Tri-Fuel Tacoma

4Rescue

Expedition Leader
This is neat and a great find, but frankly...

Nothing comes anywhere near the fuel efficancy and ease of production of Diesel, Bio or Dino. It's crankcase oil for the most part and it's cost is mearly a reflection of a money driven market. All of theis E85 BS is just rediculous and IMO merely a way to justify subsidizing Corn farmers for some odd reason. Where is the technology that they used in WWII Willys?? Thise trucks could run on Kero, Diesel, Petrol and a few others I belive. THAT is technology, Flex fuel is garbage IMO and a complete waste of time IF it detracts from development of the real savior of fuel concerns, Bio-haul.diesel.
RHINO said:
really? i think the most hope would be getting the masses that commute on electric cars or something similar that can be charged at home preferably on renewable elctricity, i mean it is commuting back and forth to work, mostly by ourselves, that seems to be the cause of most auto pollution, and we know americans arent gonna take mass transit and lose all that "freedom"



the most interesting part about the whole alt fuel revolution is that it was already here, most of you prolly know that rudolph diesel built his engine to run on peanut oil, not diesel. and maybe some of you know that the original cars, model t's and stuff ran mostly on sugar beets, not gasoline. wood alcohol was a player also.

there a company in minnesota? thats getting into sugar beets again, i dont remember the numbers but its something like 5 fold what corn can do.

so whats old is new again. i think the high oil prices are what this country needed to start taking alt fuels seriously, its been a grassroots movement for a long time.
Cuople things... Electricity is made with energy from somewhere and it's not always made by Hydro electric ;) so while electricity is renewable and is coming along with the addition of wind turbines and other sources of "bio collection methods" there is NO FREE ENERGY. Plus, frankly as martin said the complication and relative inefficancy of the battery's used is of concern.

Penut oil is diesel. Diesel is Rudolphs last name. Diesel was the name that was give to the combustion cycle of the engine he designed... Kind of like the Miller cycle engine. The best Alt source that I've found numbers on is Algea. from a production stand point it's amazing, and it's energy yield is almost ten fold that of veg oil. Places like Azizona new mexico and the like could be saving our butts ten fold if big oil would just let the technology evolve.

I'm a bit of a Diesel nut can you tell??? One of my biggest regrets so far is not going to the trouble of getting a 1KZ-T into my Runner instead of the 22RE. I love the 22RE, but I long for the awsome range and the power to dislpacement ratio that the motor would have offered.



Cheers

Dave
 
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RHINO

Expedition Leader
Martinjmpr said:
The problem with electric cars is that batteries are incredibly inefficient and ultimately not a very useful way to store any serious amount of power, to say nothing of the charging time required.

thats not really an issue with the way i mentioned using them, for commuting in city traffic, say 30-60 miles a day its perfect. plug it in when you get home and its ready to go in the morn. not perfect i know, but it might be just a teeeny bit better than that 200+hp v-6 most folks are driving stop and go to work and back.
 
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RHINO

Expedition Leader
4Rescue said:
I'm a bit of a Diesel nut can you tell???



Cheers

Dave


yeah i can tell, its pretty common with guys who want a diesel in they're favorite rig.
i run soybean bio,, partly because its whats available in my area but it is also a waste product, well the oil is and thats ok with me.
 

4Rescue

Expedition Leader
RHINO said:
yeah i can tell, its pretty common with guys who want a diesel in they're favorite rig.
i run soybean bio,, partly because its whats available in my area but it is also a waste product, well the oil is and thats ok with me.
Add to that doing a thesis esque dissertation for an O-Chem class years ago on Bio-Haul and I've been hooked. Then I moved to OZ adn ended up the operator of an HJ70, I still miss that truck :sad: Well to tell you the truth I've probably been hooked since the day I played with my first Kubota but that's another story ;)

What kind of rig do you have?
 

Pskhaat

2005 Expedition Trophy Champion
Martinjmpr said:
why not hemp? I don't really care what it comes from, and I don't know why anyone else would either.

Rather the yield over other crops from the table that was listed. Personally, I think electric cars are the future though possibly decades away. Power plants will still likely have some fuels (nuclear, bio, dino) but the emissions will be centralized and for the most part more controlled.
 

4Rescue

Expedition Leader
RHINO said:
i am an FJ55 guy and i love the 70 series troopie cause it looks like a modern 55,,, one of these days i may just ship a 70 series body from somewhere with LHD and drop it on my junk.

this is my baby, consumer of my time and general "other woman", the taco is just for family camping. http://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-iron-pig-preservation-society/213623-rotm-rhino.html
Yeah well go figure the of my top three fav Cruisers the 55 is right there too, I absolutely LOVe those trucks, the 3rd would be the FJ43...

Back on topic. I would agree that with Electricity being the easiest to make of all power sources , electric cars are going to eventualy become a nesscesity, but current tech just isn't up to the task of replacing our current vehicles. More importantly PEOPLE/consumers are'nt unanimously ready to go completely electric. Cars and trucks are an emotional relationship to people, look around here and you knw that's true. People like to go VROOOM VROOOM not ______ ________ ________________________________....

So IMo if we need a fuel source for an internal combustion engine, my choice is Bio-Diesel. Don't get my intensity wrong, I think e85 is a great idea. But not at the cost of distracting public intrest and awarness in a better solution which is what I think it's doing right now. There may come a day when we have to burn everything we can, and e85 is certainly a feasable fuel, but again, IMO bio-Diesel is the clear winner as an alternative to petrol. Add to that the fact that it is feasably made by the consumer FOR that consumer and a group of others localy and you've got something that stands to shake the Crude oil industry a bit. Anyone see a problem or issue with that?

Hell, maybe this rising cost of fuel is just the kick in the pants the average Joe (in the US) needs to look at where he get's his fuel from and what the cost really includes (and why comercial Diesel is more expensive than Premium Petrol). Maybe they'll even start looking into alternative forms of energy. I really hope so, but I'm not really seeing it sweep the country like I would hope.

If and when I get the piece of property I am dreaming of, I will be making my own Bio Fuel for my dream diesel Toyota in my dream barn. Man I love my dreams :)

Cheers

Dave
 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
The problem with diesel is the pollution it causes. That's why diesels aren't popular in the US. They can't pass our emissions standards. The other problem with diesel is that most cars in the US run on gasoline. So what do you expect - people just get rid of their cars and buy a diesel?

The advantage of ethanol is that it's available right now and that it works on most cars with minor modifications. Diesel engines can be made clean, but in doing so, the fuel become more expensive, which puts you right back into the same box you just got out of.
 

4Rescue

Expedition Leader
Martinjmpr said:
The problem with diesel is the pollution it causes. That's why diesels aren't popular in the US. They can't pass our emissions standards. The other problem with diesel is that most cars in the US run on gasoline. So what do you expect - people just get rid of their cars and buy a diesel?

The advantage of ethanol is that it's available right now and that it works on most cars with minor modifications. Diesel engines can be made clean, but in doing so, the fuel become more expensive, which puts you right back into the same box you just got out of.
Both very valid points sir. Nothings ever perfect, and no I don't expect people to switch to diesels just like that. That dream here in america was ruined during the 80's when Mercades and Volvo Diesels were so slow loud and smokey that most people just plain have anegative image of Diesel powerplants. As is always the case with these gripe fests, I personaly just WANT THE OPTION to buy a diesel, car companies have the powerplants and they will pass US emission standards. LET ME BUY ONE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

Anywho, Martin as I said you make two very valid points and I will now ponder them further.

Cheers

Dave
 

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