Gas 2.0

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As if it wasn’t bad enough that particulate matter from diesel exhaust causes a range of respiratory problems including 15,000 premature deaths each year, new research shows that even short-term exposure to nanoparticles found in diesel fumes can affect brain function.

Nanoparticles can travel to the brain via the olfactory nerve, where they could cause an oxidative stress response in the region of the brain critical to information processing.

Researchers placed subjects in a room with either clean air or diesel fumes (similar to a busy street), and used a electro- encephalograph (EEG) to measure brain response. Subjects breathing the sooty air showed a stress response in the brain’s cortex within 30 minutes, which continued even after they left the room.

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We all know that fast cars are fun and fuel-sipping cars are environmentally responsible, but is there a middle ground?

Short of expensive electric sports cars like the Tesla Roadster, there may be a solution to be found in diesel. Not only can diesel cars be fueled with waste vegetable oil, biodiesel, or some mixture of these fuels, but diesel engines produce a lot of torque and get better fuel economy than their gasoline-powered brethren.

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All that green pond scum I used to avoid could well produce enough fuel to satisfy all the energy needs in the United States. That’s a pretty far out statement, but Glen Kertz, CEO of Valcent Products made it very clear that a process of growing algae vertically is capable of producing huge amounts of alternative fuels. It’s being proven today in Texas.

This is one fascinating story, with a link below showing the process and an explanation by Mr. Kertz.

Valcent has partnered with Global Green Solutions to develop a production test project in El Paso, TX. After 90 days of continual production, algae was being harvested at an average of one gram per liter from the Vertigro Bio-Reactor System. Based on those results, the joint venture partners believe their system would deliver about 33,000 gallons of algae oil per acre per year. By comparison, soybean oil produces about 49 gallons of oil per acre each year, and palm oil would yield about 630 acres of oil a year. Read the rest of this entry »

Since last year, many of us have been eagerly awaiting the introduction of ‘clean-diesels’: the 2008-2009 models touted as having superior mileage and cleaner emissions than comparable gas models.

So where are they? Strangely, promised 2008 models didn’t materialize, and I had trouble finding more on the story. As far as I can tell, we’ll just have to look forward to next summer’s release of the 2009 VW Jetta TDI. The new Jetta gets similar mileage to older models, 50 mpg ( though VW engineers claim 30% better mileage under real world conditions). More importantly though, it’s the first diesel to meet the world’s toughest emissions standards, California’s Tier II, bin 5, earning it clean-diesel status. If you noticed the recent lack of diesel vehicles for sale (especially in CA), it was the direct result of reengineering emissions systems:

Although it won’t be wearing the “BlueTec” badge, the Jetta will be using emission-cleansing technologies developed under the cooperative formed by Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen to make it 50-state legal. Most BlueTec vehicles control NOx emissions—one of the biggest environmental hurdles facing diesels, along with particulate matter—by injecting a urea-based solution into the exhaust system upstream from the catalytic converter, where NOx is then converted into nitrogen and water. The Jetta will instead use a NOx-storage catalyst, which is basically a reservoir that temporarily holds the noxious emissions, like a particulate filter, until they can be burned off during one of the engine cycles.

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We don’t need new technology to save us, just a little ingenuity.

After a few minor tweaks, Ernie Rogers can get up to 76 mpg in his 2003 VW diesel Beetle:

He drove 1375 miles…[on] just 18 gallons of fuel– 1200 miles of which was accomplished on just one tankfull (15.5 gallons). His trip fuel economy was 76 miles per gallon. Rogers’ car included several small refinements that added up to the exceptional mileage: a drag reducing device he designed and built himself (pictures [here]), lower-rolling-resistance tires, low-friction engine oil, and use of a B5 biodiesel blend fuel to increase efficiency and improve emissions.

That’s right, it’s a non-hybrid that puts the Prius to shame. Granted, this test was at 55 mph, but the VW still gets between 57-65 mpg at normal freeway speeds. Read the rest of this entry »