The major vehicle manufacturers are pushing their alternative green fuel design for the transport industry by addressing the pressing environmental issue. Even school transports are getting radical transformations in many ways, an innovative passenger management system like School Travel Manager has been developed to assist school administrators, secretary, and drivers in transporting school children in a much more secure manner.
This comprehensive passenger management system will track and record in real–time the school transport, and also automatically send direct messages to parents and school administrators of passenger information. Our school children will have a different experience in commuting to and from school to home.
With this said, improvements of safety and alternative green fuel on the transport industry, fossil fuels and global warming will soon be the thing in the past. So here are today’s top alternative green fuels for school transport.
Compressed Natural Gas – CNG
Today, Compressed Natural Gas or CNG is one of the most popular alternative fuels for school bus fleet. It is efficient, economical, and has reduced CO2 emissions than from petrol and diesel–powered engines. Other countries have vast deposits of natural gas and this makes its procurement easier. It is now widely used in all parts of the world and in fact, about 75 countries have registered CNG refuelling stations.
The disadvantages of CNG is that, it requires an extra space for tank storage. The longer mileage is required the more tanks should be fitted in. So as a result, it will add more weight and loads to the vehicle. Also, the upfront price of a CNG powered vehicle is higher than the traditional petrol and diesel–powered vehicles.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas – LPG
The Liquefied Petroleum Gas or LPG is commonly known as Propane. It is widely used by everyone at home for cooking and heating. And also, considered as a popular alternative fuel for school transport today. It offers a cost–effective, fuel efficient and reduced harmful emissions to the environment. There are even more highly developed infrastructures to transport, storage and distribution of propane in many countries.
The disadvantage of LPG is quite similar to that of CNG. It uses cylinders to store the propane, so it will require large space for storage. At present, there is no factory producing LPG powered engines so you will have to pay an extra converting cost from petrol to LPG fuel engines.
BioDiesel
Biodiesel is another alternative fuel for school transportation. It is a biodegradable fuel made by chemically reacting lipids from biomass such as vegetable oils, waste cooking oils, or animal fats. It is said that Biodiesel can be made on your own, but it’s best advised to train with someone who’s successfully doing it for a while. Because if you get it wrong, you can greatly damage your vehicle in the process. Biodiesel is cheap, cleaner and has reduced vehicle particulate emissions as well.
The disadvantage of biodiesel is its supply. Many petroleum stations don’t produce or distribute this alternative fuel, so you might end up brewing it yourself most of the time.
Electric
Electric powered vehicles are growing its popularity around the world and said to be the future school transportation. It is also an eco–friendly fuel because it doesn’t discharge any smoke or harmful emissions that produce a negative effect on the environment and one’s health. It has zero–emissions, quieter, and doesn’t generate heat like conventional vehicles do. There are more advantages of electric powered vehicles than other alternative fuels such as maintenance, fuel cost and lifecycle.
The disadvantages of electric powered vehicles are their upfront cost. And also, the electricity needed to recharge these vehicles comes from either coal or natural gas power plant. These power plants are the main contributors to harmful emissions and global warming to date.