Survey: Are You "Hostile to Diesel"?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 09. 8.08
According to Business Week via our earlier post, one of the reasons that The Ford Motor Company is not bringing the 63 MPG Diesel Fiesta is that "US Consumers are hostile to diesel."
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Diesel,
As an asthmatic, there are two subjects that seem "fashionable" in treehugger land that are not at all environmentally friendly.
1. Diesel = particulate heavy exhaust, and don't tell me new engines are cleaner, I have seen several late model VW TDIs go through my neighborhood leaving a cloud of soot. Soot is bad for you, bad for the local environment. And although diesel is more energy dense than gasoline, it is just a fraction of crude, so in the end, you are just changing what part of the barrel you want to use.
2. Heating you house with wood. So pellet stoves may be cleaner, and using firewood may be carbon neutral, it is terrible for air quality. I grew up in a town where many people used firewood, and on a nice winter morning you could see the whole town enveloped in a haze of smoke. Now, when I wait for the bus to go to work, I cough some mornings walking past teh two house on the way that use wood to heat in the winter. So, sure, less carbon footprint, more heath problems.
So, say no to diesel, its better to just move on to hybrids and EVs.
We need to skip the transition phase and go all electric ... Tesla & Fisker ... others ... we can do this now.
-sun
We own two diesel vehicles - purchased because we made the decision to start making our own biodiesel from used restaurant oil. Not a simple process, but we can produce enough to cover our needs and then some. Not an answer for most.
Diesel engines last far longer than gas engines - we anticipate owning these cars for a good long time.
Some day we might have a perfect solution, till then I want to investigate 'all the above': biodiesel, electrice, air fuel cell and every other option anyone can come up with.
What about vertical windmills in the center of highways that generate electric to power the cars/create the fuel/heat the house?
Planting vegtable oil producing crops in the center and sides of highways?
I also have a diesel. I plan to still have it in another 10 years. I fill it with biodiesel when I have a chance to past the station which is outside of town by 10 miles. Locally, the price of diesel is LESS than gas (London, Ont). I also get twice the fuel mileage of all those Vans and SUVs out there.
Yes, my next vehicle will be pure electric, but till then, diesel is the way to go.