Soybean Powered Harley

westfirst writes "Harold Benich has refitted his Harley Davidson motorcycle to run on soybean oil, according to this article. It gets 100 miles per gallon and the exhaust smells like McDonald's fries. Soybean oil is, of course, a renewable energy source, but it still costs more to operate per mile. His bike costs about 4 cents per mile, but a gas powered bike costs 3 cents. " I cannot comment on the scientific validity of the story, but alternative energy sources are intrinsically interesting to me, at least.

Comments

Bush on Biodiesel?

[mattkime]

When W Bush spouts about the impending energy crisis, I wish he'd fund programs that push alternative energy sources rather than building more refineries. After reading up on the www.biodiesel.org website, I'm quite convinced that we are not facing an energy crisis, but an inevitable energy industry shake up. (Which, for a former executive in the oil industry, is just as bad.)

If www.biodiesel.org is correct in its claims, then vegetable based energy sources solve MANY of our energy problems. They can be used in existing, unmodified diesel engines. It costs very little to make - a 1:3.24 energy production ratio. Its clean burning. Its safe.

The problems - not many people use diesel engines. But a significant amount of industrial equipment does. It would be a relatively easy conversion in the market place to produce more consumer diesel vehicles. It smells like McDonalds french fries. Annoying? Yes. Is regular exhaust particularly pleasant? No! Distribution - its hard to buy. But hasn't this been a problem with any other new type of fuel? We won't get past this until we're forced or someone invents a miracle fuel.

I'm not worried about the future supply of energy. If we run out of oil, we'll find something else. And I won't have pity for the oil industry either.

Don't forget

[Resident Geek]

...about the HempCar, and that hemp is another great biodiesel. These kinds of fuels, because they are infinitely renewable, are what the petroleum industry does not want to see in use until they can find a way to make money off of it.

Fighting the War on the War on Drugs.

Wake up and smell the sulfuric acid!

[Surak]

The thing is, the major energy and oil companies don't want any of this. A major car company figures out a way to have a car run at 150 miles per gallon. The U.S. Government says, No way, buddy!

I work for a major car company (GM) and I work in a position that is tightly coupled with the Vehicle Development Process (VDP). And I'm telling you now that GM will eventually have regular production gas/electric hybrids that get 150 miles per gallon! (The last prototype I saw gets around 90, so 150 is not far off)

Then there is the Toyota Prius, which currently gets 70 MPG, and a representative of Toyota claimed to me at the 2001 North American International Auto Show that next year, the vehicle will get 150 MPG.

Maybe your scenario was more on-mark 5 or so years ago, but with the rising fuel costs and OPEC's recent production cuts, believe me, the government is in our court on this one.

Re:How does it work?

[Mr. Slippery]

So how does it work?

Making biodiesel fuels usually involves some chemical processing of the oil.

From biodiesel.com, Pacific Biodiesel's website:

Technically, biodiesel is Vegetable Oil Methyl Ester. It is formed be removing the triglyceride molecule from vegetable oil in the form of glycerin (soap). Once the glycerin is removed from the oil, the remaining molecules are, to a diesel engine, similar to petroleum diesel fuel. There are some notable differences. The biodiesel molecules are very simple hydrocarbon chains, containing no sulfur, ring molecules or aromatics associated with fossil fuels. Biodiesel is made up of almost 10% oxygen, making it a naturally "oxygenated" fuel.

Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/

Re:What about the big picture?

[-Harlequin-]

Like electric cars... sure, they may be 100% emissions free, but what about all the coal/oil/uranium that must be consumed to produce that energy.

In case you're not aware, only General Motors still tries to make out that that has any relevance, and only because they're trying to dissuade CA from requiring emissionless cars.

You note that powerplant filters make a difference, but there is more to it than that. Even an electric car that is recharged entirely from dirty coal power plants still produces ten to a hundred times less pollutants than a modern car at the end of the day.

You are probably forgetting how mind-numbingly crude and innefficient the combustion-engine vehicle is - every time the light goes green, you rip huge amounts of energy from storage and turn it into vast kinetic energy, then when the next light goes red you dump all of that energy, then burn up (ie waste) heaps more when the light goes green. Insane! Most technologies, including electric, allow two-way transfer of energy - when you stop for the red light, you do so by converting your kinetic energy back into storage.
Testiment to this is that many hybrid cars never need charging - the electric engine is powered entirely by the staggering wastage of the combustion engine.

Conbustion contraptions truly are a Victorian-age technology - wasteful and crude, requiring you to burn through ten times the energy you actually need to get from A to B. Hence another reason why electric cars powered by dirty generators are a non-issue. As I mentioned, General Motors still seems to be clinging to the line, but it's looking increasinly like this is because they have lagged behind other car makers in these technologies, and now don't want the consequences of a fair playing field, knowing they'll probably get their butts kicked :)

The real solution will come when an efficient, non impacting form of electrical generation is perfected.

Nope. No need to wait. The dirtiest of current electrical generation are still more than sufficiently clean to solve the pollution problems. Which is not to say they shouldn't be cleaned up, just that you shouldn't be distracted by the red-herring that GM is still trying to wave (a red-herring that has been largely discredited by the car industry itself).