Why all of the diesels in 2009-2012?

Do the automakers know something about algal biodiesel that we don't? It would not be wise to modify a 'bread and butter' item like the F150 or Silverado without a change coming. Surely our bovernment will not make the same mistake by subsidizing soybeans that they made with corn.

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Permalink Reply by Matt S on August 3, 2008 at 4:15pm: The automakers could care less about where the biodiesel comes from. Algae, soybeans or Mac Donald's nobody cares. The winner will be the first to put a financially valid production scheme in place. I'm not counting any chickens but....

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Permalink Reply by brandon scuffins on August 4, 2008 at 1:40pm: Aside from being on the average more fuel efficient, biodiesel is far easier to produce than biogasoline. There is a much wider selection of algae strains that create hydrocarbon chains appropriate for diesel than there are algae strains that produce hydrocarbon chains long enough for gasoline. This gives growers a better opportunity to select just the right algae strain for their geographic region. It is also far more easy to refine biodiesel than it is to refine biogasoline.

If you are srious aboutmaking the change to a 100% biofuel powered fleet, the vast majority of the vehicles should be diesel powered.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brently54 on August 6, 2008 at 8:07am: New diesel engines aren't biodiesel friendly. Most manufacturers only recommend 5%, so they don't know something about algae diesel that we don't.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by brandon scuffins on August 7, 2008 at 5:05pm: Algae biodiesel is a specific subset of the biodiesel family of fuels, which include many different origins, such as used cooking oil, palm oil, algae oil, and a few dozen others. Most auto makers only reccommend a small percentage of biodiesel be used in their blends because they have no way of knowing what the biodiesel was made of, or how pure it is. There are currently no real standards for biofuel purity, and therefore if an automaker were to say "This vehicle can run on 100% biodiesel," it would present a huge liability for the company, as they have no way of knowing which strain of biodiesel would be used. Different strains of biodiesel can require different procedures for useage (some biodiesel strains need to be warmed before use, as they "gel" in cold weather), all of which cannot be satisfied by a common vehicle designs.

Algal oil on the other hand is basically as close to crude as you can get in terms of HC length and lipid structure, and should require little to no modifications from a conventional diesel engine aside from replacing the fuel lines on older model vehicles.; ▶ Reply to This