Fuels for the Future

Introduction
Petrol is a liquid obtained from petroleum and used mainly as a fuel for motor vehicles. A fuel is petrol that can be burned (to provide heat or power). When the fuel is burned, it emits complex mixtures of compounds that lead to the formation of smog and other potentially toxic pollutants. Of all the petroleum that is extracted from the earth, about 84% is burned as a fuel (1). Concerns over rising pollution have encouraged research to focus on reducing the world's dependence on petroleum and this has consequently driven the shift to alternative fuels such as ethanol, methano…