A new future for fuel

This archived article was written by: Kellen Verdi

Faculty, staff and students filed in during the National Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) Day Odyssey event at USU Eastern’s automotive department on Oct. 22. People had the opportunity to learn about the use of alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles to improve the environment and lesson dependence on foreign oil.
The Odyssey event held at USU Eastern was one of many being held across the U.S. and internationally. National AFV Day Odyssey is a biennial event created and coordinated by the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC) at West Virginia University.
This year marked the 12 anniversary of the event and themed “Driving Toward a Clean, Secure Energy Future.” NAFTC’s mission is to educate the nation about alternative fuel advanced technology vehicles through program management, curriculum development, training implementation and outreach and education activities leading to the decrease of U.S. dependence on foreign oil and the improvement of air quality.
National AFV Day Odyssey wants to educate the public. USU Eastern had a great turn out for the Odyssey event with 775 people from five high schools attending.
The schools represented three school districts. Different alternative fuel options were featured from area businesses Pennzoil has manufactured a new synthetic motor oil. They claim that their oil has volatility control as well as enhanced viscosity at low temperatures. The oil is made from natural gas, which is plentiful in the U.S. The process used to make the oil is not only much simpler than most companies, but it also makes cleaner oil.
Hybrid and plug in electric vehicles were demonstrated. These use electricity as their primary fuel or to improve the efficiency of conventional vehicle designs. This new generation of vehicles, often called electric drive vehicles, can be divided into three categories, Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) Plug In Electric Vehicles (PHEV) and All Electric Vehicles (EV) together they have great potential to reduce U.S. petroleum.
PHEV’s are powered by conventional fuels and electrical energy stored in a battery. Using electricity from the grid to charge the battery some of the time costs less and reduces petroleum consumption compared with conventional vehicles. PHEV’s can also reduce emissions depending on the electricity source.
These are just a few examples of information available at the National AFV Day Odyssey event. The event was put together by Stan Martineau, associate professor of automotive technology and the automotive students.