Alcohol fuel research in Turkey

Turkey, like most of the developing countries of the world has vast agricultural potential, yet the country a highly dependent on oil imports, which satisfy 90% of its crude oil demand. Since Turkey has an economy based on agriculture, the usage of national resources in the energy field is extremely important. In the first yeas of the Turkish Republic, in 1931, the usage of national resources as an alternative to conventional fuels became a subject of increasing interest. Since then a lot of research has been conducted, but only a limited amount of application has been realized. Alcohol has always occupied an important place among the alternative fuel studies. The subject has been the scope of some research institute projects and university and government development planning studies. In Turkey, one of the most important studies in this area has been undertaken by our research group in our university. This study is a general review of alcohol usage as an alternative automotive fuel in Turkey. This review includes a short history of the subject, the approach of the government, the research results, possible developments on the subject in the near future, and finally, it concludes with our proposals.