Notice all the Prius hybrids and Volkswagen TDI
diesels in Pt. Reyes? West Marin has always been an environmental "early
adopter" but, pushed by tough EU regulations, European and Japanese
manufacturers are further reducing oil use and global warming emissions
while competing for market share. The majority of cars sold in Europe
are advanced diesels, with diesel hybrids on the way from Peugeot. Competition
is fierce and no one has a clear edge. Biodiesel? Hydrogen? Shell’s
ultra-clean synthetic fuel from natural gas? It’s all on the table.
To promote their technology, Audi’s twin turbo lightweight V12
diesel aims for an outright win at the famed LeMans 24 hour race. To
make a point, Audi is running it with emission controls.
http://www.audi.com/audi/com/en1
/experience/ motorsport/r10.html
And in the US with the dual fuel/oil addiction pitch in
the State of the Union? More mirrors and oil smoke. Hooked on short
term SUV profits, Detroit drives through every loophole in the Federal
CAFÉ mileage regulations, including the one that lets manufacturers
count dual fuel vehicles as high-mileage, even if they never run on
an alternate fuel. It’s old technology. GM doesn’t even bother
to advertise that all their Surburban SUV’s will run on ethanol,
they just take the mileage credit. This lets them sell more gas guzzlers
and "meet "mileage regulations. The games playing is so bad
that even though the regulations call for 27.5 mpg fleet average of
all the cars produced, the Energy Information Administration reports
the actual fleet mileage has dropped to 18.6…..the EPA says 20.7.
http://www.ase.org/content/article/detail/2098
Each 1 mpg increase in true CAFÉ standards saves
5 billion gallons of fuel annually. If Bush wants any credibility on
this issue, close the loopholes and raise the standards. It will actually
help the car industry.
A senior U.S. engineer gave me the startling
information that there is a U.S. funded advanced clean diesel program
that had been in the works since 1998. They get a combined city/highway
average of 22.1 mpg in a Dodge Durango SUV with the same power and
acceleration as the 13.8 mpg gasoline motor, over 60% improvement.
However he feels that by doling out R&D funding without demanding
that the cars be sold to the public is giving away multimillion dollar
carrots when the only thing that will work is a big CAFÉ fuel
standards stick.
http://www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/resourcs/proceedings/
2002_deer_presentations.shtml
(See Section 8&9)
The engineer accuses the automakers of "strip
mining" America’s technological capabilities for years, and
not growing or making markets for new ideas. He feels that US carmakers
will only change when the government demands it, noting that each energy
crisis, Detroit loses 10-15% of its market and never gets it back. The
current 50,000+ job losses from Ford and GM are the tip of the iceberg,
which could easily total 5 times that when all the developers and suppliers
of the new technology are considered.
He cites Toyota as an example of what Detroit should
have done, using the California market to launch the Prius Hybrid. He
said that the first Prius was good, but the second model is brilliant,
and the production costs are way down. Now they’re taking advantage
of Britain and Germany’s ultra low sulfur fuel programs, introducing
"the world’s cleanest diesel," the 46.3 mpg Avensis DCAT
(a full-sized sedan) garnering real world experience, just as they did
with the Prius. Even California Air Resource Board, notoriously schizophrenic
about diesels, has good things to say about it. He’s sure the second
generation DCAT will be brilliant.
http://www.dieselnet.com/news/2003/10toyota.php
The problem lies not with American scientists and
technology, but with Congress and the "impermeably layered grey
clay of American automotive management". Their inaction is aided
and abetted by the oil industry and the White House. When EPA delayed
the implementation of low sulfur fuel standards from 2001 to 2006, it
effectively protected Detroit from the clean foreign diesels that need
the low sulfur fuel. The oil industry is lobbying to use post-Katrina
damage as an excuse for further delays.
Some politicians claim that they are protecting union
jobs by not toughening CAFÉ standards. With an estimated 30%
overcapacity in the world automotive industry, the only companies that
will survive will develop the best technology, scramble up the learning
curve of production and put it in the hands of the public first. Franklin
D. Roosevelt put it best in his commencement address at Oglethorpe University
in May of 1932, shortly before he won the Democratic presidential nomination.
Decrying the wanton exploitation of natural resources and short-sighted
financial greed, he said that the true temperament of the country called
for "bold, persistent experimentation" as the only truly safe
path to the future. And the only way to save the US auto industry.