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I have been wondering this myself. Diesel burns cleans, can be made from vegetables and the engines can also be used with methane. Not to mention the engines

I have been wondering this myself. Diesel burns cleans, can be made from vegetables and the engines can also be used with methane. Not to mention the engines are fundamentally more efficient than gasoline. Not only just as a system, but our current use case of low idles and sitting in traffic, a diesel wipes the floor with gasoline. You can get a diesel in the us, but unless you get the vw, you're stuck with a 4 litre truck. I think another important question is why aren't we converting gasoline cars to run on methane? The conversion is less than 1000$ and can be done by anyone. Its a tank some hoses and a regulator and would bring prices down to about 2$ a gallon.

ancarda 13y ago
Because then the oil companies would lose money. Lobbying is the reason.
revelation 13y ago
Diesel does not burn clean. Diesel particulate matter is, due to its size, extremely difficult to filter and of course also highly carcinogenic.
- farinasa 13y ago
  Particulate is only a problem during acceleration. When used in a hybrid system as a generator, it is not a big concern.
DanBC 13y ago
> Diesel burns clean Diesel particulate matter from diesel vehicles is a significant source of harm from air pollution. DPM kills many people each year. Possibly 29,000 people each year in the UK die early because of air pollution. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/19/uk-air-pollution-health-crisis http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/19/uk-air-pol...)
- farinasa 13y ago
  There are many effective means of particulate filtration available.
arbuge 13y ago
I'd be interested in learning more about the methane conversion.... any resource(s) you could refer me to?
- farinasa 13y ago
  The biggest problem is compression. Methane is stored into tanks using a 4 stage compressor. They are expensive due to economies of scale, but I've considered using a paintball CO2 compressor. The problem is I don't have a few thousand for an experimental buy. Some will claim the conversion costs $12,000 and they are right, but only because in order for it to be "legal" it has to be done by someone who is "nationally certified". In other words, the oil industry has their paws wrapped around nearly every aspect. Another advantage of CNG (compressed natural gas) is that it can be added in addition to gasoline. A diesel engine, however, does require a mixture of about 20% - 30% methane to run. Here's a guy who did it himself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYP2ZRwq9EE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYP2ZRwq9EE
maerF0x0 13y ago
Biodiesel is "dirtier" in some aspects (nitric oxides, particulate matter) than gasoline. It's not "sustainable" due to the qty that we demand (and hence the required amount of land for vegetable oil production) . this site is crappy, but I checked the numbers years ago and he didnt seem to be way off on anything. http://home.comcast.net/~russ676/biodiesel/index.html http://home.comcast.net/~russ676/biodiesel/index.html

ancarda 13y ago

Because then the oil companies would lose money. Lobbying is the reason.

revelation 13y ago

Diesel does not burn clean. Diesel particulate matter is, due to its size, extremely difficult to filter and of course also highly carcinogenic.

farinasa 13y ago
Particulate is only a problem during acceleration. When used in a hybrid system as a generator, it is not a big concern.

DanBC 13y ago

> Diesel burns clean Diesel particulate matter from diesel vehicles is a significant source of harm from air pollution. DPM kills many people each year. Possibly 29,000 people each year in the UK die early because of air pollution. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/19/uk-air-pollution-health-crisis http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/19/uk-air-pol...)

farinasa 13y ago
There are many effective means of particulate filtration available.

arbuge 13y ago

I'd be interested in learning more about the methane conversion.... any resource(s) you could refer me to?

farinasa 13y ago
The biggest problem is compression. Methane is stored into tanks using a 4 stage compressor. They are expensive due to economies of scale, but I've considered using a paintball CO2 compressor. The problem is I don't have a few thousand for an experimental buy. Some will claim the conversion costs $12,000 and they are right, but only because in order for it to be "legal" it has to be done by someone who is "nationally certified". In other words, the oil industry has their paws wrapped around nearly every aspect. Another advantage of CNG (compressed natural gas) is that it can be added in addition to gasoline. A diesel engine, however, does require a mixture of about 20% - 30% methane to run. Here's a guy who did it himself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYP2ZRwq9EE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYP2ZRwq9EE

maerF0x0 13y ago

Biodiesel is "dirtier" in some aspects (nitric oxides, particulate matter) than gasoline. It's not "sustainable" due to the qty that we demand (and hence the required amount of land for vegetable oil production) . this site is crappy, but I checked the numbers years ago and he didnt seem to be way off on anything. http://home.comcast.net/~russ676/biodiesel/index.html http://home.comcast.net/~russ676/biodiesel/index.html