Better Than Ethanol? BTL in plug-in hybrid diesel vehicles

Google Tech Talks
September 20, 2006

Reed M. Benet
Biofuels Focused Ph.D. Student University of California Davis Institute of Transportation Studies
Consultant to The Energy Foundation, Chevron, Nissan
10 Years Founding, Funding, Consulting to or Leading Venture Capital Backed Life Sciences, High-Tech or Energy-Tech Co's
Europe Finance & Operations
5 Years USMC Infantry Officer

Harvard MBA (Entrepreneurship)
Princeton B.A. (Politics)

ABSTRACT
Speaker proposes that plug-in hybrid diesel vehicles (versus gasoline variants) combined with biomass-to-liquid gasification and fischer-tropsch diesel fuels (versus ethanol, cellulosic or otherwise) is the best holistic and medium- to long-term...

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• ethanol
• google
• howto

[zenshin00]

Just a little comment to the author regarding the "Brazil Fallacy": I live in Brazil and frankly all those comments about ethanol taking rainforest and food lands are simply misinformation. THe forest is usually destroyed by soy plantations and cattle farmers. The biggest ethanol producing region is where I live and is quite to the south of the country, Ribeirão Preto, near São Paulo. I work on the field and am deeply saddened when people attack our biofuels programme, which ISN´T subsidized.

[Labyrynth1000]

I disagree that we don't have enough "feedstock" as he puts it for biodiesel to be an answer. They are doing some really good work with algae bioreactors.

[passout18]

@EverywhereVirtually If you look at what the slide actually says, It says that the "diesel engine was demonstrated at the 1900 Paris World Fair" not invented in 1900 and it does't say it was invented in the 1930's either it says the first diesel powered car was introduced in the 1930's. Although you may be right about the actual patent dates, you are wrong for trying to correct the information in the slide because you misread it.

[EverywhereVirtually]

The Diesel engine wasn't invented in he 1900's as he says or the 1930's as is written on his slide... 1892: February 23, Rudolf Diesel obtained a patent (RP 67207) titled "Arbeitsverfahren und Ausführungsart für Verbrennungsmaschinen". This is when it was invented and patented.

[bmecher]

@zenshin00 His wording was wrong........ I think what he was saying was that what works for Brazil, will not work elsewhere. Uless it is some where the same favorable factors exist. (across the atlantic in Africa near the Congo/Niger rivers......?)

[Feanic]

In a commercial FT slurry bubble column, what exactly is the liquid in the reactor? Because the carbonmonoxide and hydrogen forms the gas phase, while the catalysts form the solid phase. But what is the liquid phase?

I'm just wondering...

[mtb416]

@zenshin00 If it's not subsidized that is probably why it works. 

[captwasabi]

I find it incredibly disgusting that instead of feeding the worlds starving millions we are instead using these food supplies to power our cars.

[ismasamov55]

@zenshin00 I fail to understand why you would be deeply saddened by someone's comments , who perhaps is not informed. If you are happy and proud of what you do then why would comments such as those you mention be so damaging. You should build a thicker skin and worry less of what others say and go with your convictions.

[datzfast]

you could drive your car 250,000 miles for 10k dollars in diesel. expensive hybrids

are not cost effective

[datzfast]

i believe you, then why build a more expensive hybrid. by a 20k diesel car

and 10k dollars of diesel. its cheaper than

the 30k hybrid