I’ve heard so many “reasons” why we can’t have diesels. None of them make the least bit of sense to me. Let’s take the Prius and the diesel Fiesta (all Euro numbers). The best the Prius can get is 67 imperial mpg, while the Fiesta gets 76. And the Fiesta comes in at 98 g CO2/km. The particulate emissions are an issue (though not for semi-tractors, apparently) but the Fiesta also has lower NOx numbers too. And some of the tech like urea injection cleans diesel like a catalytic converter cleans gas engines.

And as far as i know, even the most modern diesels can be cut (weather depending) with up to 50% strained fryer oil. Put a little, clean diesel that can run 50% recycled into a hybrid and now we’re starting to talk.

I totally meant to respond to the invasive weed question. Honestly, it’s hard to tell because it will depend on what varieties are selected. I can’t imagine researchers choosing an annual crop, which means that with grasses the fields could be contained with rhizome barriers. And i would think that harvest would be pre-seed setting (like mowing your lawn) It could be a good excuse to reconstruct prairie grass lands…except that in making ethanol things change with inputs (if i’m not mistaken), so the goal will probably be monoculture. Shameful really.

Maybe we could start grazing livestock on huge midwestern pasture land again and find a way to collect cow farts…and then periodically eat our methane generators (though grass fed cows fart less than grain fed cows).

Efficient diesel in the U.S. would be great thing, though, from what I can tell. I’ve read a few reports that the reason we don’t have those vehicles here in the U.S. is because California hasn’t decided whether diesel is going to be even more heavily regulated than it already is. The problem is supposedly the particulates created in diesel consumption.

Cellulosic biofuels could be made to work if scientists can engineer good enzyme or artificial catalysts, but cellulose is hard to break down for a reason – it’s the structural matter that supports the plants. I agree that algae could be the way to go, especially if engineers can figure out how to get the water out efficiently (getting algae to make a biodiesel or something similar is a biological sciences problem – purging the algae of water is an engineering problem).

GM is unfairly getting the stink over the Volt claims. This is a far better, more efficient and more elegant application than the strong-hybrid of the Prius (which is, quite frankly, crap greenwashing. A similar diesel – with only one drive train – gets equivalent mileage; and check real world mileage for hybrids in northern climes…thought to be fair, all battery systems will suffer in that situation).

The difference is that in the Volt the gasoline engine (should be diesel or natural gas) never drives the vehicle, so it is never subjected to acceleration/deceleration. The engine is just a generator and so can be tuned to maximum efficiency in the rpm band used for generation, and unlike the Prius, all the transmission bits needed to convert the ICE energy to the wheels are gone. It is an electric car with an onboard generator.

Moreover, the generator is not programmed to fully charge the battery. It kicks on when the battery drops to 30% charge and works only enough to keep it there. Yes, the mileage will drop (and you may never get equivalent 230mpg) on a cross country road trip, but if you drive normally and for normal commuting distances, the engine will hardly run at all.

On the other hand, unlike plug-in concepts this one won’t leave you stranded when you run out of battery power…nor will you need to wait hours to continue your trip.