Alternative fuels are continuously being looked at. Propane or LPG cars are already currently being used on buses and taxi cabs. Alcohol or ethanol can be produced from corn or other carbon based by products. Methanol is being replaced by ethanol in racing. Although it is a cleaner fuel the cost is generally higher and can be corrosive. It is already being mixed with gas in some places but only at a 10 percent mixture. MTBE is a manmade molecular chain gasoline, but has no real environmental advantage other than possibly elongating how long our oil supply lasts. The most exciting fuel is hydrogen. It can burn and only release water as a by product. The problem comes with the storage of the hydrogen. In order to have enough volume of hydrogen gas it has to be highly compressed. This is a little difficult as conventional compressors are not suited to this task. Most compressors only compress to 3000 psi, whereas 10,000 psi would be great for hydrogen storage. All cars could be converted to run with hydrogen.
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A version of the Mazda rx-8 that runs on gasoline and hydrogen is for sale in Japan currently. A hydrogen refueling center for the public is open in Japan also. Hydrogen can also power a fuel cell car. The technology is still being worked on. Essentially in a fuel cell car the hydrogen goes through a chemical change which produces electricity. The electricity powers an electric motor that powers the car. The efficiency of an electric motor is much better than a gasoline motor. Electric motor efficiency is in the high 40% range, where most engines struggle to get into the thirties. Efficient electric motors in turn will consume a lot less fuel. Hydrogen can be produced by electrolysis, which is passing a current through water. Using solar power would be the ultimate clean way to produce it. For now gasoline would probably need to be broken down to produce the hydrogen.
