Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderB
Previously, they'd always been pushing for "CO2 reduction" to reduce dependence on oil since the oil crisis, promoting diesels, and more recently plug-in hybrids as they gamed the system and got "infinite" MPG for the NEDC cycle. Also blending 5% bio fuel (mandatory).
|
The NEDC cycle is quite weird. Measuring the EV-mode mileage separate from the hybrid mode would lead to more accurate results. When it comes to biofuels, I'm very favorable to them. Not just biodiesel and vegetable oils, even ethanol despite all the controversies surrounding it, and nowadays there is also biomethane coming out as a viable replacement for both CNG and LPG. It's a shame that the European Union bowed down to Saudi Arabia instead of going further with biofuels. Germany has been a long-time leader in development of technology for biogas/biomethane production, and even the Nazi experience with synthetic gasoline made out of wood chips in Poland could have been developed further in the postwar as an alternative to reduce the dependence on Arab oil. At least it wouldn't lead to the cold-start issues that plague ethanol-fueled cars here in Brazil
Quote:
|
LPG is a big of a strange story, its a clean fuel, and yet the gov't is doing everything they can to stop people from using it to its full potential. (You can't DIY the conversion, it has to be a pre-approved car/install combination, the fuel is cheap by our standards but still taxed quite steeply if you look abroad, and you pay extra tax on the car too. Without all the extra tax, it would be a no-brainer to put an LPG tank on everything.)
|
LPG might be cleaner than gasoline, but since it's also petroleum-based it doesn't sound so attractive at all from a "sustainability" standpoint. It's actually not legal for road use in my country, where CNG is used instead and can be easily replaced or complemented by biomethane. When it comes to DIY installations, gaseous fuel systems are quite complex, and I'm aware of some accidents that happened with precarious conversions not just for illegal LPG conversions but also for sub-standard CNG setups. In my country there are no actual restrictions to CNG conversions into any vehicle, as long as '97 and newer vehicles are fitted with electronically-controlled CNG hardware.
Quote:
|
The worst part really is how hard they're trying to be the good kid, reduce our (already small) emissions more.. The amount of taxation going on to 'punish' people for owning and driving cars is insane, meanwhile, the developing world drives around in our old cars or ****ty new ones made with 80's tech, gets fuel (nearly) untaxed, and generally emits nearly infinitely more pollutants of every kind, but we have to bend over backwards "for the environment".
|
Green is the new red...