• Fueling a power boat can emit toxic gas into the atmosphere, but not with alternative fuels.power boat image by Dave from Fotolia.com
  
  The Earthrace powerboat set the world record for circumnavigating the globe in 2008, and it did it using 100 percent alternative energy with no carbon footprint. Alternative energies for powerboats are viable. The main options are vegetable oil, biodeisel, and fuel cells. Each option has different advantages and disadvantages, but all contribute to cleaner engines and less waste in the ocean and atmosphere.
  
  

Vegetable Oil

• Boat owners can get free used vegetable oil from the deep fryers of restaurants and fast-food chains. Users must first heat this fuel when used in the engine, especially if it's new vegetable oil as opposed to used, which must have filtration. There are two systems for adding heat to the oil to lower the viscosity. One is to mix the vegetable oil with a thinning agent, such as turpentine or kerosene. In the second option, a fuel other than vegetable oil starts the engine, and when enough heat develops to thin the vegetable oil, the engine uses vegetable oil exclusively. Both options offer cheap-to-free fuel with the main drawback being the heat or thinning agent you have to add.
  
  

Biodiesel

• Biodeisel is a diesel product made with synthesized ingredients and vegetables. The fuel burns cleaner than petrodiesel and using the fuel leaves no carbon footprint. This is because the vegetables used in making the fuel soak up the burned CO2. However, growing the vegetables and transporting them involves using up energy. The other problem with biodiesel is it will break down the crud built up in the engine. This gives a good cleaning to the fuel lines and other engine parts, but it sends all that junk to the filters, which users must change frequently.
  
  

Fuel Cells

• Hydrogen fuel cells combine oxygen and hydrogen to produce electricity. Water vapor is the only by-product. So use of the fuel is extremely kind on the environment. The fuel cells recharge at hydrogen dispensing stations. The fuel cells also have no moving parts, so there are few mechanical failures that need the attention of a boat mechanic. The downside is the technology is still expensive to manufacture, and recharging stations are few and far between. These cells are mostly on test boats, pilot programs, and private or publicly-funded experimental projects.