[Vwdiesel] honda diesel

[James Hansen]

Here's a good bit Chris:
http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=oil_refining

And some stats:  http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pnp_pct_dc_nus_pct_m.htm

 

Thing is, it isn't quite that simple....  the heavier stuff can be turned
into pretty much what they want- you've heard of heavy oil refineries?  They
crack the longer chains, and use natural gas as a hydrogen source, mix it in
a heated reaction chamber in the absence of O2, and make shorter chain
stuff... such as which the courts ruled to be "synthetic" by severe
hydrocracking, rather than building out of small chains, so the actual
numbers can be juggled to produce what the market dictates to a small
extent.  But, a lot of what you hear on the tube is blather making excuses
why the price went up, rather than causal activity.  The reason is always
profit, usually not yours... not that profit is evil, but it is the reason.

 

I pay VERY close attention to refinery activity, oil prices, etc as it is
becoming a larger percentage of expense on the farm these days... when you
consider fuel costs to have nearly quadrupled in the last number of years
since I've been farming, and average fuel efficiency decreasing in ag
equipment for various politico-environmental reasons.

-james

 

From: Chris Geiser [mailto:cfgeiser at gmail.com] 
Sent: January-28-12 2:06 PM
To: James Hansen
Cc: Bryan Belman; peter blake; Stephen Kraus; diesel
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] honda diesel

 

I seem to remember reading an article on refining that stated there was a
real balancing act when refining crud oil - that you get gas and diesel in
the refining process, and that the demand for diesel in Europe and the
demand for Gasoline in the US balance each other out for those products

I was under the impression that the balance between those two was what kept
many of the diesel auto models out of the US, that if the US went a greater
percentage diesel, that the demand for diesel would outpace supply and the
price of gas would plummet, making diesel cars further undesireable.

 

I have no memory of where I read that, and I don't often see that spoken
about, so maybe I'm remembering incorrectly...  Any refiners lurking on the
list??  (or fuel speculators :) ?

 

CG

 



 

On Sat, Jan 28, 2012 at 1:56 PM, James Hansen <jhsg at sasktel.net> wrote:

No official Hondas here either Bryan.  Probably some personal imports but
none you could buy at the dealer.  Only official ones have been Benz, Jeep
CR, and VW.
The new benz offerings have been pretty well received, but the price is
upscale.  Brother-in-Law loves his benz diesel monsterwagen. Other than it
smells like pee on cold start.
Smart Cars are too use-specific, and the Jeeps didn't have a long enough run
to get really good.
-j