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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] A 69.9 MPG Diesel Hybrid -Coming Soon from VW:

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  • From: "L. Santoyo" <santoyo@earthflow.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] A 69.9 MPG Diesel Hybrid -Coming Soon from VW:
  • Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:33:08 -0800

Not an efficient fuel to manufacture -perhaps -but compared to what? (I
think I understand what you mean, compared to not driving or using fossil
fuels at all -agreed) -But I still drive (a lot!) and I only get 26 mpg -I'm
not big on hybrids either -but I still think 70 mpg is encouraging.

My friend drives a VW Passat, not a hybrid, and gets close to 55 mpg -he can
use diesel, biodiesel or vegetable oil. Right now I drive an old, heavy
diesel car (also converted to burn multi-fuels) and I have two gasoline
trucks. I can get E-85 for the trucks when I drive in Los Angeles and I can
get filtered, used vegetable oil delivered to my house for less than two
thirds the cost of diesel (almost $4.00 a gal here now). But I still only
get 26 mpg at best.

(Trudie -no disrespect -I'm not saying you are saying this -I'm just using
this opportunity to rant now -thanks!)

Yes -there is additionally a raging debate -about the efficiency and
certainly the negative repercussions of using vegetable products -energy
use, market price, etc... but I'm betting that it will get better
-especially when permaculture trained designers and engineers get involved
and remember to stop comparing apples to oranges and remember to implement
basic permaculture methodologies to problem solving...

Yes -in isolation it takes X amount of energy to produce X amount of
BioFuels -but in permaculture we don't teach that we do things in
isolation! (Let's remember the obligatory permaculture parable of the
chicken and the garden -or that the greenhouse in isolation and the house in
isolation isn't as efficient as linking them together is).

My contention continues to be that solutions to energy descent lies in
diversity -and some of the diverse solutions include: identifying and
linking already existing waste heat sources (all over every city in the
world!) waste oil, celulosic byproducts and/or even raw materials grown in
roadside swales -to production. Even on a very small scale for very
task-specific equipment. (stove top fuel production?) I trust we can -and
will- develop byproduct efficiencies that we solution multiply in
Permaculture Designs to apply to solve the raging biofuel and energy use
issues.

My ranting continues -but elsewhere for now,

L.Santoyo
www.earthflow.com


On Fri, Feb 29, 2008 at 2:00 PM, Trudie Redding <tredding@mail.utexas.edu>
wrote:

> Diesel is not an efficient fuel to manufacture
>
> Trudie
> -----Original Message-----
> From: permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of L. Santoyo
> Designs
> Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 2:12 PM
> To: permaculture
> Cc: Permaculture
> Subject: [permaculture] A 69.9 MPG Diesel Hybrid -Coming Soon from VW:
>
>
> From Wired Blog...
> http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/02/vw-unveiling-an.html
> "...The Golf Hybrid will get almost 70 mpg while meeting Europe's
> stringent Euro V and America's Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions standards,
> making it green enough even for California. The car is said to emit
> just 89 g/km of CO2. (For comparison, the Prius emits 104 g/km and
> Honda Civic Hybrid emits 116.)..."
>
> L.Santoyo
> <http://www.earthflow.com>www.earthflow.com
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