Diesel Dreamin’

28 July 2004

Dan Neil at the LA Times on diesels. Nice backgrounder, review of the VW Touareg, and a good conclusion.

I would argue that diesel is highly underrated by environmentally conscious consumers. For as giddy as people are about gas-electric hybrids such as the Toyota Prius or the coming-soon Honda Accord hybrid, imagine a diesel-hybrid, perhaps with a plug-in option. Such a vehicle could return mileage of 50 to 70 mpg, with commensurate reductions in greenhouse gas and hydrocarbon emissions.

Even more tantalizing is the promise of biodiesel. Biodiesel is vastly cleaner than conventional diesel fuel, offering something like 75% improvement in greenhouse-gas emissions over petroleum; it is derived from sustainable resources; it works perfectly in any diesel engine and may be blended with regular diesel fuel; it qualifies as an alternative fuel, which means that vehicles using it may avail themselves of coveted high-occupancy vehicle lane access; nearly two dozen retailers sell biodiesel blends in California.

So how much imagination does it take? What if a large percentage of America’s rolling stock were diesel-electric hybrids fueled with super-clean renewable fuels made from products grown in America’s farm states which could comprise the Saudi Arabia of biodiesel?

Excellent! We need more pieces like this from mainstream media. Informed, analytical, raising the level of the discussion.