Posted By RichC on July 19, 2008
WARNING — Last year’s photo
While looking at a post from last year, I notice that I was complaining that the B-20 ($2.99) was selling at almost 25 cents more than regular diesel our local Meijer store sells ($2.76). My daughter filled up with ULSD and paid $4.89 this week. (for the math challenged, that’s a $2.13 change … or a 77% increase in one year!) Oh for the “good old days.”
Posted By RichC on July 18, 2008
Now that wholesale prices for refined fuels are retreating a bit from their speculator driven lofty levels, I’ve been asked by a few people when this change is going to be felt at the retail level? My best guess would be soon … but then I’m wrong more than I’m right these days.
A CinciTDI friend — Blair — who I’ve quoted before, has a way of making a few political observations while offering up some wisdom from from the inside (he’s in the oil industry):
“Wholesale prices have fallen 26.5 cents a gallon total over two days since Bush said he wants to drill and lifted the Presidential moratorium on off shore drilling. All this before the approximate one year, before we would even see the first drop of crude from areas with existing infrastructure – such as the gulf coast.”
Blair continues:
If you’re a tree huggers and want to starve more people to death in third world countries with higher crop prices to pursue biodiesel, don’t worry. Nancy Pelosi ( head of our new Congress) is standing firm and says drilling for oil won’t solve the problem immediately and without Congress and that Congressional rubber stamp, we won’t be drilling off our shores anytime soon – even though Russia, China, Spain and Canada are out there drilling now. I’m guessing Nancy thinks the Chinese drill cleaner or are greener than us – who knew? For those of you who have kids, take a hint from Nancy – don’t send them to college either – since that investment takes 4 years. This applies more if you kid gets into a medical school since that process takes up to 8 years for and end result. Just keep the money and send you kids out the door with zero education and if you doubt me, look how far it got Nancy. Obama is backing up Nancy P too and he has a Harvard Pedigree – “ drilling won’t get us more oil.
My wife is headed towards the grocery store tonight. She always asks if there is anything I can think of. The milk I splash into my coffee everyday is extremely low, but I’m going to take the advise of the guy from Harvard and tell her getting more milk won’t solve the problem. I’m glad Nancy or Mrs. Obama do not do my grocery shopping and I’m willing to take bets that my better half ignores the Harvard intellectual’s advice and comes back with more milk. What I have learned is the smart guys from Harvard must take their coffee bitter black.
Not everyone appreciates Blair’s sarcastic humor, but his ‘generally longwinded emails’ are enjoyable to read. I’ll include a bit more thought on the petroleum diesel side of the question — when will lower wholesale prices for diesel be felt at the pump:
Global Diesel Tightness Should Ease in Early 09
The â€tightness†in global diesel supplies may ease early next year after peak winter demand in the northern hemisphere passes and new refineries start, the International Energy Agency said today.
â€Both crude and middle distillate markets may see some respite in the second half of 2008, but more likely by early next year,†the IEA said in its monthly Oil Market Report. â€Supplies should increase over the second half of the year and into 2009 as new refining capacity comes on stream in both China and India.â€
Strong summer demand from China, stockpiling before winter, new European specifications for lower-sulfur fuel and potential refinery start-up irregularities after maintenance stops will probably support prices until then, the IEA said.
Record fuel prices have led to protests across Europe by truckers, taxi drivers and fishermen. Diesel prices have risen 47 percent so far this year in Europe and gasoline gained 28 percent. Diesel for delivery in the Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam area reached a record $1,338 a metric ton on July 3, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Natural gas shortages in Australia, Argentina, Chile, and South Africa have resulted in a surge in demand for diesel to help ensure power supplies, the IEA said. Apache, provider of a third of Western Australia’s natural gas, is expecting to resume full output by the end of the year after a June 3 pipeline explosion. Mining companies in the area have switched to diesel from gas after the explosion.
Refining margins, or the profit from turning oil into fuels, continue to suffer because of lower gasoline demand, the IEA said.
Refiners in the Mediterranean and northwestern Europe who use Russia’s Urals blend of crude in their plants were the worst hit, losing $7 a barrel, the IEA said. This has led to economic run cuts at ConocoPhillips’ Wilhelmshaven refinery in Germany and Hellenic Petroleum SA’s Elefsis plant in Greece, it said.
Supplies of jet fuel and gasoil, Europe’s equivalent of heating oil, may fall short of rising demand as air travel increases in the summer months.
Posted By RichC on July 16, 2008
I heard about the compress air powered vehicles for a while now, but never really gave much thought to how long an air tank could last? I’ve always assumed that like my air compressor and tools I power with it, that the tank is heavy and needs to be constantly running to keep the air pressure high enough to run simple tools. (ie. sanders, grinders, drills, impact wrenches) I happened to read a bit more on the “Zero Pollution Motors” marketing site and realized that they are talking about cars with a decent range. I’m not sure how realistic a comment from Gas2.org is, but its impressive: “Compressed-Air Powered cars could take you over 800 miles on a single fill-up, at speeds of up to 96 mph. They should refuel in less than 3 minutes, and at speeds over 35 mph emit about half the CO2 of a Toyota Prius. Best part? You could see them in the US at the end of next year.”
Pure Driving: The Revolutionary Compressed Air Vehicle
If you can, imagine a vehicle that runs on air, achieves over 100 gas-equivalent mpg and over 90 mph, has zero to low C02 emissions, seats six, has plenty of space for luggage, cuts no safety corners, and costs no more than an average economy to mid-size vehicle.
This is the expected performance of the revolutionary compressed air vehicle that Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM) is introducing to North America. The vehicle is powered by the Compressed Air Engine (CAE) developed by Motor Development International (MDI), a 15-year old company based in Nice, France, and headed by inventor and Formula One race car engineer, Guy Negre. ZPM is the exclusive representative for MDI in the United States.
Posted By RichC on July 15, 2008
Although this is by no means a challenging milestone for Volkswagen diesel cars, it is a personal milestone for my daughter. Her first car, a 2001 VW Jetta TDI, has been treating her well for 100,000 miles now and she sent me an early morning photo from her Palm Treo Centro as it hit 100K. Let’s hope its remains cost effective through the rest of med school.
Posted By RichC on July 14, 2008
The dealer demo TDIs have been slow to arrive to Cincinnati area dealerships, but today did get a chance to head over to Fairfield VW and test drive the new 2009 Jetta ‘clean diesel.’ Its basically the same body (A5) that has been part of the VW Jetta line up for a couple of years now, but with the new ‘clean diesel’ TDI engine. The first thing I noticed was that you just turn the key to start (I sense that the glow plug/starter delay is handled by the computer in cold weather?). After starting, the new TDI was as quite as any diesel that I’ve ever heard, including the new CDI Mercedes. The engine purred very smoothly, in fact when I opened the hood I could hardly detect the normal TDI diesel vibration familiar to A3 and A4 TDI owners. Not to worry though, this slick new TDI still has enough ‘quiet clatter’ to keep a diesel-lover knowing that it is still an oil burner.
Of course one of the reasons this 50 state compliant diesel has received approval is due to the after combustion exhaust treatment (below) and the new Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel fuel now being sold in the U.S. The 15ppm sulfur content verses the old 500ppm does make a big difference — and don’t put the older LSD in this vehicle. At this time, Volkswagen does permit B5 (biodiesel at 5%) if it meets ASTM standards, although I’ve heard B20 is being tested. The clean exhaust on the tester vehicle was noticeable when placing a white handkerchief under the tailpipe; hardly a smudge or even a diesel smell. Well done VW. (Cellphone –Treo 700p — photos; click for larger)
As for driving comfort, I would have preferred the 6-speed manual gearbox, but then perhaps I’m just old school? I like smaller cars that put the driver in charge and in control of most aspects of driving, especially ones with European handling. Nevertheless, the DSG six speed automatic is by far the best ‘automatic’ transmission to ever go in a VW … or any other car. Its very quick and offers both a sport ‘automatic’ mode and a touch shift clutch-less manual shift mode. I felt that the down-shifting in sport mode would take some getting us too?
As for power, a 2.0-liter unit pumps out 140 horsepower and 235 lb-ft of torque makes this car quicker in seat of the pants feel than its gas cousin or perhaps even my old Rocketchipped and Race injectored 2003 VW TDI? I certainly noticed that the handling was far better than most small cars, something Volkswagen owners have come to expect. It felt better than my older A4 and almost as snappy as my son’s GTI. (well that might be an exaggeration) While this added power is most appreciated, it comes on much smoother and yet still offers the fuel efficiency TDI owners love and expect. Don’t be at all surprised to hear 50MPG the norm for highway driving — previous post. All in all, I was impressed.
What was a bit disappointing to me, was the fact that its not easy to purchase, since it must be ordered (July 2008). The current supply is non-existent and dealers are asking a premium price. It seems VW dealers realize that there is pent up demand for TDIs after a 2 year hiatus, so they are selling at MSRP with additional markups. As an example, my local dealership has added a “protection package” which boost the MSRP by about $1589.00. To place an order for a nicely equipped Loyal Edition and DSG transmission with an MSRP just over $24,000 requires $25,689.00 before taxes and documentation.
I suppose that the wise buyer will wait for TDI inventories to grow, for the Sportwagen and Tiguan to show up and for competition to start marketing their diesels, but I know it might be difficult to wait yet another year … or so. At any rate, the new TDI is a worthwhile car to at least test drive at your Volkswagen dealer. Another option would be to stop in and check it out at the TDIFest OH8 in Mason, Ohio this Labor Day (Cincinnati, Ohio area) — Register at the TDIClub.
Posted By RichC on July 13, 2008
I enjoy reading books and certain authors for different reasons —
for example, I not only enjoy William F. Buckley’s sailing memoirs because of the sailing content but because use of the English language is impressive. That said — oh, and I’m not an English major (obviously) — this particular sentence from a book I was reading this weekend stood out: it seems to me that this sentence runs on??? (click for larger)
Posted By RichC on July 11, 2008
Interesting to see just how low these large C-141 U.S. Air Force planes come in; this was through the windshield photo was zoomed at about 200mm as the large transport plane lazily flew over I-70/I-675 near Dayton Ohio. (Wright Patterson Air Force Base) I didn’t know it was right overhead until it appear in my windshield … yikes – surprise, I wasn’t looking for it.
Posted By RichC on July 11, 2008
Nice evening. It was good to be home from traveling Thursday night in time to spend a little time with my kids and their friends. I took a swim, ate Chinese for dinner and had a fire in the fireplace — even roasted a few marshmallows (above). It was a great way to spend a summer evening.
Posted By RichC on July 10, 2008
Light pollution is the name given for the “excess or obtrusive light created by humans.” It is noticeable particularly in urban areas and has expanded to suburban American over the past 50 years. My son and I were talking about this recently after he returned from Young Life camp in Rockbridge, Virginia. His comment was “its amazing how bright the stars were.” How much “light pollution” has crept into the area between Cincinnati and Dayton? More than I thought.
According to a Powerset formatted Wikepedia article …
Light pollution is a side effect of industrial civilization. Its sources include building exterior and interior lighting, advertising, commercial properties, offices, factories, streetlights, and illuminated sporting venues. It is most severe in highly industrialized, densely populated areas of North America, Europe, and Japan and in major cities in the Middle East like Cairo, but even relatively small amounts of light can be noticed and create problems. Like other forms of pollution, such as air, water and noise pollution, light pollution causes damage to the environment.
Posted By RichC on July 9, 2008
For quite a few years National Public Radio has aired an entertainment ‘automotive related’ call-in program call CarTalk. It is being spun into an animated PBS TV show call “As The Wrench Turns.” The program will feature the zany brothers known as Click and Clack in a variety of “politically charged” situations. A quick viewing of PBS’s posted three minute clips should dispel any questions you might have regarding the programs political leanings. Nevertheless, it might be interesting to record on Tivo … we’ll see.
😉
According to their bio, and what I’ve heard on their radio program, the two brothers are “motivated by the desire to escape their daily grind” and “continually become distracted, following their curiosity and ideas down various pathways that usually get them into some sort of trouble.” Episode one airs starting tonight on PBS at 8PM and will be interesting to know if Tom and Ray Magliozzi will be as successful visually as they have been verbally. I have my doubts if the preview is any indication.
