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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
byArchieBunker ( 132337 ) writes:
Aren't happening.
Let me get this straight. To make a synthetic fuel you need to burn some energy in processing. Does your new synthetic fuel have more energy than you put into it? Unlikely. You created something more expensive with less stored energy than the raw materials. Who is going to buy your new more expensive fuel that's less energy dense than gasoline?
Same deal with hydrogen. It's an amazing fuel. You just have to burn energy to get some.
byTWX ( 665546 ) writes:
Shouldn't it be possible to design farm equipment that could run off of diesel fuel for the short term but switch to E85 once ethanol-producing agriculture is scaled for it?
I mention E85 because as a hydrocarbon its carbon comes from the atmosphere and photosynthesis pays some of the energy costs associated with producing it. It's not digging up carbon long-sequestered deep in the ground in order to burn it, it's taking carbon out of the air, turning it into fuel, then burning the fuel to release it back i
bydrinkypoo ( 153816 ) writes:
Shouldn't it be possible to design farm equipment that could run off of diesel fuel for the short term but switch to E85 once ethanol-producing agriculture is scaled for it?
The short answer is no.
The minimally longer answer is that it's only feasible with a turbine, because diesel fuel is a fuel oil which is ignited by compression ignition, while E85 is a highly volatile fuel which is ignited by spark ignition. You can run both types of fuel in a turbine, but not reasonably in a ICE, because you need around 16:1 compression for diesel (but it's better with around 21:1 or higher - virtually all modern diesels use relatively-low-for-a-diesel static compression around 16:1 and th
by_merlin ( 160982 ) writes:
In the real world, most engines are replaced every 10-20 years, whether a whole vehicle is replaced or the vehicle is repowered.
What about all those railway locos still running using EMD 567 and Alco 251 diesel motors from the '50s and '60s? They just overhaul them every decade or so and they keep running. Same with large diesels in ships - only getting 20 years of one wouldn't make economic sense.
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bydrinkypoo ( 153816 ) writes:
Very large diesels indeed tend to be kept running for longer periods. I would serve those with biofuel from algae. Maybe some biodiesel in warm climates, green diesel anywhere else or where a small decrease in power is unacceptable. I still think that the best solution is to increase the use of battery electric where possible, which decreases the difficulty of changing over to biofuels by simply using less liquid fuel period. This is extremely feasible for rail use, and in fact this is partly for the reason
byq_e_t ( 5104099 ) writes:
That's not many engines compared to cars, even by aggregate mass
bykarmawarrior ( 311177 ) writes:
Bear in mind railways have skilled mechanics maintaining every loco, the better railways actually putting their locos in the shop once a week or more frequently.
It's not like whatever's in your pick-up truck where your idea of maintenance is to change the oil every six months.
byq_e_t ( 5104099 ) writes:
These days, locos sometimes have sensors on to detect emerging issues via condition monitoring using AI. That may get applied to cars but it's not really cost-effective at present. The idea is that you don't just take your loco and poke it to see if it's OK - you already know, pretty much, what the issues are or will be in 3 weeks time during the scheduled maintenance window.
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