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Subject:Re: What is it with the US? (No real van content)
From:Anthony Egeln
Date:Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:17:14 -0700

What about diesel made from vegetable sources?  Are they more green (no pun intended!).  I see a huge opportunity to produce vegetable diesel on a very local level, not nationally for some time, but as a cottage industry relatively soon.

Anthony
'89 Syncro GL (Hidalgo)

Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ> wrote: There's nothing "green" about diesels as far as pollution is concerned.
This may or may not be reduced by the soot-incinerating catalytic
converters beginning to appear on new diesels.

The ONLY reason for their popularity in Europe & Japan is economics...
diesels use less fuel than gas engines, and even if diesel costs the same
as gas, the better milage (kilometerage?)will result in a saving for the
owner... never mind that he will never recoup the extra cost of buying the
diesel car in the first place.

No diesel car is going to get 60mpg (especially in US gallons) under
normal driving conditions... these figures are only obtainable by using
extreme techniques and only on out-of-town roads. 30-40mpg (imperial!) is
rather more likely in town for normal driving.

I see lots of new diesel VWs here in Calgary. There are lots of older &
newer diesels in New Zealand as well, including large numbers of used
imports from Japan, of which my family currently owns 4.

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