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Volkswagen Could Face $18 Billion Fine Over Emission-Cheating Software
After getting caught cheating on emissions testing by means of software, Volkswagen could face up to $18 billion in fines, reports USA Today. That number is based on the company being assessed the maximum penalty of $37,500 per affected vehicle. That's not the only bad news for Volkswagen, which has halted sales of its 4-cylinder diesel cars; the linked article reports that the violations "could also invite charges of false marketing by regulators, a vehicle recall and payment to car owners, either voluntarily or through lawsuits. Volkswagen advertised the cars under the 'Clean Diesel' moniker. The state of California is also investigating the emissions violations."
We have algae that can turn cellulose grown on scrubland into a direct substitute for gasoline (butanol), we can make biofuel substitute for diesel. But there is no serious investment that way, only token efforts.
No, it's worse than that; Butamax, a holding company owned by BP and DuPont, managed to get a patent on the process for efficiently producing butanol and are now actively preventing Gevo (a GE energy ventures subsidiary) from making butanol fuel and selling it to the public, which they would like to be doing right now — on a small scale at first, but ramping up over time.
BP, some of the most evil fucks ever, and DuPont, more of the most evil fucks ever, are actively preventing us from having the best biofuel we could be burning.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"