Alternatives to regular gas engines
ZENN Information
- What does ZENN stand for?
- ZENN stands for Zero Emission No Noise
- What is a NEV
- An NEV or Neighborhood Electric Vehicle is a class of cars that are built for around town or neighborhood use. They are deisgned to travel at speeds up to 25MPH on roads with speed limits up to 35MPH. They are electronically limited to 25MPH to comply with the national vehicle motor safety standard FMVSS 500
Want to help speed up the ZENN, sign the petition here: Speed up EV's Petition
Diesel Information
What is this new diesel fuel?
- The old diesel standard said that there had to be less than 500 parts per million of sulfer in diesel fuel. The new standard reduces that number down to 15 parts per million. What this means is that the diesel fuel available throughout the state is now much cleaner so whether you run regular diesel or biodiesel you can feel better about your emissions.
- As of September 1, 2006 California has switched over to the new reduced sulfer diesel statewide.
- Chevron has a good FAQ on the new clean diesel.
Why buy diesel? - The top three reasons to buy diesel over gas.
- Better Gas Mileage [Expand/Collapse]
Right now diesel is less expensive than regular gas at a lot of gas stations. This makes diesel and even more appealing alternative.
Here is an example,
If you compare the 2005 VW Passat gas engine which gets 21/30 (city/highway) and the 2005 VW Passat TDI Diesel Engine which gets 27/38 (city highway) the TDI is 26% - 28% more fuel efficient than the gas engine.
If regular unleaded is $3.19/gallon and diesel is $3.09/gallon that is a difference of $0.10 or 3% less for the diesel. That isn't very much but while you are saving 3% at the pump your diesel will take you 26% farther than that unleaded gas.
If you were to go on a 500 mile road trip and average 38 mpg, you would use 13.2 gallons of diesel costing you $40.79. If you were to drive the same 500 miles in a gas Passat averaging 30 mpg you would use 16.67 gallons of gas costing you $53.18. In addition you would run out of gas 8 miles short of getting home as the gas Passat can only go 492 miles on one tank compared to the diesel Passat's maximum range of 623 miles on one tank of diesel.
- More Reliable / Less Maintenance [Expand/Collapse]
In addition to being more fuel efficient than their gas equivalents diesel engines tend to last a lot longer and be more reliable. Accordingly their service intervals are often longer than that of their gas burning brothers. Again using the 2005 Passat as an example the regular gas engine requires service every 5,000 miles where the diesel engine only requires service everything 10,000 miles.
- Biodiesel [Expand/Collapse]
Biodiesel can be run in most modern diesel engines with zero modifications. Biodiesel offers many advantages to regular diesel. It is cleaner burning than regular diesel, it helps keep the engine cleaner, it offers even better fuel economy than regular diesel and it can be produced locally from vegetable oil rather than from foreign oil. Look below for more info on Biodiesel.
Biodiesel Information
The National Biodiesel Board has a great FAQ on Biodiesel, it should answer any questions you might have about Biodisel. http://www.biodiesel.org/resources/faqs
National list of retail biodiesel fueling stations: here
New website lists alternative fuel stationsLocal stations:
- Chevron in Sebastopol, CA
- Rotten Robbies in Santa Rosa, CA
- Royal Petroleum in Santa Rosa, CA
- Royal Petroleum in Petaluma, CA
- Berkeley, CA BioFuel Oasis
Hybrid Information
The main reason people buy hybrids is to reduce their gas usage and increase their range on a single tank of gas, but hybrids also offer much lower emissions than stand gas engines and are a great alternative to the regular gas engine.
NEV Information
There are a lot of companies that offer neighborhood electric vehicles or NEV. These are cars that are 100% electric and operate at speeds up to 25 MPH on roads with speed limits up to 35 MPH for around town use.
Volvo has long been a pioneer in the safety field, but they are also a driving force behind environment technology in cars.
"In 1976 Volvo Cars presented a world first in the environmental area – the three-way catalytic converter with Lambda sensor for exhaust emission control. Today, 30 years later, virtually all petrol-engined cars built around the world are fitted with this ingenious and environment-saving component. Just as indispensable for the environment as the three-point seat belt, another Volvo innovation, is for safety."
Read more of this article on www.SwedeSpeed.com.
In addition Volvo has a strong emphasis on other aspects of auto manufacturing that effect the environment.
"Today, some 85 per cent by weight of a Volvo vehicle is recyclable, with 26 per cent comprising plastics and other non-metallic materials. Volvo Cars already uses vegetable-based renewable materials in close to 100 components, mostly for sound absorption or mats made of cotton fibers. As well, a number of door panels and head linings are also based on renewable sources. Volvo Cars believes that by switching more materials to bio-based products it could contribute to reducing global use of crude oil for plastics by around 550,000 barrels annually by 2020. Today’s challenge is to ensure a natural-based product can withstand high temperatures of manufacturing and cope with the moisture and dampness experienced during a vehicle’s useful life."
Read more about Volvo's commitment to the evironment here.
Other Links