Hybrid cars are expensive and only considered a short term answer towards relieving our dependence upon foreign oil sources. To really decrease America’s dependency and reduce our overall consumption of a non-renewable resource, there are many alternative fuel cars in the pipeline – compressed natural gas, hydrogen, 100% electric vehicles, PHEV, and bio-diesel are the alternative fuels being explored by many car manufacturers and independent companies looking to offer conversions.

Alternative fuels, such as compressed natural gas (CNG) and hydrogen fuel cells, are also being tested by many companies. Ford is testing a CNG powered F-150 with a range of 190 miles on 10 gallons of CNG. Taxi cabs are also a target using CNG as a fuel source. On average, a NY taxi cab can run up 50,000 miles a year. Using CNG, this translates into a savings of approximately $38,000.

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Even in the current tough economic climate, Ford seems to be moving from strength to strength, and also being able to innovate along the way. The most recent evidence of all this is in the news that various versions of the company’s new for 2011 pickups will be able to run up to 20% bio-diesel or as flex fuel rides. Recently, Ford announced the alternative fuel capacity of vehicles in their 2011 F-series lineup, which is constantly either the best selling, or second best selling vehicles sold in the U.S. Ford is not only adding a new E85 capable engine, but they will also will offer a diesel engine that is compatible with a B20 biodiesel blend right from the factory.

Until now, many diesel car manufacturers have been hesitant to say the least about letting any bio-d into their tanks. Lots and lots of warranty concerns, and some refiners and bio-diesel providers have been rumored refusing to pump the French fry juice into new VWs and Mercedes.

Looks like Ford won’t be sharing similar concerns … or at least they won’t by the time the 2011 F-Series hit the showrooms.

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Let the race away from gas continue! General Motors Co. is now 1 million miles into its fuel cell experiment and company officials say having everyday people drive a test fleet of pollution-free cars has convinced them they are on the right track.

The automaker said it passed the 1 million-miles this week-driven mark in its fuel cell Chevrolet Equinox vehicles, with about 5,000 people rotating in and out of more than 100 cars over the past 25 months. This is extremely good news. Fuel cells are reliable, possess amazing longevity and now proven it without any question—one million miles was a highly desired round number. And it’s now here.

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Senate leaders, joined by Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens, unveiled a bill yesterday to jumpstart the production of vehicles that run on natural gas. The legislation, dubbed the NAT-GAS bill, was introduced by Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Robert Menendez, D-N.J.

It would increase tax credits for buying a natural gas-powered vehicle from $5,000 to $12,500, boost grants to create additional natural gas filling stations and create grants for light- and heavy-duty natural gas engine development.

This is another case of “better late than never”—natural gas is not experimental; it’s already here and ready to go as a fuel alternative. The fact that we’ve waited this long to pass a bill like this just illustrates how far behind the times we are when compared to other countries. While there are about 10 million vehicles worldwide that run on natural gas, only about 142,000 of them are in the United States.

Biodiesel, which is essentially diesel fuel made from left over French fry juice and the like, has long been the darling of alt-fuel types. It’s never been seen as a total replacement for the petro-diesel put into delivery trucks and the like, but ‘why just throw something away when we could put it to much better use,’ goes the reasoning.

And more than a few people have glommed onto this idea. People like the city of San Francisco, that runs all of it’s diesel vehicles on bio-D, and the EarthRace power boat, that circumnavigated the globe using only “fuel” that would have been thrown away.

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As gas prices fluctuate, the world is racing to find new sources of fuel. From cooking grease to corn oil; from electricity to steam; from natural gas to propane—scientists, engineers and even backyard hobbyists are clamoring to find the “next big thing” when it comes to powering the cars of the not-so-distant future. It’s a race and whoever wins it will be hailed as the next Henry Ford or Albert Einstein

I’m talking about algae.

Algae biofuel is all the rage right now, and although it’s just in its infancy, it could soon be the one thing that will solve many of the world’s fuel problems. Since it can be found within every ocean on the planet and can be produced in great abundance, algae is starting to get the publicity and attention it deserves. As we phase out fossil fuels, you’re going to start hearing about this alternative source more and more.

One of the great things about algae is that it does not take up land space (like corn), and you can use polluted water to grow it in—even raw sewage. And if there’s one thing we’re good at producing, it’s sewage. All it needs is water and sunlight.

I can see it now—Aquaman, Charlie Tuna or Olympic Swimmer Michael Phelps can do the commercials for algae. This is one weed that won’t get Phelps in hot water. I can already see the taglines—“Dive Into Algae” or “Algae: The Other Green Fuel.”

Read the article from CarJunky.com after the jump:

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Toyota, who’s Prius is the most popular car on the hybrid market today, is upping the “clean and green” ante with a new vehicle in development that will run partially on the sun’s rays. They will also start the long-range development of a car that will run solely on solar. Both vehicles will take several years to design and build, but the sun will be around for awhile, so it’s a win-win.

Sales of the Prius are still huge, but not as high as they were last summer when gas prices spiked through the roof. Here in San Francisco where I live, pro-green residents gobbled up Priuses like jelly bellies or iPods. I saw a guy the other day trying to open the door of what he thought was his Prius, until he noticed that his (same color and year) was parked a few spots over. Consequently, a lot of Prius customization companies are cropping up all over the country — so that owners can distinguish their Prius from all the others out on the road.

Toyota should be praised for announcing this new endeavor. If only the Big 3 would get on the solar bandwagon – with real projects rather than lip service. And people wonder why Japan is kicking our derrieres when it comes to selling cars!

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