I found a site that pulls together more info on existing and future vehicles using diesel technology than I've ever seen in one spot.
Do diesels have a future?
Diesels are "extra interesting" (IMO), because they can be run on "BioDiesel" that we grow right here in the U.S. or make out of recycled oils like from McDonalds french fryers (used oil that otherwise businesses pay to put in landfills). This creates one vehicle that lets you burn fuel from your "source of choice"; petroleum, soybeans (or other vegetable sources) or recycled oils.
Another interesting aspect of diesels is that they get inherently higher mileage. Diesel fuel contains 15% more energy per pound than gasoline plus diesels operate at higher temperatures and pressures for higher efficiency use of the energy. A VW Golf TDI (or Jetta Wagon) gets 49 mpg.
When you bust up crude oil to get a gallon of gasoline...the way our refining processes work you automatically get two gallons of diesel. So...you can often find diesel fuel at a lower price than gasoline.
One stumbling block for diesels has been higher NOx emissions. There is a section that explains if we got the sulfer out of diesel, we could use catalysts (like we already do in gas vehicles) to clean up the NOx. BioDiesel contains no sulfer.
Do diesels have a future?
Diesels are "extra interesting" (IMO), because they can be run on "BioDiesel" that we grow right here in the U.S. or make out of recycled oils like from McDonalds french fryers (used oil that otherwise businesses pay to put in landfills). This creates one vehicle that lets you burn fuel from your "source of choice"; petroleum, soybeans (or other vegetable sources) or recycled oils.
Another interesting aspect of diesels is that they get inherently higher mileage. Diesel fuel contains 15% more energy per pound than gasoline plus diesels operate at higher temperatures and pressures for higher efficiency use of the energy. A VW Golf TDI (or Jetta Wagon) gets 49 mpg.
When you bust up crude oil to get a gallon of gasoline...the way our refining processes work you automatically get two gallons of diesel. So...you can often find diesel fuel at a lower price than gasoline.
One stumbling block for diesels has been higher NOx emissions. There is a section that explains if we got the sulfer out of diesel, we could use catalysts (like we already do in gas vehicles) to clean up the NOx. BioDiesel contains no sulfer.