There’s nothing like a bad batch of biodiesel to ruin your day. Biodiesel is biodegradable and inadequate storage can lead to degradation. That’s why systematic biodiesel testing is absolutely crucial. The good news is that biodiesel is easy to test. With the right kits, testing biodiesel for quality, impurities, and contamination is as easy as testing pool water.
I spent some time with the folks from Fleet Biodiesel at the 2008 Alternative Fuels and Vehicles Conference in Las Vegas, where we shot this video:
Fleet has developed a range of relatively inexpensive biodiesel test kits to check for water and visual appearance, microbial contamination, acid number, biodiesel percentage, and total glycerin.
If you’re running biodiesel in your vehicle, you should keep a test kit (or two!) on the shelf in the garage …
It’s been half a decade since I killed a tree (and I’ve killed more than my share in my day), but that might come to an end very soon. I’m getting ready to shop a book/documentary proposal, with the working title “Bent Over a Barrel” … it’s the story of how Big Oil’s actions and influence have driven this country’s economy to its current state.
Influence is just as important as action (or inaction).
Here’s a specific case in point …
Last April, Newsweek published a piece entitled Miles to Go, with the far more descriptive yet entirely misleading subhead, “Why automakers don’t sell a car that gets 50 MPG.” Never once does the article mention fuel-efficient diesel engines, yet the article begins with the chestnut:
Wouldn’t it be great if you could drive a car that gets 50 miles per gallon? Well, you can. Just hop on a plane and fly to Europe, where all new cars average 43mpg, or Japan, where the average hits 50mpg.
Well, gee … why do European cars get such great mileage? Lets guess … it’s not just because they are often smaller then their American counterparts. It’s not because Europeans are driving hybrids (which they largely dismiss). It’s because more than fifty percent of the new cars sold in Europe use far more efficient diesel engines.
Can we blame the article’s omission of fact on editorial ignorance or something more heinous?
Ah, but all hope is not lost.
Earlier this month, Newsweek woke up and ran an article entitled Diesel vs. Hybrid, with the subhead “There’s more than one way to build an environmentally-friendly car.”
Could it be? The oil men have left the building and only weeks later Newsweek wakes up to the facts?
The piece opens and closes with the word from Volkswagen. The 2009 Jetta TDI is flying off the lot. VW put in the work to bring a clean diesel engine to the States and the gamble – rather, the investment – is paying off.
The vast majority of Americans have absolutely no clue how wonderful the new clean diesels are to drive. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time test driving clean diesel vehicles over the past year, at my own expense. (My research and coverage is not influenced by corporate overlords, though it is constrained by current economic conditions.)
The German automobile manufacturers absolutely have it right. Bringing fuel-efficient fun-to-drive clean diesels to America takes a lot of guts … and smarts.
The 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI’s optional automatic transmission is one of its best features. While it doesn’t provide trendy paddle shifters, it does provide complete control with a Tiptronic slapstick shifter and six speeds that allow you to get the most out of the engine. While we normally prefer manual transmissions, the six-speed auto only added to the pleasure of reviewing the 2009 Jetta TDI Sportwagen.
MPG-o-Matic Volkswagen Jetta TDI Sportwagen Review Summary:. The 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Sportwagen raises the bar among the most fuel-efficient cars, by virtue of its wonderful clean diesel engine, delivering a winning combination of performance, utility, and fuel economy, in a fun-to-drive package.
The 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI is the first small car in America to offer a highly-efficient and powerful clean diesel engine, and is available in both 4-door sedan and Sportwagen variants.
All 2009 Jetta TDIs are equipped with a 2.0 liter 4-cylinder turbocharged clean diesel engine, mated to a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. The Jetta TDI’s common rail direct injected inline four produces 140 horsepower (HP) and 236 foot pounds of torque. Continue reading →
Sometimes it makes sense to stall. I’ve been meaning to dig into the economic stimulus bill to find out exactly what it contains with regard to alternative fuel cars. As I attended to other matters, the answers appeared in my inbox, thanks to the Diesel Technology Forum (DTF) and the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute (AFVI).
According to the AFVI, the Economic Recovery Act that was signed into law by the President yesterday includes:
$ 2 billion for research for electric vehicle batteries
$ 10 million for advanced technology vehicle manufacturing
$400 million for near-term deployment of electric drive vehicles
$300 million to reduce diesel emissions
$300 million for regional deployment of alternative fuel vehicles
The Diesel Technology Forum notes that the $300 million earmarked for heavy-duty diesel vehicle and equipment owners to retrofit their fleets represents a six fold increase from last year’s funding level of $49.2 million.
In the meantime, I couldn’t resist dropping another iReport off at CNN, regarding the topic of economic renewal through energy independence …
I’m optimistic that this bill is the first step in establishing a comprehensive and coherent energy policy in this country. 100% energy independence is America’s best bet for a long and lasting recovery. We need to fix what ails us, rather then haphazardly blast out a bunch of expensive band-aids with a shotgun.
While it’s cool that we’ll all be eligible for a sales tax rebate on purchase of a new car, the measure would have been even more effective if the House had seen fit to maintain the provision for the auto loan interest rebate.
Regardless of that, the auto sales tax rebate is a first step to helping pump revenues back into the States, into the automakers, and into the dealers at the local level.
As I’ve written on these pages, this is a great time to buy a fuel-efficient car. There are tax rebates for certain hybrids and clean diesels – on top of the sales tax rebate.
MPG-o-Matic Volkswagen Jetta TDI Sportwagen Review Summary: . The 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Sportwagen raises the bar among the most fuel-efficient cars, by virtue of its wonderful clean diesel engine, delivering a winning combination of performance, utility, and fuel economy, in a fun-to-drive package.
