Intimidating Drivers

[houstonscott]

Just trying to wake up the sheep.


HS

 

[wawajake]

Much earlier in this thread some one mentioned Sudbury being the source of the nickel for the Prius batteries and how good Inco has done to clean the area. Well I live just three hours away from Sudbury and go thru there often. By the way it is not remote, it has a population of over 100,000 and many smaller population communities around it. Unfortunately it is still a very ugly landscape for 30 miles diameter around it. The trees that were replanted after the smelter killoff decades ago actually only grow 15 or 20 feet tall then die and fall over. Inco was taken over by a world conglomerate that tried to do it on the cheap now (Vale) and although there is still lots of mining jobs I would not classify Sudbury as green in any way except for the green paycheques. Around here we don't call them Prius we call them Prissys , but I don't mind people buying them because it saves more gas for me to buy for my truck and car.

 

[hawkeye08]

High pressure diesels has been out performing hybrids for almost 15 years now.


HS

Too bad our fuel specs haven't kept up with the technology. The EPA emission regulations and fuel quality have kept high mileage diesels out of US. The newer diesel pickups that run the high pressure pumps have their share of problems. I'm surprised that the big rigs (OTR truckers and such) have not gone to the real high pressure (or have I just missed it)?

 

[aczlan]

Too bad our fuel specs haven't kept up with the technology. The EPA emission regulations and fuel quality have kept high mileage diesels out of US. The newer diesel pickups that run the high pressure pumps have their share of problems. I'm surprised that the big rigs (OTR truckers and such) have not gone to the real high pressure (or have I just missed it)?

You must have missed ULSD. Its pretty close to the Eur IV standard (>10PPM of sulfur or something vs the old standard of > 500PPM of sulfur).

Aaron Z

 

[houstonscott]

The real advantage of diesel is it produces less CO2 when burned than gasoline. So upfront diesel is cleaner than gasoline for the gas most touted and considered a problem. Particulate and NOx are higher though, not an issue in rest of world their focus is on CO2 reduction. However with particulate filters and AG blue the diesel becomes far cleaner than gas or electric. Cleaner than electric because the CO2 omitted to charge an electric car burned at the generating station often coal is far more than the fuel burned by the car directly. The worst thing you could do is burn fuel to generate electricity, send it miles over lines, step it up and down, invert it, put in a battery, take it out and then use it. How people got convinced that's fuel efficient, that's crazy.

HS

 

[daugen]

The real advantage of diesel is it produces less CO2 when burned than gasoline. So upfront diesel is cleaner than gasoline for the gas most touted and considered a problem. Particulate and NOx are higher though, not an issue in rest of world their focus is on CO2 reduction. However with particulate filters and AG blue the diesel becomes far cleaner than gas or electric. Cleaner than electric because the CO2 omitted to charge an electric car burned at the generating station often coal is far more than the fuel burned by the car directly. The worst thing you could do is burn fuel to generate electricity, send it miles over lines, step it up and down, invert it, put in a battery, take it out and then use it. How people got convinced that's fuel efficient, that's crazy.

Seems we have been sold the convenience and necessity of it and knowing no different, we have what we have.

So what is the answer? Nothing is perfect, but how about solar to battery to battery? Nightly recharge of an electric car and maybe even an electric tractor or an electric semi. I've always wondered why semis weren't slathered with solar panels. We have to wait until we get better tech, like a paint that also generates electricity when the sun hits it. Wouldn't that be nice to have on your home if they could make it invisible?...

but we really digress. And sadly the answer may be that with the new self driving cars coming online now, that within twenty years we won't have to worry about aggressive drivers. They, and we, will be electronically monitored, and controlled, or at least auto-ticketed... Or perhaps that nice seat heater you have starts to send little painful zings to your hind side, just to let you know you are committing an infraction. Every additional 2mph your sting is higher.

I'm already truly annoyed at the bothersome lady in my gps who repeats Warning Warning when I'm ten over. Except it thinks the posted speed limit is ten miles per hour lower, since it hasn't crossed over some imaginary line where it thinks the new speed limit starts or ends. Warning Warning Unplugging works quite nicely at times.

 

[troutsqueezer]

Petroleum is a finite resource and pollutes by its very nature. Electricity all by itself does not pollute, it is an infinite resource and can be generated in many different ways. Great minds are always working on solutions for the generation of electricity and it is evolving as we speak. You can poo-poo Prius' and batteries as much as you want and stick with your fossil fuels but there's no denying they are on the way out. I don't care if they're subsidized or not, fact is, its happening. There aren't too many scientists out there trying to create new sources of fossil fuels other than drilling more and more. Speaking of which, when was the last time production of batteries ruined the entire Gulf Coast?

 

[houstonscott]

If your talking about BP, got news for you, it did nothing to very little. You would be hard pressed to find oil somewhere, even during the so called spill. It really never reached the surface and is a non issue. Be truthful now, not fair to lie or miss lead. There is no evidence fossil fuels are going away, modern technologies are making oil, and natural gas the fuels for some estimates are next 4000 years. If you want to consider coal as a fuel its even longer. Oh, by the way there is so much oil on earth it may be considered a renewable fuel.

HS

 

[dave1949]

Since we are wandering off topic into fuels, I thought I would share this.

It is an interesting article about cellulosic ethanol fuel production. It covers the current state of the science, the economics, the political issues surrounding fuel from cellulose, and some insights.

Turning Grass into Gas | OnEarth Magazine

 

[houstonscott]

Using bio diesels seems to work well. Ethanol is a looser though takes more fuel to make it than it produces, and it effects the food supply. Biodiesel however is a proven science and looks very promising. High pressure diesels running biodiesel is were the science troutkiller is talking about is leading us. Lots of fuel for the future, however dragging batteries around is a dead end, bad science, waste of time and resources.

HS.