The E7 Purpose-Built Cop Car: Can sniff out nukes while getting 30mpg
I needed to get some eye-candy out here on the blog… how about a purpose-built cop car that has a bio-diesel burning power-plant, built-in lights, machine-gun holders, and does 0-60 in 6.5 seconds?
Meet the E7 - even Batman would like this car.
Unlike conventional police cruisers, which are retrofitted consumer vehicles such as the Ford Crown Victoria, the E7 is the first car designed and built specifically for law enforcement.
“You would never send a pickup truck to go put out a fire,” Li said. “Why would you send a family sedan to go take care of a homeland-security issue?”
Flashing emergency lights are embedded in the E7’s frame, making the car aerodynamic and visible from all directions. The front seats are designed with extra space to accommodate a police officer’s utility belt…
…Li said the car’s 300 bhp forced-induction 3.0-diesel engine will deliver 420 lb-ft of torque and propel the vehicle from zero to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, with a governed top speed of 155 mph.
He also said the E7’s engine, which can run on either ultra-low sulfur diesel or biodiesel, will have a combined fuel economy rating of 28 to 30 mpg — up to 40 percent more fuel efficient than conventional police cruisers.
That last point is important when you remember that earlier this year police were cutting patrols, mounting horses, or using bikes to try to control the skyrocketing impact of fuel on the operating budgets.
Watch the video report over at Fox.
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The Case for “Future-Proof” Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFVs)
Over the next few years you’ll see a change at your local gas stations as more alcohol-blended fuel pumps are installed across the nation. Alcohol-blended fuels like E85 are already available in some areas, and more are coming to market as more FFVs are sold in the United States.
US based manufacturers have committed to making 50% of their new autos FFVs by 2010 and and 85% by 2012. In addition, there is proposed legislation called the Open Fuel Standard Act which will mandate all cars sold in America meet the same goals, so this will mean that all imports sold in the US will meet the same FFV standard. (You can help support this legislation here.)
Since FFV is an widely available and mature technology (there are already millions of FFVs on the road in the US - you may be driving one), adding the capability to all new vehicles sold in the US doesn’t add notably to the cost of making new cars (usually about $100) - and provides a way for auto manufactures to “green-up” their product lines.
Drivers of FFVs will be able to choose what fuel to buy, based on price at the pump, performance needs, personal preference, etc. - just like shopping for any other commodity. You’ll be able to mix E85 with E10 (the current flavor of gasoline almost everywhere in the US) and newer alternative blends like E25 or M50. Using FFV technology, your car will automatically adjust your engines settings to run properly on any combination of gasoline and alcohol fuels.
Unlike more exotic alternative fuels like compressed hydrogen or natural gas, drivers of FFVs are not stuck on a virtual “energy island” of specialized refueling stations. You will be able to travel freely, just like today, as far and wide as you like - choosing your favorite blend of alcohol fuels as you go - or using straight gasoline where no other choice exists.
So if your next car has an engine that burns liquid fuel, makes sure it is “future proof” and check that it’s a Flex-Fuel Vehicle before you buy it, or else you’ll be left without options at the pump when the alcohol-blended fuels hit the wider market.
Algae to Fuel
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Ethanol and the law of unintended consequences
Fuel or folly?
Cinnamon Stillwell
Wednesday, April 2, 2008In the pantheon of well-intentioned governmental policies gone awry, massive ethanol biofuel production may go down as one of the biggest blunders in history. An unholy alliance of environmentalists, agribusiness, biofuel corporations and politicians has been touting ethanol as the cure to all our environmental ills, when in fact it may be doing more harm than good. An array of unintended consequences is wreaking havoc on the economy, food production and, perhaps most ironically, the environment.
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PopSci: More Pond Scum
In the July issue of Popular Science, an article related to the previous post about Algae-based Bio-Diesel. Requiring only (an exact balance) of sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water - the search is on for the most productive variety of algae.
Algae has some important advantages over other oil-producing crops, like canola and soybeans. It can be grown in almost any enclosed space, it multiplies like gangbusters, and it requires very few inputs to flourish—mainly just sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. “Because algae has a high surface-area-to-volume ratio, it can absorb nutrients very quickly,” Sears says. “Its small size is what makes it mighty.”
There are plans to use the pollutant carbon dioxide of various industrial process as the “food” for large algae farms, growing algae while “absorbing” the pollutant at the same time.
The proof is in the numbers. About 140 billion gallons of biodiesel would be needed every year to replace all petroleum-based transportation fuel in the U.S. It would take nearly three billion acres of fertile land to produce that amount with soybeans, and more than one billion acres to produce it with canola. Unfortunately, there are only 434 million acres of cropland in the entire country, and we probably want to reserve some of that to grow food. But because of its ability to propagate almost virally in a small space, algae could do the job in just 95 million acres of land. What’s more, it doesn’t need fertile soil to thrive. It grows in ponds, bags or tanks that can be just as easily set up in the desert—or next to a carbon-dioxide-spewing power plant—as in the country’s breadbasket.
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Aviation Bio-Fuel Being Evaluated in New Zeland
Reportedly the worlds-first project under consideration by an airline.
Air New Zealand and airliner manufacturer Boeing are secretly working with Blenheim-based biofuel developer Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation to create the world’s first environmentally friendly aviation fuel, made of wild algae.
If the project pans out the small and relatively new New Zealand company could lead the world in environmentally sustainable aviation fuel.
It’s understood Air NZ is undertaking risk analysis. If everything stacks up it will make an aircraft available on the Tasman to test the biofuel…
Basically, it’s pond scum.
…The fuel is essentially derived from bacterial pond scum created through the photosynthesis of sunlight and carbon dioxide on nutrient-rich water sources such as sewage ponds.
Air NZ would most likely test the fuel on one engine while normal aviation fuel would drive the other engine. Fuel is held in cells on the aircraft that can be directed to a specific engine…
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The Basics of Biodiesel
From: DesMoines RegisterThe idea that vegetable oil could be used as an engine fuel has been around for more than a century. But it wasn’t until the 1990s that commercial production of biodiesel began in the United States. Production has skyrocketed from under 1 million gallons in 1999 to 91 million gallons last year.
Biodiesel can be produced from palm, canola, cottonseed and other vegetable oils or from animal fats, including beef, pork or poultry. Research has even explored using algae. But the primary feedstock in America has been soybean oil. Iowa led the nation in soybean production four of the past five years, topping Illinois in all but 2003. Likewise, Iowa leads the nation in biodiesel production capacity, edging Texas, according to a September compilation from the National Biodiesel Board.
Diesel engines have long been attractive as a more powerful, fuel-efficient alternative to similar-sized gasoline engines - delivering 30 percent to 35 percent greater fuel efficiency. But the soot and smell were turnoffs for most American drivers. Today’s diesel fuel has cleaned up its act. Petroleum-based diesel meets the same emissions standards as gasoline. And biodiesel, while slightly less fuel efficient than petrodiesel, reduces emissions of several greenhouse gases.
Biodiesel represents a tiny percentage of overall diesel usage, however, and widespread use likely will be stymied by limits on supplies of soybean oil and other feedstocks and by biodiesel’s relatively high cost without hefty subsidies.
Consumer’s guide
Blends of biodiesel and petroleum are designated by B followed by the percentage of biodiesel. So B20 is 20 percent biodiesel, and B100 is pure biodiesel. Use of biodiesel in blends up to B20 requires no new equipment or modifications to your vehicle. Some care is urged with the initial switch to biodiesel, because it can loosen deposits that petrodiesel builds up in fuel systems.
Engine performance: Even 1 percent or 2 percent blends of biodiesel can improve lubricity of diesel fuels. The required move to ultra-low-sulfur petroleum diesel, which has poor lubricating properties, might create significant demand for biodiesel as an additive.
Like petroleum-based diesel, biodiesel has the ability to autoignite, quantified by a high cetane index - earning a somewhat higher number than conventional diesel, some studies show.
The biggest knock against biodiesel has been its cold-weather performance. As temperatures drop, both petrodiesel and biodiesel can form wax crystals that clog fuel lines and filters. At severe temperatures, diesel fuel turns into a gel and can’t be pumped. Biodiesel’s cold-weather performance is even worse than conventional diesel’s. Consumer perceptions weren’t helped when B2 users experienced plugging of fuel filters last fall in Minnesota, which as of 2005 required most diesel sold in the state to contain at least 2 percent biodiesel.
Distributors and drivers historically have overcome cold-flow problems with conventional diesel by adding kerosene or cold-flow additives, using fuel-line heaters or storing vehicles indoors. Biodiesel advocates believe that more experience with appropriate blends and strict quality control can address cold-flow problems.
Mileage: Pure biodiesel contains 8 percent less energy per gallon than typical petrodiesel, according to the Department of Energy. “If you are using B20, the difference in power, torque and fuel economy should be between 1 percent and 2 percent, depending on the diesel with which you are blending,” according to the DOE’s 2004 Biodiesel Handling and Use Guidelines. “Most users report little difference between B20 and No. 2 diesel fuel.”
Price: In mid-October, Krueger’s Amoco stations in Des Moines were selling B10 for $2.39 a gallon. The Iowa average for diesel was $2.50.5, according to AAA.
The nation
In 2005, U.S. plants produced 91 million gallons of biodiesel.
That’s only 0.15% of the 60 billion gallons of diesel used annually. (Comparatively, the United States used about 140 billion gallons of gasoline.)
Production is expected to more than double this year.
Iowa
The state had six operating biodiesel plants as of mid-October, representing 93.5 million gallons of production capacity, according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. Eight plants are under construction, and one plant is being expanded, which will increase production capacity to 223 million gallons. Other plants are on the drawing boards. As of September, Iowa’s production capacity represented 19 percent of the national total, according to a separate compilation from the National Biodiesel Board.
Computerized operating procedures result in the need for relatively few employees to operate each plant. As an example, Renewable Energy Group’s plant in Wall Lake, with a production capacity of 30 million gallons, employs about 30 people. There’s rollover economic impact, of course, as those employees spend their paychecks, as technicians service the plant and as the plant buys supplies.
There’s not necessarily a direct tie between the plant and nearby farmers. Some soybean oil used at the plant is shipped in by rail from out of state. A January study for the Iowa Soybean Association projected that biodiesel-fueled growth in demand would push up farm-level prices an average of 9.5 cents a bushel over the next five years. Iowa elevator bids for soybeans ranged from $4.71 to $5.12 a bushel in mid-October.
However, plants are built to accommodate a variety of feedstocks. So theoretically Iowa’s biodiesel plants could move away from soybeans if another feedstock proves cheaper.
The world
In Europe, diesel engines power about half of new cars. Likewise, the European Union has raced ahead of the United States in biodiesel production, making nearly 13 times as much in 2005, according to Reuters News Service. Germany produced about half the European Union’s total. The EU, seeking to reduce its dependence on imported oil and cut auto emissions, has set targets for biofuels to replace 5.75 percent of transportation fuels in member states by 2010, according to Reuters.
Other major biodiesel players are Australia and China. China, with its widespread use of trucks, consumes twice as much diesel as gasoline, according to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. It hopes to use biofuels to meet 15 percent of its transportation-energy needs by 2020. But production of biodiesel is lagging because it lacks feedstocks. China is a net importer of edible vegetable oils. Long term, it needs to plant oil crops such as rapeseed or produce biodiesel from animal fats.
Air quality
Biodiesel reduces global-warming gas emissions such as carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons, as well as particulate matter over a wide range of blends, regardless of feedstock used. Pure biodiesel can remove as much as 90 percent of these air toxics, and B20 can achieve 20 percent to 40 percent reductions.
However, biodiesel has been shown to increase nitrogen oxide. Research is ongoing into the extent that nitrogen-oxide emissions would increase ground-level ozone or whether blends with other materials could reduce the nitrogen oxide.
Another environmental plus: Because biodiesel is biodegradable, it can fuel ships and be pumped in sensitive environments without risking toxic spills.
Energy balance
Considerable research has probed whether renewable fuels burn more fossil fuels in their production than they give off when burned. A July report for the National Academy of Sciences found that biodiesel yields 93 percent more energy than the fossil energy invested in its production. That’s much better than ethanol, which has a plus-25 percent energy balance, and both are better than gasoline. The calculations include everything from the fertilizer used to grow the soybeans to the fuel used to plant, harvest and transport the crop.
Sustainability
Ideally, the world’s future fuel choices will be ecologically sustainable. The report for the National Academy of Sciences set these conditions for viable alternatives to petroleum-based fuels: “…A biofuel should provide a net energy gain, have environmental benefits, be economically competitive, and be producible in large quantities without reducing food supplies.”
Biodiesel rates better than corn-grain ethanol by yielding a better energy balance and greater reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions, the report found. Soybeans produce less runoff of nitrogen, phosphorus and pesticide than corn, and the conversion of biomass to fuel takes far less energy with soybean biodiesel than corn-grain ethanol. However, “neither biofuel can replace much petroleum without impacting food supplies,” the report said.
Biodiesel’s challenges
Price-competitiveness: Biodiesel production enjoys heftier subsidies than ethanol, and it remains questionable whether biodiesel can be cost-competitive with conventional diesel without them. Blenders receive a $1 federal tax credit per gallon of gasoline made from oil crops and animal fats, and there’s a 10-cents-a-gallon small-producer income-tax credit. (Comparatively, the federal tax credit for ethanol is 51 cents.) Government loans and grants also have financed plant construction. Iowa this spring approved subsidies as well, including a 3-cent-per-gallon credit and cost-share grants for retail infrastructure.
Engineers, plant operators and agronomists continue work to reduce feedstock and production costs and improve plant genetics to produce higher oil yields.
Related products also figure into the industry’s economics. Soybean meal - what’s left after soybeans are crushed to produce oil - is a high-protein animal feed that can be consumed by poultry, hogs and beef and dairy cattle. But it must compete for market share and price against the distillers dried grains produced by ethanol plants.
Also, a key byproduct, glycerin, is separated from the oil during processing. As the biodiesel industry has taken off, the market is awash in glycerin. Research that develops greater demand and higher prices for glycerin also could benefit industry margins.
Availability of feedstock: Demand for biodiesel is strong, and the overall U.S. market for diesel fuel is huge. But there simply aren’t enough oil crops and animal fats available to supplant much of it. For the 2005/06 crop year, biodiesel production accounted for 5 percent of soybean-oil use. That’s expected to rise to 13 percent for 2006/07, representing about 8 percent of U.S. soybean production in 2006, according to testimony by Keith Collins, USDA chief economist, before a Senate committee last month. It becomes a vicious cycle: Increased biodiesel demand is expected to push up prices for soybean oil, which in turn raises production costs, making biodiesel less price-competitive.
Information compiled by Carol Hunter, The Register.Read Original Article…
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Small, Clean, Powerful Diesel Engines
From: Edmunds.com
Honda Motors unveiled its latest development in diesel technology on September 25, putting the carmaker well ahead of the pack in the race to bring clean diesel vehicles to market. Its next-generation diesel engine uses a catalytic converter requiring no additives of any kind and will run cleaner through its new design…
…What sets Honda’s new technology apart is that its catalytic converter requires no outside chemicals whatsoever. As the exhaust hits the first layer of the unit, a small amount of NOx is converted to ammonia, which is then absorbed by a second layer. The second layer, now ammonia rich, then reacts with the remaining NOx and spits it out as harmless nitrogen…
…Honda designed the converter for use in its 2.2 iCTDi diesel engine, which has garnered widespread attention since its debut in the current model European Accord. The engine, which is remarkably quiet, is also much cleaner than most diesels right out of the gate. Thanks to a redesigned combustion chamber, a reduction in fuel injection time and other efficiency improvements, the engine already emits significantly less NOx. Add on the new technology the converter affords, and clean diesel could be right around the corner.
While European drivers may be seeing this technology sooner than we will, Honda estimates that their diesel vehicles will start hitting our shores in about three years. Couple this with their recent announcement concerning future diesel hybrid vehicles, and it looks as if Honda is pulling to the head of the clean diesel pack.
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Jeep Liberty Diesel w/ 21% better fuel economy
What do you think of when you hear the word “diesel”? The newer diesel powerplants might surprise you if you thought of noisy trucks spewing black smoke. Using new technologies, diesel engines for smaller vehicles are efficient, quite, and powerful - and create the opportunity to use bio-diesel fuels to replace or compliment your use of petro-diesel.
Source: Green Car Congress
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The 2005 Jeep Liberty CRD, equipped with a 2.8-liter, four-cylinder, turbo common-rail diesel engine, offers 21% better fuel economy compared to a comparable gasoline-powered Liberty (3.7-liter, V-6 engine).
VM Motori provides the engine, an enhanced version of the four-cylinder diesel engine currently offered on this vehicle in Europe. VM Motori is owned in part by Detroit Diesel, a DaimlerChrysler company. VM has been supplying the Chrysler Group diesel engines since 1992 for minivans and Jeep products sold in Europe.
The 2.8-liter CRD engine delivers 160 hp (120 kW) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque at 1,800 rpm, with 22 mpg city, 26 mpg highway, for a combined EPA rating of 23 mpg.
