Alternate Energy Automobiles Essay -- Pollution Transportation Papers

Alternate Energy Automobiles â€Å"Of the world’s approximately 650,000,000 motor vehicles, fewer than 1,500,000 are not powered by either gasoline or diesel.† (Bradley 24). This minority of the vehicular population equates to a mere two thousandths of a percent of alternately powered vehicles. Nearly all of these alternately powered vehicles are powered by liquefied petroleum or compressed natural gas. The time to change that for the better is here and we must push our way through the red tape created by automakers so we can finally drive practical low emission cars. It is imperative that we begin driving higher efficiency automobiles because the limited supply of fossil fuels is running low, global warming is becoming a major issue that needs to be reduced, and internal combustion engines pollute too much. The amount of CO and NO are controllable by the use of different emission such as catalytic converters and exhaust gas re-circulation (EGR) system. These components were forced upon the â€Å"big-three† automakers in the mid-1970s by the environmental protection agency (EPA). The auto making companies fought all of these new regulations, they even went to the point of threatening to close plants because of the new catalytic converters. The companies never ran into problems nor closed plants, and internal combustion engine (I/C engine or ICE) powered cars are getting more efficient by the year thanks to our EPA‘s regulations. The previous CEO of Ford, Lee Iocca, was caught on Nixon’s secret recording system complaining bitterly about the new regulations calling them â€Å"complete wastes of money† (Motavalli 41). Iocca complained about every effort the government made towards pollution and safety. He also believed that airbags, ... ... Holes Become Rat Holes.† Ecological Life Systems Institute. 25 Mar. 2001 . Roosevelt, Margaret. â€Å"Hybrid Power.† Time 24 (2000): 94-95. Stoffer, Harry. â€Å"Ford’s Fuel Pledge Scores; Devil’s in Details.† Automotive News 5886 (2000): 4. Syndor, Alvin G. â€Å"Energy from Fuel Cells.† Electronics Now 168 (1997): 56. OCLC FirstSearch. WilsonSelect Plus. Kresge Lib., Oakland U., Rochester MI. 19 Feb. 2001. Keyword(s): Fuel* and Cell*. Wakefield, Ernest. History of the Electric Automobile. USA: n/a, 1998. Weiss, Peter. â€Å"Device Ups Hydrogen Energy From Sunlight.† Science News 158.12 (2000): 182. Williams, Herald. â€Å"Fuel Cells: the Clean Machine.† Technology Review 97 (1994): 20-30. Udall, Randy. â€Å"When Will the Joyride End?† Seven Wonders. 14 Feb. 2001 25 Mar. 2001 .