Ethanol in the News - 09.06.05

[kpaske]

Joe -

I'm signing out in December, and if I relocate, it will likely be in early February. If I can get a job and a place to stay all lined up before I get out, I'll be taking about a month off to spend in Thailand with my wife's family. I'm hoping to eventually get a foreign service position with the State Dept and work overseas for a good part of my career, but since they aren't accepting applications right now for the position I want, I have a couple of options. If I can find a way to afford a full time semester and still support my wife and child, I'd like to finish up my MS degree, then start my new job without having to worry about school for a while. However, I will more than likely take either a contract position somewhere, or maybe even a GS position with the State Dept until the FS positions start to open up.

I had been planning for years to move to Southern California when I finish my military service, but the cost of living and housing down there is just ridiculous, and I really don't think I'm not in a strong enough financial situation to make it work right now. So I'm considering moving back to the Washington DC area (where I'm originally from) because if I do work for the State Dept, I will have to spend at least a year or so there doing my initial training.

However, for stateside living, I would really prefer to be someplace warm. Both of my parents are originally from Florida, and I still have relatives there. I spent a decent amount of time there as a kid and know I like the climate. There is also a State Dept office in Ft. Lauderdale, so I could look into landing a job there (even foreign service employees are required to spend part of their career working in the U.S.).

So to make a long story shorter, I have a lot of prospects, but few decisions have been made. Either way I'm signing out in December, so some major lifestyle changes are coming soon...

[mbeach]

Since this thread is already drifting...
Joe, you mentioned the JSpec diesel Troopers -would your source/supplier be able to get ahold of the torsion bars for said Trooper? I assume that they would have a (much) higher springrate because of the heavy engine.

[Joe_Black]

Believe it or not the engine doesn't weigh much more than the 6VE1 since it's a four-cylinder. The torsion bar part number is the same (cross-referenced) for the JDM and Euro spec Troopers.

For beefier front torsion bars try either the Calmini or Darlington product. I had Calmini on my '88 Trooper with an all-steel winch bumber I fabbed out of 6-inch channel and they worked real good. I don't have any personal experience with Darlington but have heard only great things.

[mbeach]

Thanks for the tip!

[Joe_Black]

Thanks for the tip!

No prob! That's what we're all here for!

Kyle, much luck with rotation to civvie-hood. If you choose to look into Florida and need any info, don't hesitate to ask. For the Lauderdale area probably Transio and Bantan, among others, will be your best source. But since I'm smack in the middle there isn't much anywhere I don't know something about or could ask, excepting the secession-happy nuts up in the panhandle. LOL!

Well, the bio-diesel experiment is about to begin. Just won an '82 Mercedes 300D on eBay earlier this evening, so will be building a bio-diesel processor over the next month or so. If making the stuff isn't too much of a hassle, and we enjoy the concept of screwing the oil companies for a change, then we'll really look hard into either importing Isuzu Trooper diesels or a Mercedes OM603 conversion for our VX's. Stay tuned!

[Joe_Black]

Ford to increase production of hybrid vehicles-CEO
Reuters 09/21/05 13:10

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F - news), the No. 2 U.S. automaker, will boost global production of hybrid vehicles tenfold by 2010, Chief Executive Bill Ford said on Wednesday.

At that time, more than half of the company's Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars and light trucks will have hybrid capability, Bill Ford said during a meeting at a research lab here with company scientists and engineers.

He also said Ford will have the capability to build about 250,000 hybrid vehicles in that year with the ability to boost that. Ford currently makes about 24,000 hybrid vehicles annually.

The CEO also said the automaker will launch four vehicles in 2006 that will run largely on ethanol, a corn-based fuel, raising the output of vehicles that can operate with more than just gasoline in 2006 to as many as 280,000 units.

The company also will launch a new corporate advertising campaign in the fall with the theme of innovation, Bill Ford said. The company did not say how much it will spend in the campaign.

"(Innovation) will be the lens through which we view our budgets and our capital investments, our people and programs, and the way in which we rank our most essential priorities," the CEO said in a statement.

Ford builds the Escape hybrid sport utility vehicle and will begin production this year of the Mariner hybrid, the Mercury version of the Escape.

By 2008, the Detroit-based company said it will have five hybrid vehicles on the road, including the Escape, Mariner and Mazda Tribute SUVs, all based on the same platform, or vehicle underpinnings. The other two will be the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan mid-sized sedans.

Interesting, but I'll believe it when I see it.

[kpaske]

Well, I don't see gas prices coming down much any time soon, so better sooner than later. I think it's inevitable that auto manufacturers will start giving us more options, it's just a matter of when. Of course, they will do whatever maximizes their profits. Even with gasoline over $3.00 a gallon, I'd be willing to bet brand new gas guzzling SUV's are still driving off the lots every day, so I think the transition is still going to take a while.

I'll bet Hurricane Rita isn't helping production in the Gulf any, so we could see another spike in prices this weekend. I hope you weren't hit too hard, Joe!

I'll be looking forward to hear about your results using the bio-diesel. Have you decided where you'll get your waste oil from?

On a slightly different note, I've been noticing that the price of regular diesel is getting pretty expensive these days too - usually about the same price or slightly less than Premium. Is the mileage per gallon really THAT different from regular gasoline?

[Joe_Black]

Fortunately we've just been getting the outer bands from Rita. Like Katrina, it has a really big reach! As native Floridians though, we just can't understand how folk continually fail in understanding how to deal with these storms.

It'll be interesting to see how the oil platforms fare after this one. News is already reporting several Texas refineries and nuke plants shutting down in preparation, so I'm sure the pump price is already cruising upwards again in reaction. Most of the diesel around here has stayed just below regular price, which I can only assume is because it's supply structure is slightly different than gasoline.

One nice thing about diesel is that it's very unlikely to ever see a station out of it. If that happens, then the big rigs stop moving and that's a very bad thing.

Here's a few pics of my biodiesel test bed after pick-up yesterday:




We're getting our "short list" of local restaurants to approach about using some of their waste oil, but initially are looking to buy some bulk vegetable oil to begin with. We'd rather determine the validity of the process before getting some restaurant excited and potentially souring them on dealing with biodiesel folk in the event we decide not to pursue it. Plus we want to be sure we've got drums and such for collection/pickup so we can maintain a professional relationship with the restaurants if we do decide to go full biodiesel.

Speaking of which, found out I know someone with some connections to Isuzu international which means the potential for less expensive 4JG2 engines than importing from the UK. But I'm not ruling out the possibility of repowering the VX with a Mercedes turbo-diesel either, just gotta figure which will give the best power and economy versus parts and serviceability.

First off though, the Mercedes needs some basic service! The fuel tank gets pulled out Saturday for a good steaming as it's chock-full of rust and algae. Still runs good, but the new filters are already choking up and the transparent one looks like it's got mud in it. After that I'll do a good injector pump and injector cleaning, followed by and oil changed to Mobil-1 then finally a valve adjustment. Then we'll be ready for our first tank of biodiesel knowing there won't be any crud in the fuel system to knock loose!