Biodiesel Could Benefit from Higher CAFE Standards
President Barack Obama has proposed that vehicle fuel economy standards be substantially increased to 35.5 miles per gallon by the year 2016… and biodiesel could be a big benefactor of that change.
This article from Biodiesel Magazine says auto industry folks, such as Dave Barthmuss, group manager for General Motors Environment and Energy Communications North America, believe the new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirements would make diesel engines more attractive… and thus, make the green fuel to put in those vehicles more attractive:
“Because diesel engines have greater fuel efficiency and can operate with biodiesel—which is a low-carbon fuel—expanding this area will be considered, but our plan is to achieve the reductions with our current portfolio.”
Along with compression engines and biodiesel utilization, corporate fleets will use flex-fuel, hybrid, plug-in and other alternative fuel vehicles to cut back on their petroleum usage and comply with the more stringent CAFE program.
Because diesel engines can offer fleet operators savings on CAFE requirements, it has been speculated in the short time since the new CAFE overview was published that the sector could see more business. This could be a boon for biodiesel. “There definitely has been more of a push from the current administration to implement programs that help the biofuels industries,” said Robert Dascal of New Energy Fuels in Waller, Texas. “Increased diesel fuel utilization obviously opens up more of a market for us.”
GM officials believe having one consistent fuel economy standard… instead of the hodge-podge of individual states’ regulations… will provide a more consistent platform for manufacturers to shoot for.
1 Comment »
Angry Middle Class American Hard working man
I wonder what your President would think if he knew you were not paying the very people who help you get to where you are? I wonder what your fellow American hard working middle class men would think knowing you dont like to pay your hard working middle class men who live paycheck to paycheck trying to support their families. I wonder what they’d think knowing you keep their money from them and try to justify it with petty made up things? Sounds like big Corp on the way to me. Crush the little man to get to where you want to be, right?
Comments RSS feed — TrackBack URI
Leave a Comment