Haven't stumped for Fast Company in a while, and the recent cover on the "Motorhead Messiah" Jonathan Goodwin, he of Kansas, the mechanic-turned-master of alternative engines (from Electric to military grade Turbines to Diesel) whose $28k conversions to diesel are not only good for MPG but also a celebrity fad, delved into a fascinating side bar: the critical role that Diesel can play in moving us all away from gas. Diesel engines are already more fuel efficient, but more importantly, they are a likelier stepping stone, since they are more accommodating of alternative fuels- an idea that seems to becoming a necessity, since few large corporations seem willing to take the lead on rolling out purely alternative vehicles until the alternative power source is ubiquitous, and vice versa (author Clive Thompson's chicken/egg analogy, not mine)
Not one to typically paraphrase a brilliant story, I'll nonetheless sum up Goodwin's three-step program:
- Aggressively roll out diesel vehicles (already available at most gas stations, instant 40% MPG gain!)
- Release diesel-electric hybrids- again potentially doubling MPG
- Moving on to "dual fuel" hybrids that can use diesel OR another low-emissions gas (hydrogen, ethanol)
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