[Vwdiesel] I'm on the ladder aren't you?

[Area31 Research Facility]

I am in the process of converting my lifestyle to one of diesel power for
the first time after thinking about it for many years.  I now consider any
financial investment in any major appliance that relies on 'gasoline only'
as a fuel to be a vote of confidence in a lifestyle that is doomed and not
far removed from flushing the money down the toilet.

I have need of a power generator at my rural home estate.  I have owned a
105 cu,in, Onan 15 kW plant for the past 13 years that will provide the
power I need and it runs well.  It can only use gasoline however and the low
efficiency and cost of fuel prevents me from being able to use it.  Do you
think I could sell it for a reasonable price?  Well PT Barnum's famous
statement gives me some fleeting hope. ;)

This year I have constructed a smaller output 3-phase plant in the 8 kW
range using a 1.5 NA Rabbit diesel engine.  It operates so much more
economically than the larger gasoline driven Onan that even paying premium
money for diesel fuel at the pump (with road taxes applied) I have a chance
of affording to run this generator during power outages.  If I operate it
from WVO or recovered waste transmission fluid/motor oil I can go a step
further and use it to power my machine shop instead of paying a high price
to operate my highly inneficient rotary 3-phase converter from the mains.

On the transportation front I have just purchased a 1991 turbo 1.6 diesel
Jetta having found it in my search for suitable engines for my genset
project.  It is in pretty good shape and has a recently rebuilt engine so I
have decided that it would be a crime to part out the car for an engine.  I
plan to put this on the road.  Once again, the increased efficiency of the
diesel, even though gasoline and diesel cost the same per litre, is very
attractive.  Plans to run on WVO or other are in my mind.  This would double
my return on time spent gathering WVO for the power plant in the shop.

I desire to get off-grid and the fact that I live where there is commercial
quality wind for electricity is a resource that I plan to tap by starting to
build a large wind turbine from scratch this year.  I do not have $40-50K
to, buy one the size I plan to build, but because I have the machine shop
and have managed to gather the necessary materials over the years at bargain
prices I believe I can do this, provided no-one gets in my way and creates
obstacles that require money to make go away.

All of my interests listed here are driven by financial concerns first.

There is a big picture benefit however to that which I do for myself.  I
operate a non-profit organization and at my rural estate have built a
physical plant (a work in progress) that creates a hands-on learning
opportunity for university students in the fields of civil and mechanical
engineering, electrical engineering, computer sciences, astronomy,
astrophysics and mathematics.  I have been supporting this operation with my
own personal resources and volunteer my time and materials gathered
specifically for this purpose over most of my adult lifetime.  I hope to
solicit the involvement of my students for the large wind turbine project.
This will provide them with a valuable and practical career related work
experience.

Rob


----- Original Message -----
From: "Shirley, Mark R" <MarkRShirley at eaton.com>
To: <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 8:25 AM
Subject: RE: [Vwdiesel] I'm on the ladder aren't you?




> I think we're all on the green ladder somewhere simply by
> being diesel users; when compared with gasser guys.
> As far as I'm concerned the older your diesel car the
> greener you are by virtue of energy saved by not having a
> new car or cars manufactured  with our names on them.

You and a lot of the greenies on this list may consider me green
because I drive diesels, but it's certainly not the motivating factor
for MY decision to use them.  I use them because they save me a lot of
money, and I like the torque.  All else I could care less.

Mark 2
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