Before going to answer this question, let us just list out the type of fuel presently we are using and what are the alternative fuel that can be used. Since the industrial revolution crude oil is main source for power generation.  We all know crude oil is fractional distilled and we get products like diesel, petrol, natural gas, LPG, kerosene etc. These products are the main source of power generation. The two main reason for the increase in fuel price is the increase in demand and the second one is the rate at which we are consuming oil, will make diminish it one day.

So one of the way to restrict hike in oil price is to look for an alternate means of generating power keeping in view the environment. Let us now list out some alternate fuel that can replace oil. Later we will see there effect on environment.

1.Bio diesel oil.

2. Fuel cell.

3. Nuclear power.

4 .Hydrogen fuel.

The next question which arise is that  whether a car can run on nuclear power or on hydrogen fuel. Biodiesel and fuel cell as we know has been used to run vehicles. So let us see the other two options (3 and 4). In 1950s, Ford produced a concept car called the Nucleon, intended to run on nuclear power, but the vehicle was never produced. See the image on the left

The idea of using nuclear energy as fuel for cars can come by just thinking from the fact that how nuclear reactors were employed beyond tradition plants in submarines, aircraft and aircraft carriers. One possibility is nuclear reactors could be used to charge highly efficient batteries for cars.

Our main aim is to replace hydrocarbon oil with a much clean fuel and the current focus is on biofuel. But imagine if biodiesel comes into effective use, it will definitely solve the oil and climate crisis. But again it will raise a big question? The question is won’t it encourage deforestation. These would occupy the land which would otherwise be used to grow food.

In a long run we will have to think of using nuclear fuel as a source of generating power. There are always pros and cons with every system. The main advantage would be the power that can be produced. The car would rarely needed to refueled (once in 3 to 5 years). The car if properly shielded would  emit almost no emissions.

The main drawback would be radioactive emissions for which it has to adequately shielded. This will be major task in developing nuclear powered cars. Also discharging the used fuel will need some serious planning. A gentleman from Erie named John Kanzius made a somewhat “shocking” discovery while he was working on a radio-wave generator he had developed for the treatment of cancer. While attempting to desalinate sea water using radio frequencies, he noticed flashes, and within a few days, had saltwater burning in a test-tube as if it were a candle.

Though hydrogen is the most abundant element on earth, the cost incurred in producing it is more. We need to look for a better way of producing hydrogen gas from water.

We hope nuclear and hydrogen powered driven vehicles will soon be in action thereby giving our next generation a clean, more efficient and eco friendly cars, solving the problem of oil crisis and making earth a better place to live.

The best way to reduce the oil consumption and thereby increasing the efficiency is to use light weight material. Carbon fiber is a material, having good strength and is light in weight when compared to material which is presently used in automobile industry (two times stronger and two third less in weight than steel).

Carbon fibers are thin strands of carbon which can be bound together and then molded to any shape. Replacing this with the current steel can reduce the weight of the automobile by nearly 60%, this in turn  reduces the fuel consumption by 30%. This is quite a good in fuel saving. The other benefit of using this carbon fiber is that it reduces the emissions by 10% to 20%.

This is what wikipedia has to say about carbon fibers:

Carbon fiber (alternately called graphite fiber or graphite fiber) is a material consisting of extremely thin fibers about 0.0002–0.0004 inches (0.005–0.010 mm) in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in microscopic crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber. The crystal alignment makes the fiber incredibly strong for its size.