contents

S.No
Topic
Page
1.
Introduction
3-4
2.
Hybrid Power
4
3.
Smoke free trains
4-5
4.
Electricity and renewable fuel alternatives
5-6
5.
Magnetism as source of power
6-7
6.
Conclusion
7Introduction-
In the modern era, Electricity is considered to be the most important and necessary resource in day to day life. People around the world are directly or indirectly dependent on this form of energy. Although it is very important source of energy but its overuse and misuse led to a critical issue of unavailability of it in many rural areas. The utility of electricity is numerous, in fact it is most common source of energy used in every appliances, equipments and machines in industries, households etc. In other words, we can call it to be the basis of livelihood in this world after air, water and food. The usage of electricity was primarily considered to be in household appliances and industries but after the introduction of electricity in the world of transportation, it became a remarkable breakthrough in the field of science and technology. It gave a vision of saving non renewable sources of energy such as coal and petrol for the transportation purpose and also helped to eliminate the problem of ever increasing release of toxic gases which are produced during the burning of coal and petrol. It is a serious matter of concern for the scientists around the world to reduce the level of carbon dioxide and other toxic gases from the environment which is becoming the major cause of global warming. With the development of latest technologies, entrepreneurs across the globe are trying to invent new technologies for alternative fuel source which is relatively cheaper, renewable, environmental friendly and can have multiple utility. Efforts are being made in the field of transportation industries by developing battery oriented vehicles which will work by using energy provided by batteries. In the past, Railway engines in many countries were running by using diesel as their source of fuel but after the introduction of electrical engines, the usage of diesel was cut down by 50%. Along with electricity, magnetically derived energy is under development in the transportation industries. As the concept of physics says, due to presence of magnetic field, electricity can be generated and vice versa is also possible. In this report we have discussed various sources of alternative sources of energy which has the huge potential in the upcoming future of transportation industries.
Hybrid Power-
Much emphasis is given for designing hybrid vehicles by using advanced technologies and latest machinery as an alternative for petrol or diesel oriented vehicles. PHEVS (Plug in hybrid electrical vehicles) in the present world has become the subject of interest because of their potential in replacing oil operated vehicles, natural securities and environmental benefits. The primary objective of PHEVs is to reduce the cost of fuel by replacing gasoline with electricity. Although the cost of these vehicles are still the matter of concern as these vehicles are very costly due to the usage of high voltage batteries. Although of its long term utility and savings for the consumer, its cost is the biggest hurdle for widespread commercialization. The cost of these vehicles is expected to reduce with time due to rise in demand of these vehicles. With the changing technologies and its advancement, scientists are trying their best to develop long lasting chargeable batteries for running cars which will definitely give the companies a hope of making those cars at cheaper rate. Finally these hybrid vehicles also provides very unique convenience attributes such as less frequent visits to gas stations with emergency power back up, which is generally not available in other conventional vehicles.
Smoke free trains-
Most of the conventional sources of fuels are getting depleted day by day. The increasing toxic gases load in the environment which is one of the primary reasons behind global warming provoking the governing bodies to take some serious steps towards developing a smoke free source of energy and fuel. Although much emphasis has been given to develop vehicles run on batteries but due to its lower speed and higher cost, common people are not attracted towards these vehicles. The government is now shifting back towards the electrical source of energy and fuel as the source of fossil fuels are getting costlier and due to its scarcity. The trains are now running via electrical engines and most generators, motors are also utilizing electrical energy for their working. Due to its long term utility this source of energy can bring a revolution in the transportation industries.
Electricity and Renewable Fuel alternatives-
One of the major areas of concern for scientists, governing bodies and the transport industries is to find out an alternative source of energy which can effectively replace the conventional source of fuel. At present the vehicles primarily uses petrol, diesel and diesel blended with bio-diesels. With increase in air pollution, it has became a very serious task for the scientists and innovators to device latest technologies to overcome such problems and also to find alternative source of fuel which reduces the emission of toxic gases and prevent air pollutions. Introduction of bio-diesel has opened many channels to develop blends with good flash point with conventional diesel which will emit comparatively less toxic gases. Bio diesels are made by many ways including degradation of cellulose, using waste cooking oil, using plant extracts etc. Many other sources of energy are being produced using plant extracts such as electricity for charging batteries, fuel cells etc. Electricity from water are produced since many years also known as hydro electric energy which is now the major source of electricity production after thermal power stations. Hydrogen fuel cells are also used as a potential source of energy which doesn’t releases harmful and toxic gases on its usage. Moreover by using biological wastes many organizations and companies are now focusing on production of biogases as the source of fuel by using micro organism as the potent converter of biological waste into various useful gases like methane. All these sources of energy directly or indirectly will help the transport companies in the coming 10-20 years, though much research and development is required to increase the efficiency and reproducibility of these sources of fuels.
Magnetism as source of power-
Usage of magnetism as a source of running the vehicles has bought a revolution in the transportation industries. The utility of these magnets in the form of magnetic levitation encourages the source of clean energy. Magnetic levitation is very advanced technology. There are various application of magnetic levitation like magnetic levitated trains, elevators, airplanes etc with one thing in common, it lack contacts resulting in no friction wear and tear. Therefore it increases the efficiency, maintenance cost and longevity of the machines. There are many countries attracted towards this technology and the application of this magnetic levitation in transportation like train got an important breakthrough in term of speed up to 300 miles/hour with very safe and efficient machinery. Magnetic levitation can be considered as the conventionally solution for the future in the world. The country like Japan has used this technology and was able to achieve the speed of 361 miles per hour by replacing electromagnetic coils with superconducting magnetic coils. These superconducting coils are also used for the elevators which are controlled through magnets. One of the advancement in technology in California called Inductrack which was specially designed and controlled by magnets that offers higher repulsion force and able to achieve higher speed. One of the major applications of Magnetic levitation was supporting airplane in the wind tunnel. In simple words, this technology supports an object in the air without any physical contact but only by magnetic force. The field was used to counteract the gravitational force on the object and any other acceleration. Therefore this application of electromagnetism has opened the gateway for many such possibilities of designing efficient and less fuel requiring vehicles.
Conclusion-
In this present world of competition and technology, electricity is the major source of livelihood in this fast moving world. In our day to day life, we can’t even imagine of doing any work without the absence of electricity. Electricity has also played a major role in the field of transportation and given us the opportunity to fight against the cause of global warming by eliminating the chances of release of toxic gases which are generally released after the burning of some conventional fuels. Electrical hybrid vehicles became one of the remarkable breakthroughs in the field of science and technology, as it is operated on batteries which doesn’t emit any toxic gases and also help in saving conventional non renewable sources of energy. Much emphasis has been given to improve the shelf life of batteries so that the overall cost of these vehicles can be minimized and a common people can afford it for his/her livelihood. Along with that discovery of bio- diesel, hydrogen fuel cell has given a pinhole vision for developing new sources of fuels for the future usage. Magnetic levitation technology, which is also considered as the solution of future problem of this world has made possible for designing highly efficient, cost effective solution for designing high speed train and airplanes. Thus, the sources of alternative fuel are helping humankind by saving the non renewable sources of fuel with limited emission of harmful gases.
References-