Friday, October 19, 2007

I see your Prius, and raise you an Excursion.

So, for probably the past 8 or 9 years, I've been infatuated with diesel engines. Ever since I was introduced to an early 90's Dodge Ram 2500 with the 12 valve Cummins motor. I was impressed with the sound of the motor, the apparent torrent of torque and horsepower, and the remarkable fuel economy considering it's size.

Ever since, I've lusted after vehicles with diesel engines. However, I'm also a bit of a "gear head" and have a bit of an addiction to performance, particularly the kind associated with small, light vehicles with a reasonable amount of horsepower, and excellent handling. I've also never really had a "need" for one of the vehicles that usually have optional diesel motors as they are usually very large and meant to do serious industrial type work.

So what does all of this have to do with a Prius? Well, for nearly as long as I've been interested in diesel I've had a desire to own a Ford Excursion with a diesel power plant. If you're one of the increasing number of people who are trying to live "green" you're probably clutching your chest and gasping. If so, consider this.

A Toyota Prius is considered to be the ultimate "green" automotive conveyance. So let's use that as our baseline.

2007 Toyota Prius
MPG 60(city)/51(hwy) -- Assume 55.5 as average fuel economy 60+51/2=55.5
10,000 Miles Per year
10000/55.5=180 gallons of gasoline
180*19.4=3492 lbs of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere annually

2005 Ford Excursion (Diesel)
MPG 15(city)/18(hwy) -- Assume 16.5 as average fuel economy 15+18/2=16.5
10,000 Miles Per Year
10000/16.5=606 gallons of diesel
606*22.2=13453 lbs of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere annually

If you're curious my MPG numbers for the Prius comes from its EPA rating, and my MPG numbers for the Excursion come from estimates based on average mileage people have reported on various forums, so there is a little room for interpretation there. My CO2 emissions per gallon of fuel is based off the EPA's own findings.

So, already there is an obvious difference, the Prius dumps almost 10,000 fewer pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere than the Excursion. Take that earth destroying consumerist, you say? What if that same Excursion were fueled by 100% biodiesel?

According to The National Biodiesel Board, biodiesel emits 78% less CO2 than petroleum diesel. That changes our equation considerably.

22.2*.22=4.884 lbs of CO2 per gallon of biodiesel.
606*4.884=2959.704 lbs of CO2 annually for the same Excursion driven 10,000 miles a year on biodiesel!

That's over 500 FEWER lbs of CO2 than the Prius! Now I can already hear you saying.. But the Excursion has to burn over 3 times as much fuel as the Prius, what about refining and transporting all that fuel? True, that will increase the Excursion's carbon footprint again, probably to a point where the Prius is again the "greener" option. But, consider this.

Say you put together a small biodiesel refinery. Now, say you mounted said refinery to a suitable trailer chassis. Now, say that you put a couple solar panels, batteries, and pumping/heating equipment on the trailer as well. Why, all of a sudden, you have a mobile biodiesel refinery that is self sustained, and can be pulled by the aforementioned Excursion to your local fast-food joint to pick up oil. I suspect a system like this would cost less than $5,000 and would easily supply one or two diesel powered vehicles in a household. That should mitigate the carbon footprint of getting the fuel!

Also, consider that biodiesel is "carbon neutral", meaning that the only carbon it emits is carbon that was absorbed by the plants from which it is made. Good stuff.

Starts to look pretty compelling vs the Prius which likely won't last the 300-600k miles a diesel motor would. Nor could a Prius haul 8 people, luggage, and a trailer someplace.

Now, I'm not saying that it's the perfect choice for everyone, but it should make the point that blindly accepting that any one "green" solution is the silver bullet is foolish. I also hope I helped to demonstrate that not all things are as they appear. So next time you see a diesel powered large truck, consider that it may not be "killing the planet" but might be coming awful close to the emissions of a vehicle designed to be "green". That is, if it's running biodiesel.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You know, i have been making the argument that my perfectly tuned excursion diesel would put out less emmissions than the piece of crap 85 accord that some tree hugger is driving because he thinks he's "saving the environment" just because his car has a small engine.

RyanG said...

Well, you might be on the losing side of that argument, but probably by a smaller margin than you or the honda driver might assume.

The oldest accord I can find data for is a 1988, (I use MSN Autos for most of my information) and the EPA rating is 27(city)/34(hwy). That makes an average of 30.5.

That makes 327 gallons of gasoline.

327*19.4=6343.8 lbs of CO2.

Your Excursion would put out just over double the CO2 running on the Ultra Low Sulfur petroleum diesel that is mandated in Californa pumps.

However, you mention the difference between your vehicle running well, and tuned, vs. the Honda probably not performing perfectly. That adds some other stuff to the equation like unburnt hydrocarbons etc. I don't have the hard science so I can't estimate the differences that would make, but I surmise that it's significant.

If you run B100, or even B20, and buy an "Out of Towner" TerraPass you can be a smug as you like driving your Excursion.

My real point is that there aren't black and white answers to being environmentally friendly, only shades of "green".

Anonymous said...

qwikrex.blogspot.com is very informative. The article is very professionally written. I enjoy reading qwikrex.blogspot.com every day.
online cash advance
canadian payday loans

Anonymous said...

I just linked this article on my facebook account. it’s an interesting read for everyone.

Anonymous said...

Купим неликвиды заводов

ICQ 586-179-503
tel:+380958561468
Людмила

СР50-346ФВ СОЕДИНИТЕЛЬ РАДИОЧАСТОТНЫЙ. 1990-2010 ГОДА.
MIC 337 НЕТ
Разъем BST14i2F B1 ZR1 S MGN01 -93.421.0553.1 < 100 WE
Samsung S5570/S5330 Нижний разъем 7дн
2РМДТ30КПН24ШnВ(А)1(ЛБ)В
10-0060 red разъем 7дн
РБМ5-4-Г1(2,3,6,7)-(5)В
РРС4-4-0-1-В
разъем карты памяти FLS007-6001-2
2РМДТ30КУЭ8ШnВ(А)1(ЛБ)В
Разъем а/магн. Volvo S80
2РТТ48БПН9Ш27В
Разъем питания 7 конт. (п) шаг 2,54 на плату прям.угол (WF-7R)
СШК8-4x25-2Р-В
48-364-35 разъем CPF 5,08/5
ОНЦ-БС2-10/14Р1-1(1-20)В
Разъем на рейку WKB 2,5/STB 4/U-40/V0
ШР28У2ЭГn-К
ШР36ПК5ЭГn-К
Разъем RST20i3 96.032.0053.1 -96.032.0053.1 < 1000 WE
1-550-3,Разъем mini XLR 3P "шт" металл на кабель
СШР48У20ЭГn
МР1-19-6В
1-551-3,Разъем mini XLR 3P "гн" металл на кабель
Разъем PH-3MP вилка на блок < 1000
Разъем GST15I2 SS1 ZR1 SW -91.922.3053.1 < 100 WE
Разъем питания 3 конт. (п) шаг 2,00 на плату (MW-3M)
2РМГ14БПН4ШnЕ1(2)(Б)
РРС6-10-9-3(4…12)-В
ШР16П2НГn-К
TFT FG050720DSSWDGT1 Разъем на 40конт. шаг 0.5мм, без шлейфа < 100 DI
2рмт27кпэ24ш1в1в группа Разъемы ---14723
2РМТ30КПН32ГnВ(А)1(ЛБ)В
Имп.разъем BH26-G
2РТТ48БУН20Г28В
4РТ60БПН47ГnОВ
РП15-10ГА6В
Разъем 25 pin (м) на кабель зажимной (DBI-25F)
IDCC-16-MS Разъем "п" на пл. с защелками, шаг 2,54 мм AE811738
Разъем пит. штыревой 2,1 мм (п) на пр.бл. под гайку, мини (DJK-04A)
разъем DVI-29FR роз
Разъем 2х25 (м) для пайки на плату (PBD-50)
2РМГД36БПН20ШnЕ1(2)(Б)
Разъем РпИм1,25-250 плоский (20 шт) ИЭК
Разъем рбм4-19-2г7в
Sony Ericsson T200/R600 Нижний разъем 7дн
ГРПМШ1-31-ГО2В группа Разъемы ---10525
СР50-452ФВ(5) группа Разъемы ---809793
2РТТ32БПН8Ш42В
Samsung E200/C520/E390/E420/E570/E740/E790/i600/M300/U300/Z230/X830 Нижний разъем +


56007