diesels please!

[Raticon]

Yes, sure they did, but it was far later than the late 70's, the age when the Diesels started to appear en-masse in Europe. Now, about 20 - 30 years later the US is starting to appreciate Diesels better.
Sure their fuel is of a worse quality, but that can all be related to my earlier post when the Diesels never caught on in the US during the laste '70s and '80s and it was more of those rugged truck-engines that used that fuel during that time, making effiecient Dieseils a poor choice for the US market.

Diesels have their place in the world, i think. It's among everything heavier than a medium sized-car, a pickup, a small van or your regular sized people-mover that the diesel finds it's home. Truly small city cars will find it's niche among the electric and hybrid vars of the future according to me, not diesels.

[Kubboz]

Truly small city cars will find it's niche among the electric and hybrid vars of the future according to me, not diesels.

I'd be devastated if your vision became true. I see the future of automobiles in algae biopetrol.

[darkjedi]

there is enough petrol on the planet to last more than 150 years, but everyone is reluctant to exploit it. it is good that we are considering alternatives to fossil oil, but for that to become the main source, many decades will pass.
IMO electric cars do not belong on the mainstream market. taxies and busses could be made electric, because they are more suited to using these motors, as for the average buyer; it's nonesense. hybrids belong on the luxury car market, as is hydrogen (germany is already using hydrogen instead of LPG on large cars). diesels could be fitted to most vehicles, as do petrols. depends mostly on preference. ithink these engines will never die. as long as there is a way to power them, you will still see them on the road.

[gearhed31]

diesels would add a lot to the game. diesels arent just for trucks and economy cars, theyre also for 7 sec dragsters

[Ridicol]

Actually if the diesel would be used as it's supposed to it would be the least polluting type of engine, maybe you don't know but Rudolf Diesel designed the diesel engine to run on oil, if you use biodiesel you probably pollute less than a Prius. And the future is biodiesel, bioethanol and hydrogen. Keep in mind that in 20-30 years we would have extracted every drop of oil on Earth. Also you see on Top Gear and Fifth Gear that it's viable to run a car on chip fat, and it costs you much less than conventional fuels, only problem is that if you want to use chip fat that hasn't been processed by a refinery you have to use an old diesel engine, with an linear element diesel fuel injection pump (I really don't know the correct translation in English so i winged it), because it can handle the high viscosity fuel.
This is the pump I'm talking about, if anyone knows the correct English term, please post it.

[Kubboz]

Algae biogasoline, this should be the future. Low area requirements, does not need fresh water, need does not require engine modifications... And it's still ecological.

[Comet61]

The trouble with Biofuels, especially plant-based Biofuels, is that there needs to be enough Arable land on the planet to grow enough Biomass for it to be a viable alternative fuel, while at the same time retaining enough to actually grow food on.

This will be impossible in about 20 years, when the population closes in on it's peak sustainable limit. We already grow enough food on the planet to feed 11 billion people. However, as some of it is fed to animals, and some people eat as much as 4x what is considered a person's average diet, we would need enough food to feed over 16 billion people to actually have enough to keep the planet fed.

80% of the planet's Arable land is currently in use. At least 40% will need to be used for Biofuels and another 25% to increase food production to a sustainable level. We will need to have 145% output from Arable land to meet our needs in just 20 years if Biofuels become the mainstay.

[Kubboz]

Algae biofuel has got low area requirement, Mr Comet.

According to wikipedia,

The United States Department of Energy estimates that if algae fuel replaced all the petroleum fuel in the United States, it would require 15,000 square miles (39,000 km2) which is only 0.42% of the U.S. map, or about half of the land area of Maine. This is less than 1⁄7 the area of corn harvested in the United States in 2000.

Also, they can be grown on land unsuitable for agriculture.

[gero45]

If its possible money wise this gonna be the solution!

[darkjedi]

Algae biofuel has got low area requirement, Mr Comet.

According to wikipedia,

The United States Department of Energy estimates that if algae fuel replaced all the petroleum fuel in the United States, it would require 15,000 square miles (39,000 km2) which is only 0.42% of the U.S. map, or about half of the land area of Maine. This is less than 1⁄7 the area of corn harvested in the United States in 2000.

Also, they can be grown on land unsuitable for agriculture.

Then why isn't it used on large scale? or already?

[pyrlix]

The Oil Companys would not earn enough money with it...
Its easier to say "WE HAVE NO OIL, PRICE OVER 9000!" instead of "We have algae biofuel that needs very low area, is very economical and good. But we also have oil thats more expenisve and will make us more money. Buy Oil!!"

[darkjedi]

butsurely someone is willing to challenge the oil companies andmake some money

[Kubboz]

Actually, It's also the bacteria, spoiling the harvested algae. But they are working on this.

[PhillipM]

Diesel owners should be shot.
Thank you for your co-operation.

[pyrlix]

Why would you shoot diesel owners...
That would kill SOME people in europe and all of my relatives in Poland .... :O