Gasoline Humor

[Billie Bonce]

I went to buy a new 2011 Ford Fiesta that gets forty miles to the gallon and is tiny.

OMG! Another case of stereotypes. To us, an American driving Ford Fiesta is something like an elephant climbing a tree

Bottom line was that she thought my little Fiesta was unmanly and looked like a child's toy and not something a grown man should drive.

Oh well, so our stereotype is not totally wrong

Honestly, two years ago when we finally collected enough money to buy a new car, Ford Fiesta was considered as one of the most likely candidates. The main reason to choose another option was exactly similar thoughts of my wife - Fiesta is rather "girlish" car.

[Mynock]

Anyhow the point is that this is a great example of American automotive marketing and why it is so damn difficult to get this nation into driving cars that make more sense.

The problem is what makes sense to some doesn't make sense to all.
My ride's a 2005 Jeep Wrangler. 4.0 I6 6 speed. 15 miles per gallon due to the extra armor and slightly oversized tires.
I'm the outdoorsy type. I off road, hunt, camp, hike, and go looking for mud/quicksand in out of the way places in my spare time. I need a vehicle with true off road capability to do those things. I also need to get to work when it's snowing.
Yea, I could go buy a Fiesta, a Yahamaha Raptor, a Ranger and a trailer to tow the Raptor to the trail with, and make the payments and pay for the insurance, fuel, and maintenance on all of them.
However, that would cost me a hell of a lot of more money then just owning/maintaining one vehicle that does it all.

[Duncan Edwards]

Anyhow the point is that this is a great example of American automotive marketing and why it is so damn difficult to get this nation into driving cars that make more sense.

The problem is what makes sense to some doesn't make sense to all.
My ride's a 2005 Jeep Wrangler. 4.0 I6 6 speed. 15 miles per gallon due to the extra armor and slightly oversized tires.
I'm the outdoorsy type. I off road, hunt, camp, hike, and go looking for mud/quicksand in out of the way places in my spare time. I need a vehicle with true off road capability to do those things. I also need to get to work when it's snowing.
Yea, I could go buy a Fiesta, a Yahamaha Raptor, a Ranger and a trailer to tow the Raptor to the trail with, and make the payments and pay for the insurance, fuel, and maintenance on all of them.
However, that would cost me a hell of a lot of more money then just owning/maintaining one vehicle that does it all.

No, no, I wouldn't propose that everyone should drive a roller skate like a Fiesta. It would thoroughly suck at pulling a horse trailer. If we were honest though we wouldn't need commuters driving hummers to navigate the savage asphalt of suburban streets just to get to work. I would love to see the price of gas drop because they couldn't sell enough.

OMG! Another case of stereotypes. To us, an American driving Ford Fiesta is something like an elephant climbing a tree

A fairly accurrate stereotype I'm afraid.

Honestly, two years ago when we finally collected enough money to buy a new car, Ford Fiesta was considered as one of the most likely candidates. The main reason to choose another option was exactly similar thoughts of my wife - Fiesta is rather "girlish" car.

Possibly but damneed practical if you just look at the numbers. Until then I'm burning a fortune.

[nachtjaeger]

Actually, a big chipper takes about 1/3 of a gallon of diesel (~44,000 BTU) to turn a ton of wood into chips. "Green" woodchips (~45% moisture content) have a net heat value of 8.8 million BTU. A smaller chipper might use a gallon (130K BTU) to chip the same amount of wood.
Diesel at $4 per gallon costs about $31 per million BTU. Wood chips at $35 per ton cost about $4 per million BTU. So if you could cut that $1.34 fuel cost per ton down to 30 cents or so, that would increase your profits by $1 per ton. If you're producing 60 tons of chips per day, that's another $480 in your pocket. Oh, and the wood chips are 100% carbon neutral, renewable, and most often produced from "junk" or waste wood.

The good old 99 Honda Civic is back up to 33 mpg or so, thanks to new plugs and an air filter. Even so, I really want to get my woodchip fueled steam powered truck built.
Since I plan to build woodchip powered equipment, I'm going to start with woodchip fueled wood chipper.

Woodchip-fueled wood chipper? That sounds like a perpetual motion machine. Those violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and that's Felony-2. If it makes more fuel that it consumes, then that violates the First Law of Thermodynamics. That's a Felony-1. You'll spend time in jail for that. Or get elected to Congress.

[Billie Bonce]

Actually, a big chipper takes about 1/3 of a gallon of diesel (~44,000 BTU) to turn a ton of wood into chips. "Green" woodchips (~45% moisture content) have a net heat value of 8.8 million BTU. A smaller chipper might use a gallon (130K BTU) to chip the same amount of wood.
Diesel at $4 per gallon costs about $31 per million BTU. Wood chips at $35 per ton cost about $4 per million BTU. So if you could cut that $1.34 fuel cost per ton down to 30 cents or so, that would increase your profits by $1 per ton. If you're producing 60 tons of chips per day, that's another $480 in your pocket. Oh, and the wood chips are 100% carbon neutral, renewable, and most often produced from "junk" or waste wood.

Do you dream about something like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Adler ... rechts.JPG ?

The main article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas_generator

In the USSR in 1981-1982 prices for gasoline rapidly jumped from 1.5 rubles per liter to 6 rubles per liter. I remember that one my father's friend constantly spoke about old German cars with gas generators that were working on wood chips...

[nachtjaeger]

If you are hauling those chips, diesel fuel could easily cost you $1 per ton to haul them 20 miles (figuring a 40 mile round trip.) There is another $60 or more per day out of your pocket. If the steam truck is half as efficient as a diesel engine, it would take about 6 cubic yards of chips to equal 50 gallons of diesel. They would take up a lot more space (6' x 6' x 4 1/2') and weigh more than 6x as much. But wood chips "cube out before they tare out" so you could add 1 1/2 tons (500# per CY) to the tare weight of the truck and still carry a full load of chips. So, do the math- $200 per 50 gallon tank of diesel @ $4, or $52.50 for the equivalent amount of wood chips.

[nachtjaeger]

Billie, I have looked at wood gas. Gas generators are a pain in the behind to operate, and they can give engines fits if they don't operate right. Since you have to burn the chips to get wood gas anyway, it makes more sense to just burn them in a high efficiency firebox and use the heat to make steam to operate a high-tech steam engine (got my own design on paper.) Use the standard truck radiator as a condenser to both recycle the water and preheat the combustion air. Steam engines are also perfect for heavy trucks- maximum torque at zero RPM, no transmission required. I figure a steam truck could cut the fuel cost by 50%-75%. This would be perfect for a tree service- a steam powered truck, with a hose to power a turbine-driven chipper from the truck's steam generator. No diesel to buy- the customers provide you with free fuel. And the more you burn up, the less you have to haul away.