Posts Tagged Global Warming
Diesel Vehicles: Why is America afraid of them?
Posted by Jeffrey in Diesel, Green Cars on June 25th, 2009
This is part two of a three-part series on diesel in the United States. Yesterday, we talked about why diesel prices are so high. Tomorrow, we’ll look at what diesel options are coming soon to America. 
Why are diesel automobiles less common in the United States than in virtually every other country in the world? Is it because the United States has stricter emissions requirements? If that’s what you think the reason is, then you’ll be surprised. The European Union countries have nearly the same automobile emissions laws when it comes to diesel-powered vehicles. So, if 40% of the vehicles sold in England and 74% of the vehicles sold in France are diesel, then why don’t we have something comparable in the United States?
Diesel has a bad reputation. That’s the biggest issue.
To get an idea what the diesel reputation is, take a look at Audi’s new ad campaign for their diesel vehicles. It’s all about countering diesel’s old reputation: “Diesel: it’s no longer a dirty word.” Audi attempts to confront some misconceptions about diesels, including the assumptions that they are nosy, dirty, sluggish, and slow. This is all untrue, of course.
Regardless of what the truth is diesel is still associated with big semi trucks spewing exhaust and those old, nasty diesels from decades ago. There are several groups looking to re-educate consumers, such as Clean Diesel Delivers. Their site goes over all the diesel myths in more detail than the Audi ad campaign.
With the proliferation of ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD), diesel vehicles are as clean as or cleaner than gasoline vehicles. And because diesel has more energy than gasoline per volume, fuel efficiency is much better, up to 35% better in fact. One concern of diesels is that they have higher NOx (smog-forming) emissions. The new diesel vehicles have technology that works in conjunction with the ULSD to reduce these emissions. Mercedes’ BlueTec is a good example. So are the new Volkswagen TDIs.
However, in an attempt to jump start the diesel vehicle market in the United States, manufacturers are focusing heavily on the fact that diesel vehicles can have top-notch performance. Audi points out that their diesel race car won the Le Mans race. Audi is currently selling the Q7 TDI, which oozes luxury, safety, and a 0-60 of 8.5 seconds. Then there’s the BMW 335d, with 265 horsepower and 36 mpg. Diesel is indeed no longer old technology.
Put the new diesel technology in a smaller, more economical car and you might get something like the Ford Fiesta ECOnetic. The only reason this car won’t make it to the U.S. has nothing to do with emissions laws.
Ultimately, diesel prices could scare consumers away from switching to a diesel vehicle. Even with the additional cost of diesel, consumers need to not only be educated on the benefits of diesel, such as more torque, power, engine life, and fuel efficiency, but they also need to be assured that the dirty old days of clunky, noisy, and smelly diesels are over. For more environmentally-oriented individuals, the benefit of being able to run biodiesel is an enormous incentive, but it’s unclear if the up-and-coming diesels will be as biodiesel-compatible as we would like.
So, is it time for you to consider a diesel?
Diesel: Why is it more expensive than gasoline?
Posted by Jeffrey in Diesel, General News on June 24th, 2009
This is part one of a three-part series on diesel in the United States. Part two is about why diesel vehicles make up such a small part of the American consumer vehicle fleet. And part three is about what diesel options are coming soon to America.
Many years ago, diesel was cheaper than gasoline. However, since about 2004, that has not been the case. The additional requirement that refineries produce diesel very low in sulfur has also contributed to the increase in price. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has a nice great page focused on Diesel Fuel Prices.
The reason diesel is more expensive in the United States is a bit difficult to nail down. Diesel has historically been cheaper than gasoline in the U.S., but it’s currently cheaper than gasoline in many countries. Take the Netherlands, for example: a gallon of gasoline runs about $7.52 per gallon and diesel about $5.40 per gallon. These same Department of Energy charts show diesel costing about 30 cents more per gallon than gasoline here in the United States, at about $2.92 per gallon. (This is about the time when you realize that you’re getting a great deal on fuel costs!)
Supply and demand issues contribute greatest to the diesel price premium. FactCheck.org has a great overview that explains the diesel price situation. The page talks about historical price trends, but one of the most intriguing explanations of why diesel is more expensive is because gasoline is “cheap.” The Energy Information Administration pointed out that Americans decreased their amount of driving because of gasoline costs. About 97% of consumer automobiles in the U.S. are gasoline-powered, which resulted in great decrease in gasoline demand when gas prices started hitting consumer pocketbooks. However, diesel usage remained much steadier; we still needed all those trains and jets and ships to get goods from one place to another, and all those trains, jets, and ships use diesel (or a fuel very close to diesel in form). Ultimately, demand for gasoline decreased, so price decreased; demand for diesel didn’t decrease, so its price didn’t decrease. This allowed gasoline prices to fall below diesel prices, and that’s where we’re at today.
When looking at worldwide diesel demand, it’s growing rapidly. More than 30% of India’s new vehicle sales are diesel, and that number is expected to hit 50% by next year. In the European Union (page 13), there are several countries in which diesels make up more than 50% of new car sales (Austria, Belgium, Italy, Portugal), and nearly all the remaining countries are at 30% or more. Don’t forget about China, Russia, and Brazil, which are also quickly growing economies that demand more and more oil.
There of course are other factors influencing the price of diesel, such as taxes and production issues, but supply and demand is the biggest issue.
Maui: Beautiful Beaches and an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure?
Posted by Jeffrey in General News, Green Cars on June 23rd, 2009
Image from BetterPlace.com
Hawaii is planning on converting Maui to an all electric vehicle island. The Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative hopes to decrease the state’s dependency on oil and focus more on renewable energy. According to the initiative currently 85% of the state’s energy comes from oil. Hawaii hopes to become more self sufficient by introducing electric vehicles to the island of Maui. According to this article the government hopes to have 3,000 electric cars on the road by 2010 and 50,400 electric by 2015.
Hawaii is a perfect place to introduce an electric vehicle network; people living in Hawaii pay some of the highest gas prices in the country, so driving an electric vehicle will likely be a much greater value than in other states. The geography is also conducive to an electric vehicle system since most of the islands are not that large.
To implement their electric vehicle system Hawaii has partnered with Better Place. Better Place will build up to 100,000 battery charging stations around the island of Maui by 2015. While you can still charge your vehicle at home, you have the option to subscribe to their battery swapping service, which sources their electricity from renewable energy resources. The cost is expected to be up to 8 cents per mile. Just last month Better Place unveiled their trial battery swapping station in Yokohama Japan. The article also includes a video demonstration on the process, which at one minute and fifteen seconds is quite impressive.
While no production vehicles are currently compatible with the battery-swapping stations, Better Place is working with auto manufacturers to ensure future electric vehicles will work with their system.
It will be interesting to see the effects the electric vehicles have on Hawaii’s economy once the network has been well established. Better Place is also working on implementing electric vehicle networks in San Francisco, Australia, Israel, and Denmark. To read more about Hawaii’s energy plan visit www.hawaii.gov/gov/energy.
iTunes, Kindle, NetFlix…Green Distribution
Posted by Jeffrey in General News, Tools & Toys on June 22nd, 2009
Green Car Company teammate Frances Ingraham wrote in our June newsletter about some of the green highlights of Amazon’s Kindle e-reader, most notably that it “requires 67 times less water and 140 times less CO2 to produce than printed newspaper; and books use even more water!” There’s lots of analysis out there about how green the Kindle is, but there is a bigger idea behind the “greenness” of the Kindle: digital distribution is green distribution.
Many of you probably have purchased music off of iTunes (or some other online source). This means that you did not buy a physical CD. You didn’t buy that plastic case with the paper booklet that was shipped from somewhere to arrive at the store where you didn’t buy it. Maybe you didn’t buy the physical CD off the internet, which means you didn’t have it shipped, via truck or plane, to arrive at your home. Your digital purchase cut out the production and transportation of a physical object.
Almost ten years ago I was eager to jump on the NetFlix bandwagon: why wouldn’t you want unlimited DVD rentals delivered to your mailbox? Well, now NetFlix, and a few others, offer digital rentals. You pay for the rental, but instead of driving to the store to pick it up, you simply download it. It saves you time, and it reduces not only the number of trips by car to the rental shop, but also the need for a physical DVD to be produced and shipped to that rental shop.
Sure, it will take a bigger cultural shift to get more people relying on digital distribution. Even though you can get digital CD booklets with your music purchase on iTunes, there is still that happy feeling of having the physical CD case in your hand. Even though the Kindle reads nicely and can hold way more than you can possibly read, holding a book still has a nostalgic feeling. Those sort of intangible perks of physical objects are perhaps the biggest obstacle to digital “green” distribution.
To help you get started on the green distribution path, here are a few sources to check out:
- Books: Amazon Kindle, eBooks.com, Plastic Logic (coming soon!), and Cool-er eReader.
- Music: iTunes, Amazon Music, eMusic.com.
- Movies: iTunes, Netflix (if you stream online), Blockbuster Online, Amazon Video on Demand.
The $100k LEED Platinum Home
Posted by Jeffrey in General News on June 18th, 2009
Before I talk about this amazing green home, I wanted to let you all know that The Green Car Company will be at Whole Foods at their downtown Seattle store tomorrow June 19 from 10am to 3pm. You’ll be able to get a good look at the A2B Electric Bike and talk to a couple experts about them!
Image from 100khouse.com
New home uses 50% less energy, 50% less water, is LEED Platinum Certified, and can be built for just $100,000! SOLD!
The 100K House is a project by Postgreen, a real estate development firm in Philadelphia that focuses on green and affordable buildings. When they say “green” or “affordable,” they mean it. Take a look at the 100K House, which is nearing completion.
First of all, the house is on pace to achieve LEED Platinum certification. (The wiki page makes it a little easier to understand.) Because of it’s incredible design, this home will be able to significantly decrease energy and water requirements.
Perhaps most impressive of all is that, like the name says, the house can be built for $100,000 in supply and labor costs.
The people behind the 100K House have a completely different vision for the future of housing. While still being a for-profit business, they put sustainability and affordability at the top of their priorities. Their 100k House project has an impressive goal in mind as well:
The basic concept of the 100K House is to offer an affordable home that places a high priority on quality, design, energy efficiency, health and sustainability rather than “bells & whistles” that can drive the price of new construction out of reach from the majority of home buyers.
Postgreen has plans to make the house plans available outside of Philadelphia, but that could be a while. Right now, they’re proving that housing doesn’t need to cause a global crisis, but it can help us fight the climate crisis!
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