Veggie Cars
Published about 4 years ago
Coker.com.au has another quality post about the environment, this time commenting about veggie cars:
http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/04/11/vegie-cars
I'm not sure if etbe is Russell, but I guess it doesn't really matter!
I chimed in with this response:
Hi Russell or etbe - those kittens sound cute - hope they find a good home. Anyway, about the veggie cars (we spell it with two "g"s in the US - at least I do!) - I think its a great idea in low volume and for many people who enjoy working on cars and treating the planet nicely. I've heard more people say that the cars smell like french fries (aka freedom fries for you hawks out there) than fish. I like the idea because 1) its not too hard to convert a diesel car to run on used veggie oil, and 2) small amounts of veggie oil is discarded for a fee all across the US by fast food restaurants. For massive energy consumption needs, however, the model doesn't scale, and you'd need more supply, and when it comes to eating versus driving, I think most people would rather eat. Therefore I feel that electricity is the only way for future transportation!
Russell Coker says:
Yes, Russell==etbe.
I'd probably spell it with two g's if I wasn't quoting a domain name. ;) But as it's not a recognised word it doesn't matter much.
http://etbe.coker.com.au/2007/03/15/worse-than-fossil-fuel/
I agree that it will only solve a small part of the problem. At the above URL I did some hand-waving calculations about how far vegie fuel could stretch if combined with other fuel saving measures.
Electricity is part of the solution for driving, but current technology allows 100Kg of batteries to drive a Prius for 10 to 20 minutes. A plug-in hybrid with significantly more batteries than the current Prius type vehicles and a tank of Ethanol or vegetable oil is a good option. I think that plug-in hybrids have the potential to reduce fuel use by 95% or better.
Having all car fuel be from vegetable oil and electricity seems quite possible.