ORLANDO, Dec. 14, 2021 – A new material developed by the University of Central Florida may one day mean people could be pouring a drink for their car. That’s because UCF researchers are developing an alcohol-based power source for cars and other technology.
The power source —an ethanol fuel cell — is a renewable energy alternative to fossil fuels and uses less fuel and produces less emissions compared to a combustion engine.
This is because ethanol is used as a fuel to generate electricity rather than heat generated by combustion as in an engine. As a bonus, the approach requires no recharging time like is needed for battery-based electric vehicles, meaning consumers will have more options for alternatives to fossil fuels.
The fuel cell would be replenished similar to refilling a gas tank in a car, but instead of gasoline, ethanol…