How does having an electric car not solve that problem? The technology is already here for the batteries, unfortunately Texaco owns the patents on them, remember the Ev1 and the Rav4-EV? There are plenty of options that will satisfy reducing our dependance on foreign oil. Biodiesel is just one of them (and one that is not fully accepted by most car manufacturers in the US... http://www.biodiesel.org/pdf_files/OEM%20Statements/OEM_Statements_Summary.p df) Most will only allow a maximum of B20 before they void the powertrain warranty. Add that in with the curernt disparity in cost between regular unleaded gasoline and diesel and you have something that will likely not be widely adopted.
Personally, I think that electric vehicles will gain greater traction here in the US than biodiesel cars will in the near term, but both will help in the long term. GG wrote: VW diesels are 50 state compliant meaning the Tier II bin 5 standard which permits only 0.05 grams per mile. Volkswagens will use a NOx trap and two oxidation catalysts to scrub the exhaust and have a burn out cycle to clean the NOx trap. By moving towards biodiesel produced from non-food crops like Jatropha, which is already being done in The Philippines, India, and Africa, we leverage our existing engine and fuel distribution technologies while delivering an infinite supply of fuel, albeit limited by standard crop contraints. In short, there's no reason to waste money, energy, or resources on developing new technologies especially ones that don't solve the key problem: reliance on fossil fuels. And as for diesel acceptance, given the choice between car and no-car, most people will choose car. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:255981 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
