This is a bubble burster for diesel dreamers. If you really want new technology forget diesel. Do a couple of Google searches on the effectiveness of the "new" diesels with Particle Filters on the exhausts. You will soon learn that they only remove the larger particles from the exhaust stream, leaving the so-called fine particles which do the real lung and health damage. In Europe where diesel growth has been dramatic over the last decade, cancer rates are much higher in urban areas along the polluted thruways. Sickness among children in schools along thruways and elderly people living near thruways, is also far higher. European governments are now slowly trying to reverse the trend of cheaper diesel fuel. Diesel tax rates at the pump were lower than gasoline but the prices are now about the same for both diesel and gasoline. Also diesel engine maintenance is far more costly because of the need for more frequent oil changes and injection system repair costs. Diesel engines are hard to keep in their original supposedly lower CO2 output. Their high wear-out rate is mainly due to the extremely high compression ratio, at least twice that of gasoline engines. Yes, diesel technology has improved but these basic flaws remain. The only solution readily available is first, the reliance on public transportation in metropolitain areas, and second, to using more environmently friendly "fuels" such as electricity (commuters recharging their batteries at home), onboard generated hydrogen, or at least LPG/CNG, which is a perfectly clean burning, albeit fossil fuel. Unfortunately this won't help keep our present oil tycoon lobbyists afloat and they will fight change however they can. Their greed and addiction to oil revenues is going to sink our ship if we cannot cut them off. There is hope because people are finally starting to realize that the oversized SUV must go the way of the dinosaur. Unfortunately the changes are brutal. We have let the auto industry send us speeding towards a brick wall. It's up to us to find the brakes and hope we can stop in time. For those who want a "fun" to drive car, I suggest you drive an electric-powered car just once. You just may be amazed at the acceleration. The rest is all an engineering tradeoff. Peace to all !
"I'm a college student looking for a new laptop, but almost all of my media I receive digitally. I'm looking for a laptop, not a netbook, without an optical drive, and budget sensitive. The optical drive will just be a waste of space, when I can have thinner laptop. What's out there?"
The most commented posts on Engadget over the past 24 hours.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
This is a bubble burster for diesel dreamers. If you really want new
technology forget diesel. Do a couple of Google searches on the
effectiveness of the "new" diesels with Particle Filters on the
exhausts. You will soon learn that they only remove the larger
particles from the exhaust stream, leaving the so-called fine
particles which do the real lung and health damage. In Europe where
diesel growth has been dramatic over the last decade, cancer rates
are much higher in urban areas along the polluted thruways. Sickness
among children in schools along thruways and elderly people living
near thruways, is also far higher. European governments are now
slowly trying to reverse the trend of cheaper diesel fuel. Diesel tax
rates at the pump were lower than gasoline but the prices are now
about the same for both diesel and gasoline. Also diesel engine
maintenance is far more costly because of the need for more frequent
oil changes and injection system repair costs. Diesel engines are
hard to keep in their original supposedly lower CO2 output. Their
high wear-out rate is mainly due to the extremely high compression
ratio, at least twice that of gasoline engines. Yes, diesel
technology has improved but these basic flaws remain. The only
solution readily available is first, the reliance on public
transportation in metropolitain areas, and second, to using more
environmently friendly "fuels" such as electricity (commuters
recharging their batteries at home), onboard generated hydrogen, or
at least LPG/CNG, which is a perfectly clean burning, albeit fossil
fuel. Unfortunately this won't help keep our present oil tycoon
lobbyists afloat and they will fight change however they can.
Their greed and addiction to oil revenues is going to
sink our ship if we cannot cut them off. There is hope because people
are finally starting to realize that the oversized SUV must go the way
of the dinosaur. Unfortunately the changes are brutal. We have let the
auto industry send us speeding towards a brick wall. It's up to us to
find the brakes and hope we can stop in time. For those who want a
"fun" to drive car, I suggest you drive an electric-powered car just
once. You just may be amazed at the acceleration. The rest is all an
engineering tradeoff. Peace to all !