Lee
Senior Member
Posts: 1,899
|
Fuel
Apr 30, 2004 21:28:58 GMT 1
Post by Lee on Apr 30, 2004 21:28:58 GMT 1
The first oil well was dug in 1859. A couple of weeks ago the scientific community announced that they guesstamated that half of the worlds oil had now been pumped out of the ground. Considering that the world as a whole did not really start consumming oil until about 1940, we probably have maybe 100 years of oil left in the ground. But as the oil fields start running dry, more expensive methods will be used to extract the remaining oil. Already some oil fields are using steam or water to bring the oil to a well head.
Coal is another fuel with a limited supply. We are digging coal out of the ground like there is no tomorrow. Japan is buying up shiploads of coal and dumping it in a bay in Japan so they will have a supply in the future.
Plastic is made out of oil or coal. When the oil and coal supplies deminish and the prices rise, it will make the cost of plastic go up. This is going to have a direct effect on both our mode of transportation and the type of material our models are made out of within our lifetime.
|
|
|
Fuel
May 1, 2004 1:37:02 GMT 1
Post by cfesmire on May 1, 2004 1:37:02 GMT 1
Personally, I'm pushing for hydrogen. As a kid, I saw an experimental hydrogen powered vehicle and it's owner pulled out a glass and drank from the exhaust pipe. Now that is not the reason I wish to see hydrogen succeed as our new alternative fuel but it is fuel for thought. (ok, that was really lame but I couldn't resist)
|
|
Lee
Senior Member
Posts: 1,899
|
Fuel
Jun 27, 2004 3:58:53 GMT 1
Post by Lee on Jun 27, 2004 3:58:53 GMT 1
I was reading where you are going to have to start watching the used hybrid engine car salesmen. One was telling a customer the other day that when you get to the top of the hill, shift into neutral and let the gravitaional drive kick in. ;D
|
|
BillC
87thScale addict
Posts: 2,541
|
Fuel
Jun 27, 2004 14:22:48 GMT 1
Post by BillC on Jun 27, 2004 14:22:48 GMT 1
Petroleum has so many uses, it's almost a shame to use it as fuel. Plastics, pharmaceuticals, the list goes on for quite a way.
While hydrogen is a nice answer, both a workable technology and delivery/storage systems and infrastructure are still years in the future.
Hybrids stretch gasoline, but at a cost of a significant disposal problem with used lead-acid batteries.
Infinitely renewable biomass can be developed to produce fuel suitable for diesels (those marvelous powerplants so underappreciated in the U.S.). In addition, the technology is coming online to reduce nitrous oxide production and effectively capture particulate emissions, making diesels even cleaner than gasoline-powered engines.
In addition, diesels are scalable; they can be built to power anything from a Smart to a luxury cruise ship.
Certainly for the long-term future, other technologies will be used to meet our transportation needs, but the best interim solution still remains the diesel.
|
|
|
Fuel
Jun 27, 2004 14:57:50 GMT 1
Post by cfesmire on Jun 27, 2004 14:57:50 GMT 1
Bill, The more time I spend reflecting on what you have to say about diesel engines, and with some nudging influence from my son, the more I believe you are right on target with regard to the fuel of the future. And that virtually all of the major vehicle manufacturers are already geared to produce diesel engines without losing a step in any major conversion. It seems so logical, why are we not hearing more from our politicians and the news media about it? Is it that the petroleum industry so well entrenched and influential or is this more a question involving the car buying public?
|
|
stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
|
Fuel
Jun 27, 2004 15:33:32 GMT 1
Post by stanhas87 on Jun 27, 2004 15:33:32 GMT 1
Dear Sirs:
I also believe on Diesel. I also though that if we land on another planet, Diesel engines may be the way to move around it. Too far away,I know.
The public consider diesels as noisy,shaky and without proper acceleration to merge at the freeway and it smokes more -and pollutes - than gas engines(or so I heard). Also,it comes to memory of the failure of the Diesel engines that were offered on Oldsmobiles or Cadillacs. But as I also heard, these were gasoline engines that were converted (badly) to diesel. As Chester said, this is the proof about the gasoline industry trying to stop the development of proper diesel engines for private vehicles.
There are also an outcry about how dangerous -and polluting - Diesel is, but frankly, I can not buy that.
In theory, Diesel engines are supposed to be cleaner than gasoline engines.
|
|
Lee
Senior Member
Posts: 1,899
|
Fuel
Jun 28, 2004 22:53:58 GMT 1
Post by Lee on Jun 28, 2004 22:53:58 GMT 1
Infinitely renewable biomass can be developed to produce fuel suitable for diesels By biomass, I will assume you mean organic material. I wonder how many square feet, yards of land growing whatever kind of base would keep one truck on the highway? I suspect that we may be talking in acres. How many square miles will it take to run a power plant?
|
|
skunk
87thScale addict
5th B-day
Posts: 2,762
|
Fuel
Jun 29, 2004 23:41:59 GMT 1
Post by skunk on Jun 29, 2004 23:41:59 GMT 1
Regarding biofuels, i always found the Brazilian attempt at using alcohol very interesting, they had to scale it down as the world bank and the IMF started frowning on programs for self-sufficiency.
I know a man (in Denver) who makes a living buying coffee beans directly from the Zapatistas in southern Mexico. He lives in an old schoolbus which is converted to run on biodiesel, truly a man who lives according to his own ideals. Much of the oil comes from surrounding restaurants, supposedly.
And as for diesel in the US, the trucker lobby is another hinder - the low-sulphur diesel required for modern, clean diesel engines is strongly opposed by this powerful lobbying group, due to a price increase of a few cents per gallon.
|
|
|
Fuel
Jun 30, 2004 3:39:18 GMT 1
Post by cfesmire on Jun 30, 2004 3:39:18 GMT 1
I can still remember the attempt at promoting gasahol in this country several years back. A tremendous failure. Guess corn on the cob was more appealing to the public. With regard to the truckers, even a few cents on the gallon can translate into a pretty big chunk of change on a cross country trip. From my experience, truckers work on a very slim profit margin.
|
|
BillC
87thScale addict
Posts: 2,541
|
Fuel
Jun 30, 2004 11:58:35 GMT 1
Post by BillC on Jun 30, 2004 11:58:35 GMT 1
The truckers have already lost that battle. Low-emissions engines, originally set for introduction this year, became mandatory in October 2002.
Low sulfur fuel will be required in 2006 and ultra-low sulfur fuel will be required in 2008.
In 1998, most of the large truck and engine manufacturers agreed to moving up the standards for low emissions by fifteen months in order to settle a civil suit and avoid criminal charges they had rigged pollution control software to cut out at highway speeds, which improved fuel economy, but resulted in significant excess emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.
In addition, the manufacturers agreed to fines and penalties totaling over $1 billion, a record settlement.
In addition to the agreement with the trucking industry, several states have had to agree to require low-sulfur fuel as part of their agreements with the EPA to improve air quality. These states include California and Texas, among others.
While all this does mean truckers will pay more for fuel (and we'll have to pay more for the goods they deliver), it also means we will have better air quality. It also means we will be able to utilize the latest generation of European diesels that require low-sulfur fuel.
|
|
|
Fuel
Jul 3, 2004 2:18:55 GMT 1
Post by Alan on Jul 3, 2004 2:18:55 GMT 1
It's good to know that Biodiesel has been mentioned as I have long been considering making the stuff to run both my Toyotas on. Here in the UK there has been a lot of controversy lately surrounding the price of fuels in that about 75% (That's right, 75%!) goes to the Government in fuel duty. I made an estimate a while back that the price of petrol, or gasolene, equates to about $7 a gallon! As cfesmire said, haulage companies run to a tight profit margin here as well. A lot of people have been going down the Biodiesel route, but they end up having to pay duty as well, even though they are using what is effectively recycled waste material. What a country I live in!
|
|
|
Fuel
Jul 3, 2004 4:19:50 GMT 1
Post by cfesmire on Jul 3, 2004 4:19:50 GMT 1
I've heard just this evening (watching the British Int. Auto Show on Speedvision TV) that over 30% of the passenger vehicles in the U.K. are diesel.
|
|
Lee
Senior Member
Posts: 1,899
|
Fuel
Jul 3, 2004 5:05:13 GMT 1
Post by Lee on Jul 3, 2004 5:05:13 GMT 1
An interesting fuel that I have never heard of before was used in Spaceship 1. It was a mixture of rubber and Nitrosoxide (laughing gas). Does this mean someone finally found a use for old tires?
|
|