To read the entire post go here
http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthread...=5&o=7&fpart=1
Really interesting article in the WSJ today about converting natural gas to diesel. There's a $20+ billion dollar operation being built in Qatar right now, located there probably because they sit on 17% of the world's NG capacity.
The diesel they are creating is about 1/3 the cost of oil (per barrel, at the current high prices), and get this: it has no sulfer (thus burns cleanly) and can be used in current diesel engines without modification. Apparently it's being used in South Africa and somewhere else right now, though not on a wide scale.
Also in the article was a quantification (that's a stupid word) of diesel usage. Less than 1% of passenger vehicles in the US are diesel. It's more than 50% in Europe. We're talking new vehicles sold.
I'm guessing fuel economy is the primary driver of this trend, where their gas prices are high? But that leads to a few questions for the collective:
1) Why is diesel a more efficient fuel? Is it because of the higher allowable compression, and thus more "bang" for that buck?
2) Why do diesel engines last longer? Is it because of how the engine must be "overbuilt" to handle that higher compression?
Linear Mode
