Why hasn't any EU automaker jumped on the hybrid technology?

[kap]

The VW d-eh looks good! Now I want all of that in my Bug X(
Interesting comments from the link.

[mattkime]

>>but then less food on your table. sorry, but from what I have read, seems like biofuel is more like a scam, with all these subsidies and cutting down the Rainforest to make room for more land.

ethanol is a handout to the corn lobby (hello, Iowa!), but most locally processed biodiesel is made from waste products.

biodiesel needs a tech revolution to succeed in the us. or the legalization of hemp.

[macphanatic]

Diesel locomotives are a hybrid, they use electric traction motors. Far more efficient than diesel trucks.

The problem with battery powered vehicles is that we are trading one environmental issue for another. The batteries are exactly environmentally friendly and require the use of a lot of fossil fuel to mine, transport and manufacture. Then the question comes as to how they should be disposed of and how do emergency services respond in the event of a bad accident and damage to the battery pack.

[Mac1337]

There are people who say we need high gas prices for alternate energy to succeed. Friedman wants the government not to let gas drop below $4! I have always wondered why hasn't a single alternate energy innovation has come out of Europe despite 60 years of sky high gas prices? All they did was to shrink their cars and life styles.

[JJ]

space-time wrote:
"BioDiesel can be made by local producers"

but then less food on your table. sorry, but from what I have read, seems like biofuel is more like a scam, with all these subsidies and cutting down the Rainforest to make room for more land.

what sparked those riots in poor countries? expensive food. Why is food expensive? bio-fuels.

This is one of the usual arguments against biodiesel. It is false!

The same argument against ethanol is also untrue.

This argument relies on the idea that we can't produce both bio fuels and edible crops at the same time. We can do both with our farmable lands.

Also, even if you buy that idea that we can't do both, please look at the research into algae as a superior source of bio fuel. Not only is it better, it will not reduce our farmable land.

JJ

[mattkime]

>>All they did was to shrink their cars and life styles.

Europeans, what do you think about that??

>>We can do both with our farmable lands.

The market says otherwise, at least in the short term. the increase in food prices has created a lot of tension in poorer countries.

[macphanatic]

bio-diesel and ethanol can be made from non-edible vegetation. Unfortunately, the lobbyists pushed a different agenda upon Congress. Some researchers have actually figured out a way to make synthetic gasoline from algae. It would work in current gasoline engines. The challenge now is to figure out how to produce it on a large scale.

[ztirffritz]

They have also found mushrooms that produce products that can be turned into BioDiesel. I've recently become fascinated with mushrooms after watching a particular TED video. They can be used for soil haz-mat cleanup, fuel, food, all kinds of things. I was really surprised by the list.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/paul_...world.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...d=96574076
http://blog.mycology.cornell.edu/?p=509

[Racer X]

I am still baffled why no one makes a small aluminum-blocked diesel electric hybrid. Small light diesel that runs a generator to suplament batteries. run biodiesel or ultra low sulfur.

FYI, the sulfur is an upper cylinder and injector pump lubricant. These ultra low sulfur blends cause some real challenging engineering problems for the engine manufacturers.

[Pat]

simonm wrote:
[quote=endymion]

I also wonder why no one's come up with Diesel-Electric hybrids which seem like an even better idea than either diesel or gas-electric hybrids.

Good point. From what I have read the main reason has been the lack of availability of low sulphur diesel fuel in the USA which is the main hybrid market.
Seeing as ~75% of all current distillate fuel oil is ULSD, I highly doubt availability is an issue. By law, 80% of all on-road diesel currently produced has to be ULSD, 100% in 2010.


Just an FYI for owners of '97 or newer diesel powered vehicles in CA with a GVWR <8500lbs, as of Jan/2010 your vehicle will be subject to emissions testing. Of course that is only in the counties/municipalities that require smog checks.