In L.A., the hybrid is, like, so last year

Loved this:

"While unveiling Porsche's newest sports car, the Cayman S, the company promised a hybrid Cayenne by 2010 that would improve fuel efficiency by 15 percent."

Fours years to get a 15% improvement? Kind of weak, IMHO.

 

biodiesel isn't exactly free of petroleum because it relies on pesticides and fertilizer to produce the crops of, say, soy beans, as well as the transportation of the crops to the processing facility. The tail-pipe, so to speak, is much more indirect or perhaps a lot longer than a hybrid so it's more difficult to see how it still relies on oil just as gasoline-powered vehicles do. Biodiesel may be the next big alternative energy source for cars but as with, say, hydrogen fuel cells, it needs new "filling stations" that don't exist or are few and far between. A hybrid uses existing fuel dispensing facilities which makes it more efficient for some years to come.

 

It will be interesting to see how well Diesel hybrids when they hit the market, compared to non-hybrid Diesels.

There is no reason there can't be a "best of both worlds" approach: A hybrid car that runs on any kind of Diesel... standard Diesel at most pumps and biodiesel (or a blend) where available.

Here in Portland, the local transit agency is using B5 biodiesel (95% standard Diesel, 5% bio) in its "LIFT" minibus service.

- Bob R.

 

Thank God. Now George Clooney and Kirsten Dunst will stop calling to ask me for to drive them around.

 

Yeah, Kirsten is crazy too. Up all night, calling at really weird hours. She's really annoying.

 

They are in denial ...and hoping no one will discover that there is such a thing call ETHANOL, which is also a renewable fuel.

I have already used 226 gallons of ethanol in my Prius. That's a 10% blend over the past 5.5 years of driving. Everyone else in Minnesota has been using the 10% blend of ethanol too, both hybrid and non-hybrid gas vehicles. Some have even been using the 85% blend.

So this nonsense about biodiesel is basically just a distraction to make you forget that they don't have a hybrid to offer.

 

That's true, but if you use waste vegetable oil as your feedstock then you're taking a waste product and putting it to another use. I think that the best path to biofuels is through waste materials that would be disposed of anyway. Using crops as a primary source of feed stock has the dangerous potential for large scale environmental damage and mismanagement.

 

I actually did have a tight hollywood star acquaintence a few years ago. You are not far off base here... She would call me in the middle of the night wanting to toss out ideas...

 

There's the rub. A little biodiesel is a good thing; a lot of biodiesel is a bad thing - or perhaps, as George Monbiot argues, even a terrible thing:

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/12/06...an-fossil-fuel/

The most depressing factoid in Monbiot's article: "In 2003, the biologist Jeffrey Dukes calculated that the fossil fuels we burn in one year were made from organic matter 'containing 44×10 to the 18 grams of carbon, which is more than 400 times the net primary productivity of the planet’s current biota.' In plain English, this means that every year we use four centuries’ worth of plants and animals."

 

I never suggested that. There is no single solution that will end oil dependancy short of massive improvements in fuel economy. Gasoline is such a perfect fuel. Really high energy density in a luquid that's stable (for the most part) at STP. There's nothing out there that can touch it.

However, do it yourself biodiesel is a great solution at the individual level. That's all I was suggesting.

Actually, using the billions of tonnes of agricultural residue could produce a huge quantiity of biofuel. That's waste to energy and that's what I was really suggesting. It's not a complete solution, but could be a major player in the solution to our energy problems.

 

I think, though, that it's great that alternative sources of power are being explored and developed. Biodiesel will be another form that will help reduce our dependence on oil. Conservation is really the best alternative. Hopefully, someday, the cornucopians will be vindicated and someone will come up with a source of energy that is truly independent of oil but in the meantime, continuous development of new ways of powering cars, growing crops, heating and lighting homes is a very welcome addition.

 

Here's a quote from WCCO's website. Seems like biodiesel was junking up the fuel lines in engines up here in MN:

Industry technicians are working with the state and the University of Minnesota to test fuel samples to determine if biodiesel could be blamed for clogged fuel lines.

People who cautioned the state about the fuel said their fears may have become reality.

"I'd stop short of saying, 'Ha, ha, I told you so,"' said Russell Sheaffer, vice president of Cummins Npower, a regional distributor of Cummins engines.

Link to complete article: http://wcco.com/traffic/local_story_364133043.html

 

Make Magazine has a podcast interview with Rob Elam of Propel Fuels a biodiesel producer. I thought it was pretty interesting.

http://www.propelfuels.com/

http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/...dio_show_4.html

Bob