Somehow it’s appropriate that my first link to Daily Kos in quite some time would happen on Halloween. But Kos did find a cool story about a guy who’s doubling gas mileage of cars while increasing their horsepower.
Now, not being that mechanically inclined, my main concern about citing this guy as a superhero is that I don’t know how many bio-diesel cars our country could support. Obviously we have the capacity to support a lot more than are on the roads now, but at some point we’re going to reach the point where supply of biofuel is maxed out, and that’s going to happen a lot sooner than we run out of potential drivers.
Still, the idea of biofuel has always intrigued me in a low-level sort of way. And if nothing else, Kos is right that ingenuity is still alive and well in America.
Diesel demonstrated his engine at the Exhibition Fair in Paris, France in 1898. This engine stood as an example of Diesel’s vision because it was fueled by peanut oil - the “original” biodiesel.
Oil came along later, because it was easier to produce.
Going to need a lot more fatty fried food eaters to fuel todays fleet.
..and right on cue comes the U.N. shrieking that bio-fuel is morally reprehensible because farmers can make more money selling grain as fuel than as food. Prices are rising, the poor are dying! The end is near!!!
Can his modifications meet Federal and State emissions regulations?
Have his modifications demonstrated no additional wear or harm to the engine?
If he was concerned about the fuel solidifying, how practical are the modifications in a temperate and cold climates?
If he can modify a Hummer for 60 MPG and answer the questions, he might have something. The article indicated he was still working on it.
Call Pat Goodman in Winchester, Virginia. He’s a master mechanic and frequent contributor to G Gordon Liddy’s radio show. He’ll probably be able to explain why this is an impossibility (if it is so). Lots of ways of measuring fuel consumption to seem to get a better outcome without actually achieving it in the real world (which is the real test, after all).