On Thu, 24 Apr 2014 18:21:40 Andrew McGlashan wrote:
I'm all for a drop in leaded fuels, but unleaded fuels have other properties that I think are also cancerous. Much prefer 100% propane myself (where it is feasible), but we should have far more efficient fuels available to use -- I'm sure we can thank big oil for not allowing us to have that tech though :(
I'm not aware of the additives for unleaded fuel being necessarily cancer causing, at least not more than chemicals such as benzene which are expected parts of petrol. Diesel cars from the 80's and 90's can run on a mixture of ~95% plant oil (EG canola oil that's been filtered after being used for frying) and ~5% ethanol. Modern Diesel cars use higher pressure for the fuel injectors and plant oil will turn to glue. Fuel that is sold as "bio Diesel" is not just plant oil, it's plant oil that's been through some chemical processes to make it suitable for high pressure injection. I don't know what the pros and cons are of plant oil, bio-Diesel, and regular Diesel. If you really want to reduce health issues with exhaust gasses then investigating those options might be a good idea - although propane seems likely to be better due to being simpler. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Model_S But really the best option is an electric car running on solar/wind generated electricity. Electric cars have a range of 400Km+ which compares well with petrol powered cars. The Tesla model S has a range of up to 500Km depending on the test cycle used - my personal record for driving a car without refuelling is 500Km. A Tesla S running on coal generated electricity is still going to produce less emissions than most cars, the big turbines at power plants are more efficient than the light weight engines in cars. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/