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- Jun 19, 2009
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Quote:
Yeah, legislated environmental protections are often not very well thought out. Remember the ethanol biofuel movement that ended up wasting food and starving some parts of the country? Many of my engineering projects in school have had an emphasis on environmental impact, and what I've found is that there are so many factors to consider simultaneously. Diesels are not favored in the U.S. because of the high NOx emissions they cause, but they consume less fuel due to the higher compression ratios and produce fewer unburnt hydrocarbons and CO emissions. The law, unfortunately, doesn't take that into account.
This, absolutely! It's a smokescreen to make consumers feel they're being more environmentally conscious. Want a car that has a smaller "carbon footprint" and saves money at the pump? Buy a diesel.
KERS technology looks great, but it'll take years for that to filter down to regular consumer models.
Yeah, legislated environmental protections are often not very well thought out. Remember the ethanol biofuel movement that ended up wasting food and starving some parts of the country? Many of my engineering projects in school have had an emphasis on environmental impact, and what I've found is that there are so many factors to consider simultaneously. Diesels are not favored in the U.S. because of the high NOx emissions they cause, but they consume less fuel due to the higher compression ratios and produce fewer unburnt hydrocarbons and CO emissions. The law, unfortunately, doesn't take that into account.