Fossil Fuel vs Clean Fuel: What is the Future of Fuel Energy?
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s World Energy Investment Report 2024, ‘Global energy investment is set to exceed USD 3 trillion for the first time in 2024, with USD 2 trillion going to clean energy technologies and infrastructure.’
Fossil fuels are made from decomposing organic matter, such as plants and animals. Petrol, diesel, coal, oil, etc., are examples of fossil fuels.
On the other hand, Clean Fuels are environment-friendly, renewable energy sources that have a minimum impact on the surroundings. Its examples are electricity, solar energy, and biogas.
Due to increasing environmental degradation, a large number of people are adopting electric vehicles (EVs) that run on clean energy. But fossil fuels aren’t entirely replaced. Still, many people are willing to use fossil fuels.
So, let’s explore Fossil fuel vs Clean fuel, and understand which one is more beneficial for the environment.
What is Fossil Fuel?
Fossil fuels, the name itself, explains its origin. Fuels that originated from fossils of plants and animals that were buried in the Earth million years ago are called fossil fuels. One of the components of fossil is Carbon, and hence fossil fuels also contain carbon that burns to generate energy.
Coal, oil, and natural gases provide energy to modern machines that are used in our daily routine. Even in the yearly report of the Energy Institute, in 2023, fossil fuel was responsible for approx 81.5% of the total global energy production.
However, burning them releases carbon dioxide, and similar greenhouse gasses into the environment, leading to global warming, air pollution, and water pollution. This gradually increases the Earth’s temperature and causes severe health risks to living beings.
As seen above, a large part of our energy requirements are fulfilled from fossil fuel for decades. These activities have caused irreversible damage to the Earth’s environment. Our future generations are the ones who will be paying the price of this extensive damage. For these reasons, leading countries worldwide are shifting to clean fuels. Let’s learn more about clean fuels.
What is Clean Fuel?
Clean fuels, or clean energy is the one which does not require the process of burning fossil or use of any limited resources. It uses the resources which are natural and renewable like solar power, hydro-energy, and wind energy. Since there is no process of burning carbon based fossil, these energies do not directly emit greenhouse gasses like CO2 as their end-product.
For instance, EVs use electricity to run and do not emit CO2 or other harmful gases into the air. Hence, using EVs is safer for the environment.
Other benefits of Clean fuel are:
1. Renewable in nature
2. Easily available in any part of the world
3. Helps in conserving natural resources
4. Minimum or zero emission of gases and pollutants
5. Using local renewable resources will reduce the dependency on fuels imported from other countries
In recent years, there has been a substantial increase in the production and consumption of renewable energy. As clean fuels are environment-friendly, many governments across the world are supporting the expansion of battery-operated vehicles.
They are actively working to bring down the cost of EVs by introducing various incentives. Here is the link for multiple incentives / Subsidies offered by the Indian Government.
As countries are investing in renewable energy infrastructure, they ultimately reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels. The shift to clean energy will lead to new industries and technologies to drive jobs and economic growth in the country.
With technological advancements in clean energy, you get better energy storage options like advanced storage batteries. It makes clean energy more reliable as you can use the stored energy anytime.
However, EVs do have some drawbacks, but they are far smaller than the advantages they offer. Now, let’s compare Fossil Fuel vs Clean Fuel and understand which one to choose.
Fossil Fuel vs Clean Fuel: Comparison
In addition to the environmental impact, we will compare fossil fuels and clean fuels on the basis of cost, reliability, health benefits, and other long-term benefits. We will mainly focus on comparing electric vehicles (clean fuel) with vehicles or equipment running on fossil fuels.
Pollution
While considering the planet and people’s safety, clean fuels are definitely safer than fossil fuels. This is because the majority of clean fuels are carbon-free and have zero tailpipe emissions.
However, when fossil fuels are burnt, they emit CO2 and other harmful gases, causing irreversible damage to the environment in the form of ozone layer depletion, global warming, etc.
Also EVs run on the electric motor, they run silently reducing the noise pollution especially in the cities and high traffic areas.
Cost Analysis
EVs are considered higher upfront costs as compared to fossil fuel vehicles because of their expensive batteries. However, this gap is decreasing as battery prices are reduced and manufacturing and demand for EVs rise.
Meanwhile, vehicles running on different types of engines are a little cheaper initially, but in the long run EVs are most cost effective. Using this e-Amrit calculator, you can find out how much you can save on your journeys by adopting an EV. So it’s a win-win situation in the long run by saving money and the environment.
Energy Efficient
Electric vehicles are more energy efficient than Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles. According to e-AMRIT, EVs can convert over 60% of the electric energy to keep the vehicle moving. However, petrol or diesel vehicles convert only 17-21% of the fuel’s energy to keep the vehicle running.
Reliability
Clean fuels like wind, solar, and hydroelectric power are becoming more reliable. Renewable energy sources are abundant and replenishes naturally, offering a sustainable energy supply. With improved energy storage technologies like advanced batteries, people can store and use renewable sources whenever they want.
Meanwhile fossil fuels are non-renewable energy sources. Even though we have a stock of these fuels, they can go extinct. Hence, jumping to an environmental-friendly alternative—clean fuels is a must for people to decrease pollution and protect their health.
Health Risks
Burning fossil fuels releases pollutants like CO2, Sulfur Dioxide SO2, and more, which can lead to respiratory issues. They not only cause air pollution, but fossil fuel extraction from the Earth also causes water pollution.
On the contrary, clean fuels emit little to no pollutants and significantly improve air quality and people’s health. Moreover, electricity is generated from solar or hydropower plants, which generally do not contribute to water pollution. Hence, clean fuels are not only environmentally friendly, but also help improve the health of people.
To conclude these five points, we can say EVs are better than ICE vehicles in many ways. So, let’s focus on how EVs play an essential role in shaping the future of the automotive industry.
Importance of EVs Over Fossil Fuel Vehicles
EVs play an essential role in the global shift towards a clean and green future. The major contributor to the greenhouse gas emissions is transportation. So, the adoption of EVs is necessary to reduce carbon footprint in the environment.
As EVs operate on renewable energy—electricity, it lowers the reliance on fossil fuels. So, when EVs are integrated into the core of transportation, they will reduce pollution to a greater extent. Due to the following reasons, EVs are increasing their importance in the market:
1. They are the best example of technological advancement
2. Independent from non-renewable sources such as petrol, diesel, etc.
3. Lower operating costs
4. Operates quietly and also reduces noise pollution and more
How Aevirt is Contributing to the EV Adoption Movement?
The most common question of EVs adoption is that charging infrastructure isn’t readily available. But Aevirt’s groundbreaking mobile application helps you find charging stations near your location. It provides a hassle-free and intelligent solution to fulfill your EV charging needs.
Even people with extra parking space or a piece of land to set up a charging station can also leverage Aevirt. Log in to the app and let potential EV owners find your charging station. You can quickly start earning through this process, and EV owners will have a new charging point to use.
Final Verdict
This article concludes that even though fossil fuels are the king of the automotive industry, clean fuels will rule the kingdom in no time in future. And, the rise in the EV industry is one of the foundations of the increased implementation of clean fuels.
The upcoming decade may bring a vast EV revolution in the automobile market. With constant support from the government and increasing awareness about health and surrounding conditions, people will make better futuristic decisions of adopting electric vehicles for transportation.
You also can become a part of this revolution by downloading Aevirt app today from the Play Store /App Store. Join our growing community and search for EV charging services near you now!
