U.S. automakers: Too focused on fuels rather than on fuel efficiency
Shouldn't automakers be more focused on fuel efficiency, rather than on alternative fuels?I hate being critical of the biofuel movement, but it is simply a fact that corn-based ethanol is just not a very good bio-fuel. Moreover, there are plenty of questions still left unresolved regarding bio-fuels, especially until cellulosic ethanol is economically achieved.
For example, if we triple or quadruple ethanol consumption, how much will food prices increase? Also, considering that water is more and more labeled as the next oil, is it wise to use so much of this precious resource to fuel our vehicles via water-greedy corn? Furthermore, will global warming affect our ability to produce many bio-fuels? And that's just for starters.
Finish Fuels rather than fuel efficiency
Labels: Ethanol, flex fuel, fuel economy, fuel efficiency
posted by Dahcredyns at
9:22 AM
3 Comments:
(Rest of Story)
Still, America should keep moving forward with biofuels.
Automakers, however, are focusing far too much on bio-fuels, and fighting far too hard against fuel economy, especially when automakers are using flex-fuel loopholes to violate CAFE. America certainly doesn't need more land yachts on the road that are in violation of CAFE's fuel economy requirements, but allowed because they could utilize flex-fuel. The U.S. needs significantly more fuel efficient vehicles using bio-fuels.
Besides, adding more and more ethanol to America's energy supply over the next decade might only significantly suppress fuel prices, while also significantly increasing fuel consumption, especially if large increases in fuel economy are not achieved. Suddenly, the U.S. will be creating massive amounts of ethanol to serve our massively increased fuel consumption, and America will be just as foreign energy dependant as ever - and doomed if severe drought destroys our ethanol supply.
It's time for automakers to focus on the responsibilities connected to their business, and their business is making cars, not making and selling fuel.
Hybrid cars have proven that tremendous gains in fuel efficiency and pollution are achievable with advanced automotive technologies. In less than 10 years every vehicle produced could be at least 50 percent more fuel efficient than today's conventional vehicles. These vehicles could be filled with gasoline, clean diesel, ethanol, bio-diesel, solar power, wind power, clean coal power, even hydrogen - or numerous combinations of these fuels.
Quite simply, alternative fuels cannot be an excuse against significant increases in fuel economy. Automakers need to focus on fuel efficiency, not bio-fuels. There are enough bio-fuels industries to manage the alternative fuel business.
It's time for U.S. automakers to have some vision, and it's time for an automotive revolution driven by fuel efficiency, not alternative fuels. Revolt or perish.
Dahcredyns,
US automakers are banking on another short-lived environmental fad. The manufacturers don’t want the cost of re-engineering (or worse yet, starting from scratch on) fuel-efficient vehicles. They’re hoping to greenwash their high margin gas-guzzlers until the whole climate thing blows over, again. Unfortunately, Japan was already positioned to exploit the green market and is cultivating that market by feeding it hybrids.
As much as I agree that automakers must catch-up with the growing need for hybrids, I don’t see efficiency alone as a tenable solution. If we cut fuel consumption per vehicle in half over a given period, but double the number of vehicles in that same period, we achieve 0 net benefit. We have to stop removing carbon from long-term sequestration. In the short-term, I think we have to grapple with the problems of biofuels.
It’s also impossible to overemphasize the importance of choosing to live near regular destinations and use public transportation.
E.R.-
Agreed.
I hate sounding as if I'm bearish regarding biofuels. I'm not at all. Biofuels have incredible potential - potential; however, that could be severly minimzed by complacent automakers. And consumers.
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