News Is High Gasoline Pricing a Catalyst for Clean Energy Transition?

[Astronuc]

We should just streamline the process: Start selling biodiesel at McDonalds.

Someone is probably thinking just that. That's a scary thought.

 

[Gokul43201]

I saw this on the news recently : this person's engine is capable of running on cooking oil. He gets his used cooking oil for free from a restaurant that would otherwise pay to dispose of it. The acceleration, top speed, emission level and efficiency are similar to if it ran off regular gas (which it will, if there's no cooking oil around). I'm not sure about engine life though.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

If you go to the better biodiesel sites, they discuss the pure vegetable oil approach. I don't think this is competitive with biodiesel on all levels [performance], but it is certainly another maturing option.

Crud, I'm supposed to be working. Gotta go.

This is a historic day.

 

[Astronuc]

I saw this on the news recently : this person's engine is capable of running on cooking oil. He gets his used cooking oil for free from a restaurant that would otherwise pay to dispose of it. The acceleration, top speed, emission level and efficiency are similar to if it ran off regular gas (which it will, if there's no cooking oil around). I'm not sure about engine life though.

I heard that the exhaust smells like french fries, or fried chicken or whatever they happen to be cooking.

 

[Gokul43201]

This is a bit of a nonsequitur, but is pertinent to the oil price "crisis". I think it's broadly accepted that any serious military threat hurled at Iran by the UN/US will cause crude oil prices to jump. And if oil prices go up (in the US), the President's popularity goes down.

Is this then going to tie Bush's hands in yet another way, or does he not care enough about polls for it to affect policy in this matter ?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I keep wondering if all of this saber rattling is really just intended to drive up the price. After all, it is speculation, and not supply and demand, that directly drives the market price. Iran has to know that threats = dollars. Nice way to fund a nuclear program.

 

[Astronuc]

Restaurants May Help Cut Oil Dependence

Experts Say Restaurants Could Contribute to Fuel Supply if It Recycles Cooking Oil As Biodiesel

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) -- Its first nickname was "R2D2" after the "Star Wars" robot, but now they just call it "the dog" when it's time to drain the grease at Burgerville USA.

"The dog" is a small, stainless steel tank and pump combination on wheels that the Northwest restaurant chain has pioneered to channel used cooking oil to a biodiesel producer.

I wonder how far behind McDonald is? Perhaps McDonalds will corner the biofuel market.

 

[Astronuc]

This looks interesting.

The High Efficiency Dilute Gasoline Engine (HEDGE) Consortium at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) was initiated to develop the enabling technologies required for gasoline engines to meet the performance, durability, and emissions requirements of future motor vehicles.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) post-2010 emission standards are anticipated to be more stringent than those currently in place. With these projected lower emission levels, the efficiency and cost benefit of the diesel engine technology may be compromised to the point that gasoline engine technology will become competitive for both light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles.

http://www.swri.org/4org/d03/engres/pwrtrn/hedge/

 

[Astronuc]

Meanwhile, the entreprenurial spirit is still alive!

First Fuel Banks Locks in Today's Rates (or perhaps last years in this case)
By GREGG AAMOT, Associated Press Writer

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - Most motorists are feeling the pain as gasoline creeps toward, or over, $3 a gallon — but not Art Altrichter.

"This feels pretty good!" Altrichter said as he filled the tank of his Ford F-150 pickup for $2.03 a gallon on Thursday, when the average here was $2.73. "Right now, to be a few pennies over $2, when it's as high as it is? That's a real deal."

A year ago, the retired milk truck driver bought 500 gallons of gas at First Fuel Banks, locking it in at the then-current price of $2.03 a gallon. He taps that reserve whenever gas rises above that mark. If the retail price drops below $2.03, he can leave his reserve alone and buy elsewhere.

First Fuel Banks bills itself as the only retailer in the country where customers can buy gasoline for the future and hedge against rising prices. It advertises no service charge and no storage charge, just a $1 lifetime membership fee.

Altrichter said one of his neighbors got in at First Fuel Banks several years ago and is now is withdrawing from a reserve that cost him 99 cents a gallon. "How about that!" he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060507/ap_on_bi_ge/gas_bank_5

 

[Rach3]

Meanwhile, the entreprenurial spirit is still alive!

First Fuel Banks Locks in Today's Rates (or perhaps last years in this case)
By GREGG AAMOT, Associated Press Writer
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060507/ap_on_bi_ge/gas_bank_5

Lucky that very few people are doing this, otherwise the consumer would be artificially inflating their own prices.

 

[loseyourname]

Just to add to Anttechs point about the expense.

I live 20 miles from work and I commute by train. Yearly this costs 1500 pounds give or take a penny or two about $2473 per year including a subsidized bus pass. Trains are horrendously expensive and the government wonders why people travel by car?

If it allows you to not own a car, then you're saving a ton.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Restaurants May Help Cut Oil Dependence

Experts Say Restaurants Could Contribute to Fuel Supply if It Recycles Cooking Oil As Biodiesel
I wonder how far behind McDonald is? Perhaps McDonalds will corner the biofuel market.

This must be a novelty more than anything practical. I can't believe that this would amount to any significant amount of fuel [except when taken in total on a national level, but that's another story] but I can see large food processing plants fueling their own trucks, generators, or perhaps even selling electrical power produced using spent cooking oil. The large places have rail lines directly into the plant, and the oil arrives on tanker cars.

 

[Astronuc]

It might be practical if restaurant chains like McDonald's collects used oil when they deliever the food products. I usually see a big rig (tractor with a 53' trailer) delievering supplies locally. Presumably, they could collect used oil. Perhaps even fuel the delivery trucks.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

It might be practical if restaurant chains like McDonald's collects used oil when they deliever the food products. I usually see a big rig (tractor with a 53' trailer) delievering supplies locally. Presumably, they could collect used oil. Perhaps even fuel the delivery trucks.

Um, that's what I meant.

Cripes, they probably pay to get rid of it right now. If it was efficiently incorporated into the distribution process, it might make sense. Also, I guess any city would have a high enough density of restaurants to justify local collection on an industry wide basis. Are there any other large consumers of VO, besides restaurants and processiong plants?

 

[Astronuc]

Other than restaurants and processed food plants, I imagine much of the remaining VO goes to grocery store chains for distribution to consumers.

Wesson oil comes to mind. It was popular in the 70's, I seem to remember.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Wesson oil comes to mind. It was popular in the 70's, I seem to remember.

Good point...the entertainment industry.

 

[Geekster]

http://articles.news.aol.com/business/article.adp?id=20060507124509990002&ncid=NWS00010000000001

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Plant That Brewed Beer Shifts Attention to Ethanol

FULTON, N.Y., April 19 — Sometimes Rick O'Shea still hears the beer bottles clanking in the shadows of the old Miller Brewing plant here, where he worked until the place closed more a decade ago.

Now he is the engineering director of a project aiming to turn the ghostly, 420-acre complex into the Northeast's first ethanol production plant, churning biofuel out of the massive vats that once brewed Miller Lite. [continued]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/n...6f7ece5725492d&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The corn growers in the area are all ears!

 

[Astronuc]

Meanwhile back in Detroit -

US automakers want end to hybrid credits!

But why?

A report today suggests GM and Ford are lobbying for rules that would reduce the incentive to buy hybrids. Why? Japanese auto giants Toyota and Honda are miles ahead in the hybrid game. Bob Moon explains.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/05/09/PM200605096.html

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Well, that's encouraging.

The irony with hybrids right now is that the price is inflated by demand resulting from the small scale production levels. With sufficient production, the price would drop dramatically.

For our next car, I'd like to go with a hybrid diesel capable of running biofuels, but I'm not sure if that animal exists yet in the mainstream market. I do think the hybrid can work nicely with alternative fuels. Due to the constant load and RPM demand on the engine made possible by some designs, even turbines become feasible for basic transportation, but I don't think these are sold yet either.

 

[Astronuc]

George Huebener saw the gas turbine as the future engine for automobiles. Automobile turbines can be small, light, and durable and have 80 percent fewer moving parts than a piston engine. They can burn almost any liquid fuel and need no oil changes or radiators. However, little of the experience with aircraft jet engines can be applied to ground vehicles. Instead of operating near maximum power, an automobile engine spends most of its life at 10 to 15 percent load, and its duty cycle consists of constant accelerations and decelerations. Aerodynamic components of automobile turbine engines are extremely small, but must be proportionally as accurate as those in large jet engines and operate at much higher rotational speeds. The engine must be produced at low cost and have excellent fuel economy.

The first prototype turbine was built in 1953 and installed in a production Plymouth car. It was the first of six generations of experimental turbines. In 1963 Chrysler put fifty gas turbines in hand-built vehicles for public assessment. Thirty thousand letters were received from people who wanted to be part of the test. A marketing program selected 203 representative drivers in forty-eight states and the District of Columbia.

http://fermat.nap.edu/books/0309074118/html/128.html

http://www.barracudamagazine.com/turbine.html

http://autospeed.drive.com.au/cms/article.html?&A=0764&P=1

http://www.allpar.com/mopar/turbine.html

Better turbines are now available these days.

 

[Astronuc]

Diesel Hybrid Electric Cars Now!
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/000791.html

Biodiesel Car Captures Highest Ratings In Six Performance Categories At The 2003 Michelin Challenge Bibendum
http://thesoydailyclub.com/BiodieselBiobased/bibendum09302003.asp

Green Report: Berkeley Goes Biodiesel
http://car-reviews.automobile.com/news/green-report-berkeley-goes-biodiesel/511/

Normal Will Try Biodiesel
http://www.aiada.org/article.asp?id=32181

Manufacturing Incentives for Alternative Fuel Vehicles (EPA, 1998)
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-GENERAL/1998/March/Day-31/g8364.htm
What have US automakers been doing in eight years - gasoline powered SUV's and light trucks.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Better turbines are now available these days.

However, that misses the point. With a hybrid, the load on the turbine can be made constant, which in principle makes it appropriate for the application of basic transportation. The electrical system buffers the load.

 

[Gokul43201]

Meanwhile back in Detroit -

US automakers want end to hybrid credits!

But why?

A report today suggests GM and Ford are lobbying for rules that would reduce the incentive to buy hybrids.

And what about the huge tax credits that you get for buying an SUV ? A small business can apply the entire price of an SUV towards a tax credit. Others still get a big credit for buying an SUV weighing (maximum loaded weight) over 6000 lbs.

I think you might get a bigger credit for buying a Hummer than for a Prius. Anyway, I wonder if this (lobbying by Ford, GM) will generate any significant traction. I think it unlikely.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Thanks for the links Astro.

From "Diesel Hybrid Electric Cars Now!"

The irony is that diesel hybrids could be far more efficient and clean than anything now on the market, without any leaps in technology. The combination of modern clean diesel engines, Prius-style serial hybrid-electric systems, and biodiesel/vegetable oil fuels could provide amazing mileage, cleaner air, and vastly reduced petroleum dependency. Comfortable, powerful sedans could get upwards of 80 miles per gallon and be carbon-neutral.

So this appears to be a potential budding market.

 

[Astronuc]

However, that misses the point. With a hybrid, the load on the turbine can be made constant, which in principle makes it appropriate for the application of basic transportation. The electrical system buffers the load.

I was thinking more in terms of reliablity from the materials side, as well as efficiency. And I believe they are smaller and lighter.

I know ORNL was doing R&D on materials and components, and that was years ago.

 

[Astronuc]

'Extreme Hybrid' Car gets 250 mpg

AFS Trinity Power Corporation has filed its patent application disclosing the company's new technology for an Extreme Hybrid car capable of carrying the average American motorist more than 250 miles on a single gallon of gasoline or ethanol. The Extreme Hybrid will plug into a house's electrical current overnight to run without gasoline or ethanol for the 40 miles that the average American drives each day. For longer trips, the vehicle will operate as a conventional hybrid that efficiently burns gasoline or ethanol. The AFS Trinity patent filing discloses that Fast Energy Storage technology, including ultracapacitors, controllers and power electronics, will enable the Extreme Hybrid(TM) to overcome the limitations of the energy storage components of conventional hybrids and other plug-in designs.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060504/DETH037 )

http://www.asminternational.org/Content/NavigationMenu/News/HeadlineNews/HeadlineNewsArticle.htm?SMContentIndex=13&SMContentSet=0 'Extreme Hybrid' Plug-In Car-Gasoline and electricity cost expected to be $8 per week versus $36 for gasoline for the average American driver today

 

[Rach3]

I think gpm makes more sense than mpg. Then, you realize that 100mpg and 250mpg are the same thing, but there's a world of a difference between, 17mpg and 20mpg.

 

[Astronuc]

Well if we start comparing electric vs gasoline, then we need to be comparing in terms of distance/energy, e.g. km/kJ or miles/kJ.

I wish the US would change to metric already.

Well, at least we don't use leagues/horsepower-fortnight.

 

[Astronuc]

250 Mpg Hybrid Car - the link went bad in the other post, so here is an alternative

AFS Trinity Today Files Patent Disclosing Technology For 250 Mpg 'Extreme Hybrid' Plug-In Car

SEATTLE, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- AFS Trinity Power Corporation today filed its patent application disclosing the company's new technology for an Extreme Hybrid(TM) car capable of carrying the average American motorist more than 250 miles on a single gallon of gasoline or ethanol.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060504/deth037.html?.v=14

 

[Astronuc]

Are there any other large consumers of VO, besides restaurants and processiong plants?

I just read a comment in a book, "Materials and Process in Manufacturing", which mentions that vegetable oil may emerge as an industrial quenchant, rather than mineral oil.

 

[russ_watters]

The irony with hybrids right now is that the price is inflated by demand resulting from the small scale production levels. With sufficient production, the price would drop dramatically.

Something I didn't know until talking with a hybrid owner recently, in addition to (because of) what you said, many/most hybrids are packaged with high-end options, standard. Ie, you can't buy a Civic hybrid without the automatic climate control, which is optional on the standard Civic. That's another way the economics are driving the cost up.

Competition and expanding product lines will certanly help.

 

[Skyhunter]

I had to laugh at the logic used by a reporter last night. He was trying to make the point that local stations have no incentive to engage in price gouging. The logic was that the station owners primarily make money from the mini-marts found inside most stations. If they raise their gas prices, the reporter reasoned, people wouldn't have as much money to spend inside.

Having been involved in the discovery process with a friend who was looking to buy a business, I can attest that this is so. At most service station mini marts the Owner of the business gets a fixed price per gallon as part of the contract to purchase the business. Higher prices would definitely hurt especialy the ones that rely on the working poor, as well as the working lower middle class.

Unless they have renegotiated the stations will not see an increase in profits.

 

[Skyhunter]

Fuel efficiency is only a temporary solution to the problem, but it would help a lot and it isn't that much of a stretch to raise average fuel efficiency by 30% or so. That would be a heckuva good start.

Doesn't look like Bush is interested in efficiency.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0531/p02s01-uspo.html

If Congress accepts the Energy Department's proposed 2007 budget, it will cut $152 million - some 16 percent - from this year's budget for energy-efficiency programs. Adjusting for inflation, it would mean the US government would spend 30 percent less on energy efficiency next year than it did in 2002, the ACEEE says.

In any case, being a capitalist, I agree with Ivan's central premise: capitalist market forces are what is required to push the needed changes.

Being a realist I must agree, however it is sad that greed is the primary motivator of our society.

There is very little "free market" in the oil energy industry. The energy policy of the oil companies and this administration are simple:

1. Maximize profits on the last of the cheap oil.
2. Suppress efficiency to keep up demand.
3. Starve alternative research. (research not in line with hydrogen.)
4. Build the hydrogen infrastructure so that they control the chosen energy vehicle.

The free market is the only force powerful enough to shift the future of energy from that being predetermined in secret energy meetings with the the Vice President.

I believe that this is one big "jack move", and it frightens me to think of what they may do next, in order to hold onto power.