New regulations in the United States mandating ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel are igniting interest in efficient diesel vehicles.
One easy way to reduce both carbon-dioxide emissions and oil imports is to switch to diesel engines in cars and trucks, since they're inherently more efficient than gasoline engines. In fact, diesel engines are almost as efficient as gas-electric hybrids, without the need for hybrid technology.
But to date, consumer diesel vehicles have not been widespread in the United States, where tight emissions controls made them more expensive to develop than in diesel-loving Europe. What's more, U.S. drivers' historical indifference to fuel economy--along with their perception that diesel engines are smelly and dirty--convinced automakers that Americans wouldn't buy them anyway.
Starting on October 15, however, ultra-low-sulfur diesel will be available throughout the United States at the pump, as a result of EPA regulations originally devised by the Clinton administration.
By itself, the new diesel fuel will cut soot emissions by 10 percent--but it also opens the way for affordable technologies that can reduce emissions by 90 to 95 percent. The reason sulfur is so significant is that it forms organic sulfates, which create soot, clog emissions filters, and render ineffective catalysts that help convert the soot to harmless materials.
The new U.S. fuel standards slash sulfur levels in diesel from 500 parts per million to 15, making practical the kinds of emissions controls already used in Europe, as well as better treatments for nitrogen oxides, which are key components in smog. This improvement should make meeting toughening emissions standards far easier--and could pave the way for a new diesel era in the United States.
"The cleaner diesel fuel opens the door to diesel cars that can be as clean as gasoline cars, yet offer 20 to 40 percent better fuel economy," says Richard Kassel, senior attorney at the National Resources Defense Council. Such efficiency gains approach those of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles and, as with hybrids, the clean diesel vehicles would also cut carbon-dioxide emissions by reducing the total fuel consumed.
While a few diesel cars have been available in the United States, more automakers are poised to enter the market. Allen Schaeffer, executive director of Diesel Technology Forum, a not-for-profit educational group representing diesel equipment manufacturers, says Honda will have a diesel vehicle (probably an Accord) for the United States in three years. GM has announced a light-truck engine for 2010, as has Cummins. Meanwhile, Daimler-Chrysler is introducing a Mercedes diesel vehicle into the United States next week, and a new Jeep Grand Cherokee next year. Volkswagen also has several diesel vehicles on the market, he says.
A supercritical diesel engine could increase efficiency and cut emissions.
Diesels and hybrids are both valuable technologies, and they are fully complementary. Why not a diesel hybrid? We should make full use of both of these proven technologies, and biofuel, and everything else we can think of: there is no silver bullet.
My family drives two diesel VW Jetta TDIs running on B100 biodiesel. The 2000 Jetta gets 42-50 mpg but the 2006 is bigger and heavier and rather disappointing at 34-38 mpg. The absence of good, efficient consumer diesels on the US market is a lost opportunity.
Guest (choicez)
Bio-oil from forestry wastes.
Dynamotive Industries, an interesting company to look up and watch. They have developed a process called fast pyrolysis, they convert forestry waste products and sugar bagasse into a #2 fuel oil that is a replacement for diesel. This new product is CO2 neutral with only trace amounts of sulfur. They have started their first commercial shipments this year and are licensing the technology worldwide as we speak. dynamotive.com
This is a very promising breakthrough for the forestry industries. The current paper industry is the U.S. is decreasing rapidly. The State of Maine for instance is approx. 90% forests with a very well governed system that only allows selective cutting and transplants what they harvest. This new technology presents a promising future for these renewable resources. There are also some very promising breakthroughs coming for cellulosic ethanol from the forest industries which show even more promise than corn based ethanol.
Check them out!
Cliff Lewis, choicez@tds.net
Re: Why not a diesel hybrid? - in 2010
The French carmaker Peugeot is already working on the prototype of a diesel-hybrid. They plan to launch it on the market in 2010. Check out these websites:
http://www.psa-peugeot-citroen.com/en/psa_group/innovation_b1.php
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/01/psa_peugeot_cit.html
Perhaps we should stop bashing the French, and start learning from them.
This article is terribly disappointing - it lacks both historical perspective and depth of knowledge about this technology.
First off, some history. US automakers developed super-efficient diesel hybrid technology years ago, under a Clinton administration program called the "Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles." We the people put up hundreds of millions in research $ and the damn companies shelved it all when Bush got elected, to go back to business as usual selling SUVs (and to delay meaningful change further by researching hydrogen fuel technology). Check these out.
GM Precept: http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/gmprecept.html
Dodge ESX3:
http://www.autointell.com/nao_companies/daimlerchrysler/dodge/dodge-esx3-01.htm
Ford P2000 Prodigy:
http://www.autoworld.com/news/Ford/Ford_Hybrid.htm
Plus there are already many European cars that either aren't in production or aren't sold here that we could be using: the VW Lupo, the Opel Eco-Speedster, the JetCar. And let's not ignore the San Diego State University Enigma: http://evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=312
In other words, this technology ALREADY EXISTS! It's just not available in the US or in production.
Two things to consider when touting diesel hybrid technology. First, diesel really outshines gasoline in its ability to idle using almost no fuel. It wouldn't work well in a Prius-like system where the gasoline engine turns on and off frequently. It would be better in a design where the non-electric engine stays on for long periods of time (like the GM Precept).
Second, it is a common misconception that diesels are significantly more efficient. I drive a VW Golf TDI, and it gets great mileage. But is it really using less energy? Diesel is a denser fuel with a higher energy content than gasoline, about 12% more (130.88 megajoules/gallon of gasoline vs. 146.33 megajoules per gallon of diesel), so a direct mileage comparison is a bit apples and oranges. Being heavier means it also emits more carbon per gallon than gasoline. Finally, you get more gallons of gasoline from a barrel of oil than you do gallons of diesel, so going to diesel won't necessarily have an impact on our overall oil consumption.
Excellent question. Remember diesel engines in cars and light duty trucks is not allowed in some states such as California, especially where people are most likely to buy a hybrid. They'd be cutting out too large of a market.
Guest (running bear)
why not 2x mileage ulsd diesel now and........ golly gee whizbangs hybrids whenever "they" solve all of the hybrid excuses????????
DME, known as Dimethyl Ether is a very convenient fuel used in typical Diesel engines.
DME is similar to propane and is handled similarly.
It contains no sulfur, since is a pure and single molecule.
DME can be manufactured from synthesis gas, and by methanol dehydration.
Synthesis gas can be made from natural gas and coal gasification/reforming.
Japan is working rapidly on this fuel.
An engine operating with DME will be more durable since this fuel produces much less particulate matter and soot than regular and low sulfur diesel. Also, particulate emissions are reduce 75% using DME vs Diesel.
However, DME as fuel on diesel engines, still requires further testing, improvements and developments.
DME can be considered as an alterntaive fuel to diesel and the resources for manufacturing are widely available on earth.
Just think, the coal resources and natural gas-hydrate in north america.
Energy policies and R&D programs for alternative fuels, such as DME, can be deployed in a short term to provide more insights about this fuel.
In the meantime, sulfur reduction or elimination in conventional diesel will be a major industry challenge and the consequences on what to do with the sulfur generated in refineries is a real problem.
We should provide smarter technologies for transportation.
Currently, hybrids represent the transition or bridge between conventional combustion vehicles and electric vehicles.
As hybrid technology evolves, we will see better performance and advances on batteries that ultimately drive the development of fully electric vehicles.
Then, the problem will be matching the electricy demand.
We need to get off of oil, or at least reduce consumption enough to eliminate most imports, and stop sending money to the Middle East and other unsavory regimes. World oil production is peaking soon, and the inevitable runup in prices will come quickly, causing economic hardship while we scramble to adapt.
Raise the US minimum mileage standards (and close the truck/SUV loophole). Reduce the huge tax subsidies collected by the oil and coal companies, and redirect these to the renewable-energy companies instead. Encourage the development of alternative fuels as other readers have suggested.
I know MIT loves nuclear power, but we have to realize that this will likely always be a high-cost option for electricity generation, due to safety concerns (and an industry that lacks candor and has lost the public trust), an unsolved waste disposal problem, proliferation concerns, and high capital startup costs.
Coal sounds promising, but is a huge step backward, a stopgap at best in these days of obvious global warming. Coal is not "clean" (despite industry marketing wishing it were so), and carbon sequestration remains unproven. Making fuel from coal sounds good but the environment impacts are horrible.
Let's start putting windmills on our coasts (Cape Wind would be a nice start), and in the Dakotas and Texas. Keep going with biofuels. Take a hard look at the full ethanol life cycle to decide whether it helps or hurts. Conserve. River turbines. Feed the grid with your Solar PV roof. Solar hot water. If you have money, direct your investments toward the renewable-energy companies of the future, not the fossil-fuel companies of the past.
Guest (cjbleakley)
"Farther down the road may be hybrid diesel cars, which could potentially get fuel economies of 50 to 70 miles per gallon"
Why is the US so far behind on this? I live in Ireland and on long journeys get 60 miles per gallon from my 3 year old Volkswagon Golf diesel. Around town, I average 40 miles per gallon. Acceleration is excellent. It's not 'dirty'. It is a little more noisy but so what?
Turbocharged diesel engines are OLD techology. You don't need a fancy hybrid engine to get that sort of fuel consumption.
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127 Comments
The Lowly Diesel
Another big advance in diesel tech is the Common Rail fuel system. It is similar to the ink jet metering ink. It allows the power impulse to be spread out to as many as five impulses in just one cycle. This reduces noise, pollution, and cost. It increases fuel efficiency and simplicity.
Biofuel is another consideration. A twenty percent mix of vegetable oil and fossil fuel does several good things without little lose of mileage.
I drive a small diesel VW and it achieves the mythical fifty miles per gallon on the interstate @ sixty five miles per hour. The worst mileage I have had is thirty five miles per gallon. When the United States faces the same shortages and cost of fuel as does Europe, we will embrace diesel more.
The lowly diesel deserves more consideration than it gets. It is reliable, thrifty, clean, and it keeps going, and going...
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