Alcohol fuel research in Turkey

Turkey, like most of the developing countries of the world, has vast agricu ltural potential yet the country is highly dependent on oil imports, which satisfy 90% of its crude oil demand. Since Turkey has an economy based on a griculture, the usage of national resources in the energy field is extremel y important. In the first years of the Turkish Republic, in 1931, the usage of national resources as an alternative to conventional fuels became a sub ject of increasing interest Since then a lot of research has been conducted but only a limited amount of application has been realized. Alcohol has al ways occupied an important place among the alternative fuel studies. The su bject has been the scope of some research institute projects and university and government development planning studies. In Turkey, one of the most im portant studies in this area has been undertaken by our research group in o ur university. This study is a general review of alcohol usage as an altern ative automotive fuel in Turkey. This review includes a short history of th e subject, the approach of the government, the research results, possible d evelopments on the subject in the near future, and finally, it concludes wi th our proposals.