We have a new professor here at U. of Kansas (go 'Hawks) from Detroit. Had been working for the big boys on engine development. He's all about Diesels and alternative fuels.

Well it looks like I might get BD for my truck in exchange for driver impressions as well as collecting data via the OBD port. Maybe some other sensors.

My question is what data would BD consumers like to know about?

Kansas as a state is trying to make BD a viable fuel and part of that is public perception. What information can we provide to improve the public perception?

 

Anything and everything that you can make available. Part of swaying the public perception is the good outweighing the bad.....but we'll want to know everything.

 

One of the biggest public perception problems has to do with its impact on food supply.

 

Also use of natural resources. Ethanol is getting a huge push, but takes a tremendous ammount of water out of already dropping aquafers.

 

Well we won't be able to do anything about the food supply concerns. I think we all know suspect that corn ethanol is not a viable long term solution. Too much water too much fuel to grow it. Other sources of feedstock that are not used for food are where we should be focusing. Hemp, switchgrass, and well I don't know. Something that gives lots of oil for little input.

We hope to give empirical data as well as driver impressions. I really want to know what driver impressions should be reported. I plan to post OBD data as much as allowed by the people financing this little endeavor.


For example:
noise
starting
power


Feel free to add to this list.

 

Amazes me how much waste vegatable oil is thrown away by fast-food places. The Wendy's owner I talked said that they go through 250 gallons a week. It gets picked up and hauled to the dump. Told him I couldn't help him, no way I can burn that much in a week.

 

I read a study from portland QR where a guy wanted to use the waste limbs from logging to manufacture methanol.

 

Methanol is a losing cause.
It takes more energy to make it than you can recover.
BD, on the other hand, has a positive energy ratio.

There are many non food item feedstocks available and they supply much higher gallon/acre yields than corn. Algae, palm, and camelina to name a few. All can be grown on land currently not used for food production.
Additionaly, the press cake is a good high protien animal food.