On Dec 18, 2006, at 11:09 AM, Tachyon wrote:

>> Diesel is bad news for air in the US.  Europe may have diesels that 
>> are
>> as clean as gas but over here they are all, Mercedes included, really
>> dirty.  The EPA OTAQ WWW page has an excel spreadsheet with every 
>> single
>> model.  The jetta is worse than a 3/4 ton Suburban.

> What is the basis of your Jetta vs Suburban statement?

Presumably here: http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/
>
> The EPA ratings are based on mostly effect on human health, not on
> environmental impact. Certainly this is important, but also can be
> misleading when trying to compare technologies.

Right.  Greenhouse gases, regardless of whether they are a real problem,
are not traditionally what makes a vehicle "dirty."  The above EPA site
puts the greenhouse emissions in a separate category.

> Engine				MPG Cty/hwy		Yearly greenhouse
> Jetta
> 1.9L Diesel			36/41			5.6 tons
> 2L Premium Gas			25/31			6.7 tons
> 2.5L 5cyl reg gas		22/30			7.4 tons
> Chevrolet Suburban
> 5.3L gas			15/20			10.6 tons
> 5.3L E85			11/15			8.6 tons
> 6L Gas				14/18			11.3 tons
> Accord Hybrid/reg gas	25/34			6.6 tons
> Mercedes E320CDI
> 3.2L Diesel			27/37			7.0 tons
>

It looks to me like those greenhouse numbers are based directly on
the milage, which makes sense.  Gas vs Diesel getting about the same
milage have about the same greenhouse emissions.  CH2(n) fuels, eh?


> The fact is that diesel is cleaner than gasoline in almost all aspects.

There appears to be some conflicting data on that :-)
Or perhaps "except in all past and current implementations."

>
> Especially in important greenhouse gas emissions.

I don't think you can elevate "greenhouse gases" to "more important
than other pollutants" all that easily.  It's controversial enough
to raise it to 'as important as'...

> this will change with the newly mandated low-sulphur diesel.
>
Sure it will.  Show me.

BillW

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