| Forum Home | ||||
| PC World Chat | ||||
| Thread ID: 62462 | 2005-10-08 08:44:00 | Did Shell change its petrol? | Nomad (952) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 394542 | 2005-10-10 08:30:00 | The proposal in NZ is to use ethanol, not methanol for blending with petrol. Back in the 80s, extensive work was carried out at DSIR, Industrial Processing Division into alternative fuels, including running a small fleet of cars on pure methanol. In Metrology we carried out lots of measurements into engine wear etc. Ethanol however would be produced from milk 'wastes' such as whey, as well as from possibly corn crops. It may well make more sense to grow 'biomass' for our own ethanol production rather than growing and exporting low grade Radiata pine timber for chipping and pulping elsewhere for minimal returns. Brazil produces enough ethanol to power 9 million vehicles according to this: en.wikipedia.org |
Terry Porritt (14) | ||
| 394543 | 2005-10-10 08:41:00 | Yes Terry but if we use 1.1 units of oil to build the technology, harvest the biomass, transport it to a fermentation plant etc for 1 unit of ethanol/oil equivalent - then it doesn't add up. Which I understand is the rational argument against widespread adoption of ethanol or methanol. | Winston001 (3612) | ||
| 394544 | 2005-10-10 08:43:00 | Maybe you should tell that to the Brazillians and GWB :) | Terry Porritt (14) | ||
| 394545 | 2005-10-10 08:52:00 | Yeah, well said. Economics and politics are sometimes discontinuous. There is an argument that producing a country's own energy, however inefficent, is preferable to using foreign exchange to buy from outside. And in NZ we have a wealth of biomass. The trap is to assume that the cost of conversion is efficent. |
Winston001 (3612) | ||
| 394546 | 2005-10-10 09:13:00 | Around Auckland Shell 96 (=95?) prices are 1 cent lower than the rest. Europe has 2 petrol sorts: 89 Octane, for many cars. And for the rest 95 Euro (as it is called), all cars go on that. Just that a litre of petrol costs about 2.85 NZ$ nowadays in Holland. Thats what I call tax. We are lucky Cheers |
hotkiwi (6379) | ||
| 394547 | 2005-10-10 12:22:00 | Yeah, well said. Economics and politics are sometimes discontinuous. There is an argument that producing a country's own energy, however inefficient, is preferable to using foreign exchange to buy from outside. And in NZ we have a wealth of biomass. The trap is to assume that the cost of conversion is efficient. Shouldn't be to much of a trap if they use simple arithmetic. |
Cicero (40) | ||
| 394548 | 2005-10-10 20:54:00 | After having auctions removed by trade me because Air New Zealand bullied them into removing them as it was against the terms and conditions of Air New Zealand for people to sell koru passes. Woopy **** that has nothing to do with Trade me. They have since removed my message board rights and have tried to silence me. I have their head office phone number which goes straight into their help desk thus by passing the 0900 number....................... [yada yada yada yada. You know, did you really think that spamming our board was a really good way to win friends and influence people?] |
zach12345 (9034) | ||
| 394549 | 2005-10-10 21:23:00 | I wonder if at the next board he spams he rages against the injustice handed out at Pressf1.... | Metla (12) | ||
| 394550 | 2005-10-10 22:07:00 | I wonder if at the next board he spams he rages against the injustice handed out at Pressf1.... I hope so. Six identical posts spamming the board has earned him a special place in my heart. |
Biggles (121) | ||
| 394551 | 2005-10-10 22:34:00 | So what is put into petrol and diesel to lubricate the valve sleeves etc? We used to have lead but that is long gone. lead was used in petroel to help stop valve seat erosion. modern cars use hardened valve seats and have no need for it. however the primary reason the lead was added was to boost octane ratings, the valve seat protection was an added bonus. SurferJoe46- we have had quite a few stuff ups in the deisel here where the companies have stuffed up the mix which has caused many vechiles pump seals to leak. somehow the fuel companies manged to weasel their way out of paying for the repairs. one thing not often mentioned when talking about ethanol/methanol being added to the fuel is it eats normal rubber fuel hoses. |
tweak'e (69) | ||
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 | |||||