Recent hikes in the cost of fuel have seen our social media inundated with posts about the petrol price, increases, taxes and teased us with stories about price relief. We're held ransom to the ever-increasing costs of mobility and the knock-on effect is felt long after the initial increase. The cost of everything escalates and your salary just doesn't go as far anymore.
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Exploring alternative fuel sources is one way of possibly saving money. Either you manage to travel further for less, or the cost to purchase the fuel is reduced, helping your bottom line.
Alternatively, you could be trying to do your bit for the environment by switching to a fuel source that is kinder and emits fewer harmful byproducts. Reducing your carbon footprint is an admirable, responsible thing to do. So whether it's for your own benefit or for that of those around you and future generations, you may be exploring alternative fuel sources. Here's what you need to know.
The popular choices
Petrol
In the private sector, petrol is the most popular and most common fuel source for motor vehicles. Locally, we get our petrol from two main sources; refined crude oil and coal-to-liquid or gas-to-liquid, with the latter two the mainstay of the local consortium, Sasol. This is the fuel that we all know and have come to loath, only because of its price.
Diesel
A mainstay of the commercial sector, diesel is most popular in the cargo sector but in more recent years the lower sulfur content diesel has been accepted in the private sector with many passenger vehicles ow powered by the substance. International pressures have seen the popularity of diesel decrease with many European countries working toward banning diesel in its entirety.
The alternatives
Biodiesel
Biodiesel is a blend of vegetable oil and diesel and often utilizes used cooking oil from fat fryers, filtered and heated up to make it usable in diesel engines. Modern diesel engines are not too fond of this fuel though and the biodiesel subculture mainly consists of older vehicles and off-road use.
Biofuel
Biofuel is the broad name applied to fuels that utilize an additional agent to increase the volume of fuel that is able to be produced. Some of the more popular sources for additives come from wood and even coffee grinds. Any fuel that isn't entirely oil-based can be referred to as a biofuel. Biofuel is not common in South Africa, largely due to the government's regulation of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin.
E85 is a fuel that has 85% Ethanol in its formula. It is becoming increasingly popular in overseas territories with vehicles that are able to run on a flex-fuel system. Emissions are reduced, performance is improved, and while it is usually cheaper to purchase, vehicles use more of it per kilometre than regular petrol.
LPG/CNG
Liquid Petroleum Gas and Compressed Natural Gas are two similar forms of fuel that are available in South Africa but are limited in their availability. Primarily used in construction equipment, LPG and CNG offer a small saving over regular petrol but this is offset by the difficulty in access to LPG or CNG. CNG uses Methane as its primary gas while LPG is a mix of Propane and Butane. LPG/CNG is said to be 15% cleaner in emissions than regular fuel.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen fuel cells have been a buzzword for the last decade or so. The drive for carbon neutrality has highlighted the benefits of powering vehicles off of hydrogen despite the higher consumption rate. Numerous manufacturers are working tirelessly to find a safe and reliable way of mass-producing vehicles that are able to be powered by hydrogen. The key benefit is the zero emissions generated from hydrogen power with the only byproduct being water.
Electrification
Electrification is the next big step that we will see being adopted regarding alternative fuels. As it stands, access to hybrid vehicles that use both battery power and fossil fuel (either petrol or diesel) for propulsion is readily available and many manufacturers have a hybrid offering in their range to help satiate their consumers. These vehicles use considerably less follis fuel than their pure-ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) counterparts but are still rather expensive to purchase initially. This improves each and every year though.
Full electric vehicles (EV, also known as BEV, Battery Electric Vehicles) are also starting to show promise n South Africa but the initial purchase cost is making it prohibitively expensive for mainstream adoption. The charging infrastructure grows by the day and South Africa has over 150 charging points nationwide.
