I never said it will happen over night. Something on this large a scale wont happen even in the 10-15years. But in that time they could greatly increase the supply of and use of the ethanol based fuels.

Regarding the supply and demand of oil, I realise that, and while me nor you knows what will happen in the future, I do beleive while china industrializes itself, our gas prices will just keep going up and eventually we will be paying the same rediculous gas prices as most other countries around the world. If you look at china, they have most of the world population, but up until recently they used very very little of the worlds oil. Supply and demand = so much oil and the US is the only one needing it, so we could pay very little for it. Now china will pay any amount to get what they need and our prices go up.

While I do hope in 10-15 years we will have a better technology than ethanol, you cant just wake up and say hey, we just learned this new tech, by next week I want tyhe whole nation running off of it. it will take 10-15 years or more just like the ethanol switch. So we have to work with what we have today, which is ethanol.

 

I have a soution:

make a bio-diesel.

 

Ethanol sucks, it's only exists as a minor alternative due to excess corn production we're paying for. When the word gets out it will lower your fuel economy, consumers will avoid it. Maybe that's why manufacturers aren't screaming a blue streak about it, if it were to become successful we'd have to lower CAFE standards.

Bio-diesel will never work, eventually the enviromentalists will turn on it when they realize it will make a market out of wasted animal fat. OK, so one guy can run his car on fried chicken grease collected from his town, does that mean everybody can?

We will never pay as much as the Europeans at the same point in time as long as they tax their gas heavier than we do.

I think the only reason diesel is more attractive in Europe is the trucking unions would bring the economy to a halt if they tried to tax diesel as heavily as gasoline.

I say drill in ANWR. It won't solve our problems but it will increase our domestic production.

 

What we really need right now is a 250cc high pressure turbo direct injection 18,000rpm gasoline engine putting out about 90hp giving a 3000lb car like the tC 75mpg on the highway. Granted, acceleration would bite, but I'd have bought it over the current tC for that kind of mpg.

 

I call bullsh#t.

That is out of the realm of possibility for the current consumer.

 

Yes even now some of the more radical left environmentalists are turning on biodiesel because it has gone commercial. However, It has outgrown the environmentalists. It has become much less expensive to make biodiesel at home than to buy No2 diesel and when purchsed at a retail station is very competative with No2 diesel. That has radically changed the playing field on who supports biodiesel.

Biodiesel blends like B20 (20% biodiesel, 80% No2 diesel) are becoming easier to find all over the country. In many places it is less expensive than plain diesel. The National Biodiesel Board has a list of biodiesel retail stations with almost 900 stations listed. So to answer your question, no not everyone has access to biodiesel. I'd guess that only 80-90% of the country has access to it.

The bigger limitation on biodiesel is the shortage of quality diesel powered cars. I would love to see a diesel hybrid Toyota Scion in the US.... Maybe one day

 

There is no shortage of quality diesel cars. Whenever they're introduced here, they always underperform. There is no cost savings like in Europe where gasoline is taxed more heavily. People say there is this grand conspiracy against diesel in America, the fact is they just haven't been all that popular the dozens of times they've been introduced in even less emissions-stringient times. As far as a good bio-diesel, may I suggest whale blubber? One humpback can bring you so much fuel.

 

Do you mean "underperform" as in lackluster sales? It is true demand has not been there in the past, but I was referring to present conditions. The companies that offer diesel cars are having trouble keeping them on the lots. Diesel cars are selling for a premium when they are available. For most brands, only the highest volume dealers can even get them. No conspiracy, just demand outstripping supply. Similar conditions exist in the hybrid car market.

Actually biodiesel from whale blubber would have a higher BTU content than the average biodiesel, making it superior fuel in that respect. It would however have a higher gel point, making it less suitable for cold weather.

 

Both diesel and hybrids are subject to demand restrictions. Only the first 60,000 hyrids sold qualify for the full tax credit, and the TDI diesel can't meet emissions in California.

It remains to be seen if people who could most benefit from a hybrid, namely tightwads without $3150 in taxes to offset, would actually buy one.

Emissions standards aren't going away, so there is no reason to overproduce diesels that can't be sold in the largest state, or won't meet upcoming emissions standards

 

Umm, biodiesel is made from soybeans at the large-scale level. The "restaurant cooking grease" approach is only for the lone guys on the lunatic fringe...

 

Biodiesel puts out more NOx emissions than petrodiesel.

Benz's BLUETEC diesel just failed emssions in 5 states because of NOx.

Not to mention the land costs of producing enough biodiesel to replace the petroleum fuel supply.