What type of chemical reaction occurs when alternative fuels are burned?
I think that you have to select which are classified as alternative fuels: Alternative generally means alternative to fossil fuels. This should then exclude natural gas and propane from your list (and of course electricity). This leaves ethanol, methanol, biomass and biofuel to be considered. When these are burnt the major products of combustion are also carbon dioxide and water. But the most important consideration and benefit which makes these fuels so interesting and important as far as climate change and “greenhouse gases” is concerned, is that after combustion the CO2 produced does not add to the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. This is because the plant life from which these fuels oreiginate absorbed the exact same quantity of carbon dioxoide from the atmospher during their growing phase. The CO2 therefore merely forms part of a very large carbon cycle that does not increase in size. Conversely the burning of fossil fuels adds CO2 to the atmosphere because this is “new carbon
