Trucks! Yesterday's Show

[dboat]

Did you watch it yesterday and see Stacey make biodiesel from used vegetable oil? That was pretty weird. But at least he got 20 gallons of biodiesel for 70 cents per gallon. Thats a pretty good price these days...

Terry, what do you think about that?
Dana

[StormShadow]

Willie Nelson has been preaching this for years.

[Tex Arcana]

hell, *I've* been preaching this for years... with all the doom and gloom of the oil reserves going bye-bye (anyone see "Oil Storm"??), the simplest solution that's been staring EVERYONE in the face has been ethanol. Yeah, it takes more energy to make grain alcohol than one gets from the grain (which I'm not 100% convinced that it does, I think it's a matter of improving the application), but the resource itself (corn) is 100% renewable, and corn oil can be made into a form of biodiesel as well. Leave the petroleum for plastics and some lubricants.

[StormShadow]

Plus it keeps our farmers working.

[L8 APEX]

Ford only warranties their engine to burn 5% bio diesel. The small "stills" you can buy start at 3 grand. It is hard to find free cooking oil from restaraunts because so many sources buy it up. You think a Lightning motor is expensive, a stock 6L Power Stroke crate engine is 15K. That is a lot of liability to save a few bucks on fuel costs. Diesels are very tempermental on the fuel they depend on it to lubricate the injection system. Water can gall an injector in seconds there is a built in seperator. As for Willie Nelson he sells peanut diesel from Carls truck stop it is about 20 cents more a gallon than regular diesel.

[StormShadow]

More Info can be found here http://www.wnbiodiesel.com/index.html

[rickgig]

You can get it at Carl's Corners.

Ed Wallace, the local car critic, recently had a guy on the show that filled up with the stuff. Mileage went down to the point that the offset in the current price per gallon wasn't worth it.

He also said it looks like diesel is about to take a serious jump in price again that is going to reduce the justification between gas and diesel.

Man... I wish these prices would come back into line.

I was just in S. America and heard that one of the countries there has huge untapped oil in the ground but due to political regulations... they are not drilling.

I also heard Brazil has enough lumber to supply the world for the next 300 years. I'd like to know how they calculated that!

I think it's safe to say there is enough crude out there to keep the world moving for the near future (a century or so) but alternative fuels like biodiesel, the time has come.

[Tex Arcana]

You can get it at Carl's Corners.

Ed Wallace, the local car critic, recently had a guy on the show that filled up with the stuff. Mileage went down to the point that the offset in the current price per gallon wasn't worth it.

He also said it looks like diesel is about to take a serious jump in price again that is going to reduce the justification between gas and diesel.

Man... I wish these prices would come back into line.

Likely, the milage difference can be attributed to a non-optomized injection/metering system, or just that the biodielsel had less energy than petrol-based stuff--which brings up another question: how can hydrogen be the "savior" of all things combustive, if it has an energy density on the order of 8-10 time less that of gasoline or diesel?


I was just in S. America and heard that one of the countries there has huge untapped oil in the ground but due to political regulations... they are not drilling.

I also heard Brazil has enough lumber to supply the world for the next 300 years. I'd like to know how they calculated that!

Lots of lumber |= a good idea, especially considering the Amazon is supplying 1/3 of the world's oxygen right now... yeah, GG, keep cutting down our oxygen producers, the stuff's overrated anyhow, kinda like breathing...


I think it's safe to say there is enough crude out there to keep the world moving for the near future (a century or so) but alternative fuels like biodiesel, the time has come.

That's very true, especially with the advent of deep-drilling and the new recovery techniques. However, why wait 'til the last drop of oil is burned somewhere, when we can replace the oil now with things that are much more renewable--especially considering that we need to do the research NOW to make them efficient and self-sustaining?

[rickgig]

Don't get me wrong... I wasn't advocating cutting the forest down or drilling till there nothing left before we come up with alternate fuel sources.

I just thought it was odd that these countries know the resources they are sitting on and they're not developing them because of your stated reasons but due to political reasons which pretty much means $$$'s.

These countries historically screw each other and the country with the best and baddest screw job laughs the hardest.

The average weekly income in Paraguay is 50 bucks. Unemployment is iver 40%. Interest on CC's or loans can reach 127%. Four major banks in the last few years closed their doors and TOOK the money and split leaving families homeless.

I agree we need better fuel... but when people's lives are jeopardized. It's time for them to enter into the current century.

Other than that... don't put your feet in the river unless you want to lose them! (Piranha's)

I know this isn’t a political column but obviously… I am very passionate since my visit.

[Tex Arcana]

Don't get me wrong... I wasn't advocating cutting the forest down or drilling till there nothing left before we come up with alternate fuel sources.

I just thought it was odd that these countries know the resources they are sitting on and they're not developing them because of your stated reasons but due to political reasons which pretty much means $$$'s.

These countries historically screw each other and the country with the best and baddest screw job laughs the hardest.

The average weekly income in Paraguay is 50 bucks. Unemployment is iver 40%. Interest on CC's or loans can reach 127%. Four major banks in the last few years closed their doors and TOOK the money and split leaving families homeless.

I agree we need better fuel... but when people's lives are jeopardized. It's time for them to enter into the current century.

Other than that... don't put your feet in the river unless you want to lose them! (Piranha's)

I know this isn’t a political column but obviously… I am very passionate since my visit.


Well, one would hope that they are sitting on that forest to at least try to save the ecology, not to mention the planet.. but I doubt it... :hammer:

The sad thing is, what you saw is pretty much the norm sound of the Rio Grande--and quickly becoming the norm in this nation, too--because the only truism in it all, is that money trumps all, everything else be damned. :(