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Backseat Driver: Clean diesel the way to go for short term

Expect diesel technology to hit like a tornado next year because depsite all the hoopla about ethanol, biodiesel and hydrogen fuel cells, it seems to me that clean diesel will join gas hybrids be the alternative fuel of choice in the near future.
A week ago, USA Today published a story about the plans of a number of auto manufacturers to bring diesels to market next year. They include Audi, DaimlerChrysler, GM, Honda, Nissan and Volkswagen.
Certainly the German auto makers have taken a solid lead in developing clean burning diesel engines. The Volkswagen Group has developed exceptionally fast and powerful diesel engines with its Turbocharged Direct Injection (TDI) technology. The essence (if you will excuse the pun) of TDI is the enormous pressure applied in injecting the diesel into the combustion chamber. The result is a fine vapor that burns exceptionally efficiently.
At the same time, government regulations in Europe and now here have cleaned diesel fuel by removing the sulfur which was added for lubrication. It turns out biodiesel does the job and is cleaner. Indeed using it as an additive is about as much use as we can expect to get out of biodiesel given the minuscule amounts being produced.
VW's Audi division has been dominating the race tracks with its R10 TDI Le Mans racecar; the car is incredibly fast, almost emission free and practically silent.
Those three attributes make the new diesel technology very attractive. And don't forget that diesel engines are more efficient than gasoline ones - ie they get more miles per gallon. Overall, they present a very attractive mix of performance, fuel-efficiency, quietness, low-emissions and the traditional low-maintenance associated with diesel engines.
To be sure, it's still a fossil fuel, so it's not a perfect solution. But in the short term, it's certainly a viable alternative to gasoline in that diesel is readily available at the nation-wide network of gas stations. That's a problem with ethanol based E85, hydrogen fuel cell technology and compressed natural gas. That and production limitations.
I agree with the president that hydrogen fuel cell technology offers the most viable alternative to fossil fuels because electricity is undoubtedly the way to go - but it's at least 20 years away. In the meantime, expect more manufacturers to get on the clean diesel bandwagon as it establishes itself as the breakout alternative fuel for the near term.
Actually, BMW has already taken it one step further by proposing to build diesel hybrids by 2010. That's a really smart combination.

Posted by   at 11:04 AM to Alternative fuels | Permalink | Comments 1

Halberstam saw rise decline of Detroit, rise of Japan

The Detroit Free Press's Tom Walsh reminds us that the late great David Halberstam predicted the decline of Detroit's auto industry and the rise of Japan's auto companies back in 1986.
He remembered a phone interview at that time in which Halberstam said Detroit's auto industry was "extraordinarily vulnerable." It "remains weaker and smaller than ever before. There's an illusory quality to the industry's comeback," he added.
It was Sept. 17, 1986, Walsh writes. The man speaking was David Halberstam, whose book "The Reckoning," on the stunning rise of Japan's auto industry and the decline of Detroit's, was new in stores.
Walsh goes on to argue that it should not matter that Toyota is now No.1, the focus in Detroit should be better autos

Posted by   at 10:51 AM to Auto industry | Permalink | Comments 0