apple juice

I’m not the only person with a weblog that geeks out about Bio-Diesel on a regular basis… case in point, Bill Maher, posting on the new blog that’s all the rage these days, The Huffington Post, says that Bush needs to stop paying lip service to alternative fuels, and start providing some leadership!

Bio-Delicious

With oil prices above $50 a barrel, President Bush has intimated he may finally cheat on the oil and gas industry. His mistress? Biodiesel, a clean-burning alternative fuel produced in a simple refinery process from everyday fats and oils.

Check it out. And I promise, no more bio-diesel posts for a week or two.

Two wonderful developments in the world of TDIs and BioDiesel recently took place.

First off, VW decided to extend warranty coverage to TDI owners who run up to B5, (5% BioDiesel) and they are researching higher concentrations.

This is a huge win. Although many TDI owners already run BioDiesel, this takes creates a “halo-effect” around the cars and the fuel. It is now legit to purchase a TDI and burn the bean.

Secondly, the first BioDiesel production plant in Minnesota opened. This goes hand in hand with VW announcing their warranty coverage, because in 2006, Minnesota will be the first state to mandate 2% BioDiesel in all diesel fuel.

For more info: VW — BioDiesel Now — TDIClub.com

Excellent article from the Boston Globe that was reprinted at Common Dreams. Derailing Amtrak

Does this seem right to you?

Bush’s budget proposal includes $35 billion for highways, $14 billion for airports, and no operating subsidies for Amtrak.

Or this?

Other countries long ago boarded the express. Even Bush’s fellow Republicans can see that. In 2002 John Robert Smith said, “We literally spend more collecting road kill off the nation’s highways than we spend on the entire passenger rail system.”

We need a strong passenger rail system in America. It is as simple as that. And people want it:

This is despite the amazing fact that no matter how much Bush wants to kill Amtrak on the false premise that it must be self-sufficient (when airlines and automobile gasoline of course are not), people vote with their feet that they want rail. A record 25 million passengers took Amtrak trains last year. This was not just an East Coast commuter phenomenon. Ridership was up 14 percent in Iowa last year. Amtrak ridership is up 13 percent in car-crazy California.

Read the article. Call your representatives. etc. etc.

Dear Amtrak Co-workers:

Earlier today, President Bush sent to Congress his
proposed budget for FY ’06. It provides no funding for
Amtrak. In contrast, this year we are spending $1.4
billion, of which $1.2 billion is from a federal
appropriation to support our operations and capital
programs across the country.

The President’s proposal does provide $360 million to
the Surface Transportation Board for continued commuter
and freight operations on the NEC only after forcing
an Amtrak bankruptcy. It also isn’t accompanied by any
kind of plan for how Amtrak could continue operations.
In a word, they have no plan for Amtrak other than bankruptcy.

Obviously, the proposal is irresponsible and a surprising
disappointment. It doesn’t acknowledge all the hard work
you’ve done over the past two years to run a tighter and
better ship. Our costs are more under control than ever
before Рthat’s quite an accomplishment.

It is critical that reforms and improvements must continue,
however. Amtrak’s management is engaged with its board,
the Department of Transportation and others for this purpose.
That work continues. We are committed to an efficient and
productive rail passenger system. The plan to force us into
bankruptcy would be counterproductive to this goal.

The President’s proposal is only the start of a long
legislative process, and we are taking it very seriously.
This process has a lot of twists and turns, and it always t
akes six to nine months to sort out. It won’t have any
impact through the ’05 fiscal year, but there’s going to
be very little cash left at the end of this year. Rest
assured that after all we have been through, I am committed
to doing everything I can to secure adequate funding for ‘06.
We have strong support in Congress and a lot of support
across the country.

The best thing that all employees can do is to do their
jobs professionally, delivering the highest quality
passenger service we know how. If we really care about
our passengers, others will care about us. As I travel
in the Midwest this week, you can bet that I’m going
to be looking at service standards. Stay safe out there,
and keep your heads up.

Sincerely,

/s/ David L. Gunn

More info here from the National Association of Rail Passengers

The market share in Europe of diesel-powered passenger vehicles reached a new high this year. More than 50% of new passenger vehicles registered in were diesels. This compares with (i’m guessing here) about 2% of American vehicles being diesels.

This change will come to America as well, but the holdup is manufacturers waiting for the 2006 changes in fuel regulations and emissions. Once these changes are in place, the use of particulate filters and advanced pollution controls will become possible, as it has in Europe over the past year.

As the article mentions, a diesel engine uses one third less fuel than a comparably sized gas engine. That kind of overall increase in efficiency could substantially reduce our oil consumption as a country.

Hit the jump for some bragging about how much money you could save by driving a diesel.
Continue reading ‘Diesel Market Share In Europe’ »

Riddle me this, Batman. In this supposed “Hydrogen Economy” Bush keeps talking about, where do we get all the Hydrogen?

By electrolyzing water using electricity from “clean coal” technologies.

Right..

I’m telling you, The Answer is Biodiesel

Diesel-electric hybrids… you think that Prius is sweet? A Diesel-Electric Dodge Intrepid that Chrysler is working on gets 76 mpg on average. Not a small car by any means. Just wait for 2006….

Well, lo and behold, someone egged my car last night. Perhaps I dredged up some bad karma by calling Bush supporters fools in my previous post. On the other hand, I doubt the teenage pricks that egged my car read my blog. I don’t think I’m doing a good job reaching that demographic here.

So I spent most of lunch washing the side of the car, and I thought I had it looking all nice and clean. On the way back to work, I had the windows down, feeling the breeze. In the parking lot, windows up… ewwwww! More egg on the window! It must’ve seeped down inside the window a bit.

Bastards!

So maybe I’ll see if I can put my iSight camera to good work, I think there is some motion-sensitive recording software! I could catch the little buggers on video!

Ah, well, I probably won’t get around to that. Twins game tonight!