Go Back   EcoModder Forum > EcoModding > General Efficiency Discussion
Register Now
 Register Now
 

Reply  Post New Thread
 
Submit Tools LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 11-15-2007, 11:38 PM   #1 (permalink)
Dartmouth 2010
 
SVOboy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hanover, NH
Posts: 6,447

Vegan Powa! - '91 Honda CRX DX
Team Honda
90 day: 66.52 mpg (US)
Thanks: 92
Thanked 122 Times in 90 Posts
Send a message via AIM to SVOboy Send a message via MSN to SVOboy Send a message via Yahoo to SVOboy
Diesel- and Hybrid-Powered Vehicles Can Provide More Societal Benefits than Gas-Power

Another interesting side in the great ethanol debate.

Quote:
Cars and light trucks powered by advanced diesel technology or hybrid technology can provide larger societal benefits than traditional gasoline-powered automobiles, according to a RAND Corporation working paper presented today.

The research by RAND, a non-profit research organization, also found that light trucks and cars continuously fueled by a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline – known as E85 – compare unfavorably with the other two alternatives.

“Rising oil prices coupled with concerns about global climate change are driving debate about which fuels and engines should be used to power the 17 million new cars and trucks sold each year,” said John Graham, dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School and senior author of the research paper.

“Advanced diesel and hybrid technologies show very well in this study, in terms of benefits to the individual and society overall,” Graham said. “E85 simply doesn't provide the same benefits.”

Graham presented the results of the research today at the annual meeting of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management in Washington, D.C. The peer-reviewed paper is available online as part of RAND's working paper series in which initial research results are shared publicly to solicit additional technical feedback.

The research examines the benefits and costs of three alternatives to the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine for the 2010-2020 period: gasoline-electric hybrid technology (as found in the Toyota Prius or the Ford Escape SUV Hybrid), advanced diesel technology (such as the Mercedes-Benz E320 sedan), and dual-fuel vehicles that are powered continuously by E85.

Each alternative has the technological potential for significant market penetration in the near term, the research finds.

Additionally, each technology was compared to a gasoline-powered vehicle. Comparisons were made for three vehicle types: a mid-sized car, a mid-sized SUV and a large pick-up truck. The cost-benefit comparisons were made from the perspective of individual consumers and society in general, on a per-vehicle basis over the life of the vehicle.

The paper ranks the four technologies using benefit-cost analysis. Using most reasonable assumptions, the results placed advanced diesel technology first, followed by hybrid technology, the gasoline engine and E85 technology.

The consumer perspective accounted for technology cost, fuel savings, mobility and performance. The societal perspective also included tailpipe pollutants, greenhouse gas emissions and “energy security costs” for the fuels – the costs to society as a whole from greater dependence on expensive and unstable foreign oil supplies.

Fuel taxes are excluded in the societal case, which is typical of benefit-cost analysis. And the costs are estimations that illustrate relative performance.

The results assume fuel prices of $2.50 per gallon for gasoline, $2.59 per gallon for diesel fuel, and $2.04 per gallon for E85 (including tax credit). The report also examines scenarios where fuel costs are much higher and much lower.

Among the key findings from the consumer perspective:

* For all three vehicle types, the advanced diesel offers the highest savings over the life of the vehicle among the options considered. These savings increase with the size and fuel use of the vehicle: $460 for the car, $1,249 for the SUV and $2,289 for the large pick-up truck;
* The hybrid option has smaller but still considerable savings for SUV applications ($1,066), moderate savings for pick-up applications ($505) but minimal savings over the life of the vehicle for car owners ($198);
* The vehicles operating on E85 cost all three owners more over the vehicle life, with a greater net cost burden for larger vehicles and increased fuel consumption: (-$1,034 for cars, -$1,332 for SUVs, -$1,632 for pick-ups).

Both the hybrid and diesel vehicles are more fuel efficient than their gasoline-powered counterparts: 25 to 40 percent better for hybrid and 20 to 30 percent for diesel, depending on the vehicle.

“While it is assumed that the hybrid vehicle will save more fuel than the advanced diesel, the overall advantage goes to the diesel because of its lower technology costs and better performance such as increased torque,” Graham said. “For E85, it is the cost of producing the fuel, not vehicular changes, that drives the negative results.”

The key findings from the societal perspective are similar to those of the consumer perspective, including:

* The advanced diesel again shows the most promise, particularly for the larger vehicles: $289 for cars, $1,094 for SUVs and $2,199 for large trucks.
* The net benefits for hybrids are somewhat less positive, with moderate-to-small values of $481 for SUVs and $132 for light trucks, and an increased cost for cars (-$317) over the life of the vehicle
* Results for E85 remain uniformly negative, even more so for larger than smaller vehicles: -$1,046 for cars, -$1,500 for SUVs and -$2,049 for light trucks

“While the net benefit of E85 is generally unfavorable compared to hybrid and advanced diesel technology, the diesel's edge over the hybrid is not as significant,” Graham said. “If the cost of hybrid technology falls significantly, the benefits of the hybrid could equal or exceed the diesel.”

The report finds that E85 does not generate net societal benefits unless a breakthrough reduces ethanol production costs or gas prices stay near their current high levels for a sustained period of time.

“Hybrid and diesel technology are close, but diesels have the advantage for the typical motorist, and provide a strong edge for drivers who require towing, hauling and rugged capabilities such as those offered in pick-ups,” Graham said. “Hybrids have a competitive edge for urban consumers who experience more stop-and-go city traffic.”

Graham said it is unlikely that market forces alone will result in widespread use of any of the three technologies, noting that federal consumer tax credits improve the benefit-cost estimates of the advanced diesel and hybrid technologies.

The paper, “The Benefits and Costs of New Fuels and Engines for Cars and Light Trucks,” can be found at www.rand.org.

The research was funded through philanthropic support for the Pardee RAND Graduate School, including contributions by DaimlerChrysler, The Dow Chemical Company, DuPont, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, General Motors and Toyota.

Other authors include Ryan Keefe and Jay Griffin, doctoral fellows at Pardee RAND Graduate School in Santa Monica, Calif.

The Pardee RAND Graduate School was founded in 1970 as one of America's original eight graduate programs in public policy and remains the only one based at a think tank. The interdisciplinary doctorate in policy analysis offered by the school is designed to train creative thinkers to play important roles in solving major problems facing the world.

  Reply With Quote
Alt Today
Popular topics

Other popular topics in this forum...

   
Old 04-11-2008, 12:18 AM   #2 (permalink)
EcoModding Lurker
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: A Place That Needs Millions of Electric Cars
Posts: 13
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Thanks for the link. Now if you could just get our President to read this because he's been subsidizing and touting ethanol for years now and taking our country in exactly the wrong direction. For change we need the proper leadership at the top.
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-11-2008, 08:02 AM   #3 (permalink)
Batman Junior
 
MetroMPG's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,513

Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 52.71 mpg (US)

Even Fancier Metro - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage top spec
90 day: 70.75 mpg (US)

Appliance car - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 60.16 mpg (US)
Thanks: 4,058
Thanked 6,957 Times in 3,602 Posts
Hi Wonderworm -

Welcome to the site ... where we generally don't spend time on political discussion, but ways to improve the efficiency of your skills & your vehicle. Hint hint.
__________________
Project MPGiata! Mods for getting 50+ MPG from a 1990 Miata
Honda mods: Ecomodding my $800 Honda Fit 5-speed beater
Mitsu mods: 70 MPG in my ecomodded, dirt cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage.
Ecodriving test: Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown



EcoModder
has launched a forum for the efficient new Mitsubishi Mirage
www.MetroMPG.com - fuel efficiency info for Geo Metro owners
www.ForkenSwift.com - electric car conversion on a beer budget
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-11-2008, 11:30 AM   #4 (permalink)
EV OR DIESEL
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: South Louisiana
Posts: 1,758

FarFarfrumpumpen - '03 Volkswagen Jetta Wagon GLS Premium

Quorra - '12 Tesla Model S P85
Thanks: 57
Thanked 113 Times in 86 Posts
Send a message via AIM to dremd
that needs to be on gas 2.0 and autobloggreen
__________________
2016 Tesla Model X
2022 Sprinter
Gone 2012 Tesla Model S P85
Gone 2013 Nissan LEAF SV
2012 Nissan LEAF SV
6 speed ALH TDI Swapped in to a 2003 Jetta Wagon
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-11-2008, 02:08 PM   #5 (permalink)
Master EcoModder
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
Posts: 531
Thanks: 11
Thanked 12 Times in 11 Posts
I think ethanol is starting to get a bum rapp. If you optimize an engine to use the 105 octane that E85 gives you it can give you a significant boost in efficiency. There are a slew of what I call soft benefits to ethanol as well. What we need to do is get our ethanol from better sources and start optimizing our engines to use it. if you want to see an Ethanol industry done properly, look to Brazil, wiki is a good source for basic info.
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-11-2008, 02:19 PM   #6 (permalink)
EV OR DIESEL
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: South Louisiana
Posts: 1,758

FarFarfrumpumpen - '03 Volkswagen Jetta Wagon GLS Premium

Quorra - '12 Tesla Model S P85
Thanks: 57
Thanked 113 Times in 86 Posts
Send a message via AIM to dremd
Very Very True
An E85 ONLY vehicle would be great, however that would be fairly impractical, unless it was a track car, like a Turbo Supra with 9.5/1 compression. Did I just say that?
I've hear the octane to be closer to 107, and bear in mind it isn't nearley as hard to cool an alcohol vehicle as a gasser is either :-)

Decisions, Decisions Twin CT-26 1uzfe MKIII, or a Full Electric 550 Spyder
__________________
2016 Tesla Model X
2022 Sprinter
Gone 2012 Tesla Model S P85
Gone 2013 Nissan LEAF SV
2012 Nissan LEAF SV
6 speed ALH TDI Swapped in to a 2003 Jetta Wagon
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-11-2008, 02:39 PM   #7 (permalink)
Master EcoModder
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
Posts: 531
Thanks: 11
Thanked 12 Times in 11 Posts
Its really only unpractical as long as E85s availability is questioned. Thats where government can step in and mandate pump availability. Even Diesel can be hard to find at times and in my opinion why Hydrogen wont go anywhere.

Last edited by Duffman; 04-11-2008 at 02:47 PM..
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-11-2008, 02:54 PM   #8 (permalink)
MechE
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 1,151

The Miata - '01 Mazda MX-5 Miata
Thanks: 0
Thanked 21 Times in 18 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Duffman View Post
I think ethanol is starting to get a bum rapp.
Naw, it has had some bag mojo for a long long time... It's just in plain site now.
__________________
Cars have not created a new problem. They merely made more urgent the necessity to solve existing ones.
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-12-2008, 01:57 AM   #9 (permalink)
EcoModding Lurker
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: A Place That Needs Millions of Electric Cars
Posts: 13
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
In all fairness, I should caveat my negative Ethanol comment with an emphasis on the negative of the corn or other food crop based ethanols which are the least efficient and also cause unnecessary but strong food price inflation. Sugarcane based ethanol, which is the Ethanol from Brazil, is far more efficient to produce than our corn based, and ethanol from switchgrass or refuse trash is also worth evaluating due to recycling merits.

But subsidized ethanol from our corn crop should return back to the way of the dinosaur and the subsidies used instead for something like wind, solar, hydrogen or even drilling for more oil.
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-12-2008, 10:06 AM   #10 (permalink)
ECO-Evolution
 
Lazarus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 1,482

Iron Horse (retired) - '97 Iron horse Intrepid

Ninja - '08 Kawasaki 250R
90 day: 76.23 mpg (US)
Thanks: 17
Thanked 44 Times in 33 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by wonderworm View Post
s.

But subsidized ethanol from our corn crop should return back to the way of the dinosaur and the subsidies used instead for something like wind, solar, hydrogen or even drilling for more oil.
Does that mean that you want gasoline to be free market also?

Welcome to the site

__________________
"Judge a person by their questions rather than their answers."

  Reply With Quote
Reply  Post New Thread


Thread Tools




Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.5.2
All content copyright EcoModder.com