Now, synthetic gasoline that is cheaper, eco-friendly

Washington, Jan 28 (ANI): Have the soaring oil prices given you a headache? Well, you are about to get some relief.

A research collaboration in England has resulted in a synthetic, hydrogen-based fuel that would be more stable in price than oil and would produce no carbon emissions.

The fuel was developed by scientists from Cella Energy-a spin-out company from Rutherford Appleton Laboratory-University College London and Oxford University.

It's based on a complex chemical compound called a hydride that contains hydrogen, reports Discovery News.

The problem, according to Cella Energy, is that conventional means for containing hydrides are not great.

"Storing hydrogen up to now has required either high-pressure storage cylinders at up to 700 times atmospheric pressure or super-cooled liquids at -253 degree Celsius. Neither is practical on a large scale as these hydrogen storage methods both require large amounts of energy to either pressurise or cool the hydrogen, and present significant safety risks," stated the website.

The company has a found a low-cost way to trap the hydride compound inside a nano-porous polymer micro bead.

"The hydrogen storage materials are stored at ambient temperatures and pressures, this means that the Cella Energy hydrogen storage materials can be packaged in a regular shaped fuel tank. They do not require the large heavy cylinders designed to withstand high pressures normally associated with hydrogen storage," they said.

The micro-beads make hydride more efficient as a fuel, they help filter out the damaging chemicals and protect the hydrides from oxygen and water, so that they don't react and can be handled in air.

And because the micro-beads move as a fluid, they can be used in the following way:

as a way of storing and delivering hydrogen safely for use in an internal combustion engine or a fuel cells a fuel additive to reduce the carbon emissions from a hydrocarbon fuel such as gasoline, diesel, JP-8, jet-fuel or kerosene. (ANI)