My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on June 1, 2006

With players like Chevron entering into the biodiesel production business with a 22% ownership in Galveston Bay Biodiesel (GBB), the US could see far more ‘grown’ fuels entering the figurative oil pipeline. Currently the Houston based GBB company is building a facility in Galveston that should be completed by the end of the year. This plant will have the potential to produce 100 million gallons of biodiesel per year — note: the US produces approximately 75 million gallons of biodiesel ‘total’ in all of 2005.

Yesterday at a press event, Chevron officially announced this new business unit in a ceremony that included Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Lyda Ann Thomas (mayor of Galveston), Donald Paul (VP/CTO of Chevron) and William Berger (chairman of GBB). “Biofuels are a growing component of the world’s energy base and will be an active part of Chevron’s efforts to help diversify the world’s energy supplies. Chevron’s capabilities and experience in producing and distributing high-quality fuels make us ideally positioned to pursue opportunities in this sector as it expands,” said Donald Paul. According to the company’s press release, “the biofuels business unit will operate within Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV), a corporate subsidiary dedicated to identifying, developing and commercializing emerging energy technologies. Chevron will leverage its broad portfolio of existing technological capabilities and assets to the company’s efforts in this area.”

Chevron isn’t new to biofuels as it currently blends about 300 million gallons of ethanol per year for use in gasoline blends. With companies of this magnitude building biofuel infrastructure, renewable fuels look to become more mainstream every year. I suspect someday soon we’ll drop the name ‘bio’ all together and fuels will all come with a percentage of ethanol or biodiesel?

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Posted By RichC on May 31, 2006

Although slightly lower fuels prices were not what most consumers expected this past the Memorial Day Holiday weekend, many were glad to see the relief. Nationwide the prices of gasoline have drifted down a little bit from their high … none too soon for many energy squeezed citizens.
According to the Energy Information Agency, the west coast had the most expensive gasoline over the weekend at $3.21/gallon, although down 4.4 cents from last week. The Gulf coast states had the least expensive fuel averaging $2.74/gallon, down 4.6 cents. Our own midwestern jewel on the lake, Cleveland Ohio, was the lowest priced major city for the second straight week at $2.71/gallon. I was shamelessly looking for an excuse to play with my new Palm Treo 700p’s camera, so today on my drive across Ohio clicked least expense fuel price postings I could find. Hey … $2.43/gallon … unfortunately diesel continues to frustrate trucking and construction equipment operators. (and ‘non-biodiesel’ powered VW TDIs)
😀

Since I’m blogging about fuel prices, now might be a good time to comment on the upcoming change from Low Sulfur Diesel (LSD) to the mandated cleaner diesel fuel known as Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD). A regular forum/email list poster at CinciTDI is in a position to understand the ‘petroleum’ industry from the inside and occasionally shares his insight. He posted a few recent comments from a meeting dealing with the challenges “Majors and Indepentant shippers” face in ‘flipping the switch’ as it were. I’ll share some of his post below. (thanks Blair)

We were told a 6 week transition period would be needed to test the pipeline system, to see if ULSD can be shipped from Origin Point to Destination Point and maintain specification. This transition grade of ULSD would be called 69 grade. At present, we ship LSD under the code of 74 grade. The new ULSD will be designated 61 grade diesel.

During this period, the pipeline requested we ship ULSD at origin point – but- would not guarantee ULSD at ‘delivery point’ for the first three movements. A temporary army of mobil testers would monitored the pipeline’s final delivery points as to sulfur content. I only recognized a situation of paying a 1 to 4 cents a gallon premium for ULSD – but – we having no guarantee the quality will remain ULSD at destination during the test period. I refused to participate unless destination specifications met origin specifications. Seemed other shippers did the same. I saw no 69 ULSD grade diesel shipped on it’s maiden ( Titanic ) voyage.

I have no clue what this will do to final 61 grade – ULSD. I assume the EPA will have to allow all shippers a new fudge factor or make someone other that shipper, like myself, finance the fist trial shipments on any pipeline. This all seemed to be put into place with zero thought to simple economics. Imagine being a refiner. You are asked to invest in a more expensive grade of diesel at origin point, but the return on investment was not there at delivery point. FERC regulations were already filed for the Monday following this meeting. That only left two working days to amend the filing – you’re guess as good as mine. I will post when 61 grade starts to ship.

As to the price difference of ULSD vs. LSD? You saw the 1 to 4 cents a gallon premium above and I assume you are all cheering. Not so fast, let’s look at what really happened. You are not seeing the real ‘ additional’ cost of ULSD. We have been paying the premium for ULSD – while getting just LSD. 80% of a refiner’s output will be ULSD – 20 % LSD. ( this makes the 20% LSD a rare commodity – to a oil trader , marketer or end user). Since LSD is still legal and cheaper than LSD, the industry continues to buy the cheaper LSD. I personally have not purchased one gallon of ULSD and will refuse to do so until it is the same price as ULSD. What started out as a arguable 18 to 32 cent premium of the clean grade over the lower grade has made a move where LSD has risen in value to ULSD. ULSD has not fallen to just 4 cents a gallon over LSD. In other parts of the country ( New England) ULSD and LSD are just 1 cent per gallon away from each other – or should I say LSD has risen to almost the higher price of ULSD. It will continue to do so. 4 cents to me is $40,000 per batch. I and others in the industry will always buy the cheaper diesel and capture this margin – even at a quarter of one cent discount. Why not, it’s legal. I also have no clue what terminals can handle the ULSD. ULSD is a commodity with severe storage problems at this time along with limits on the pipeline. The chance of a shutdown is great with going off specification by a margin of one part per million.

Diesel use to sell for less than gasoline, not long ago. Diesel costs less to refine. Now the older style 500PPM LSD prices in gasoline ranges. Diesel is counter – season to gasoline. Their peak demand or bell curves occur at different times of the year. Gas demand peaks in the summer . Diesel seems cheaper when compared to gasoline in the summer. That tends to vanish in the winter when heating oil dips into the diesel output. I would not expect diesel to return to it’s tradition level of being cheaper than gasoline. The above EPA ruling and its massive confusion is why – as is the over 40 cents per gallon you pay for the dozens of boutique formulas of gasoline. In effect, we kept bidding up 500ppm LSD knowing it did the job and always cost less. If a guy offers you ULSD at a cost far more than LSD, you buy the cheaper diesel and keep doing so until the discount goes away. We just got to a point where we now bid one cent a gallon under ULSD for LSD. I expect this will go to one quarter of one cent. Remember, a quarter of one cent is still $2500 on a batch. Again, this is why you lost your discount on the diesel to gasoline margin. This was the cause of the diesel price swing into gasoline territory, even before the official debut of ULSD.

The pipeline company ended the meeting telling us they will have to file shut down procedures with the FERC. It’s a mind boggling process to start the pipeline sequence with all these new grades of products and to time the shipments out of all the tanks or origin, to all the tanks at destination. They said not to call us anymore for favors on a Friday afternoon. We have no room for error anymore with all the tight shipments of new grades of gasoline and the stringent procedures needed to ship ULSD. In other words, if I start a shipment out of Texas and then find out my tank failed in the South East – two or three of these could trigger a shut down. They were not kidding. We had a ‘ spur line’ shipment shut down today followed my a main line freeze of one cycle followed by a possible allocation of pipeline space tomorrow.

I expect more regulations to come at the worse time. Hurricane season opens in days. Don’t think I’m being bitter – I have the luxury of history to form this opinion.

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Posted By RichC on May 30, 2006

Although we have been hearing about it for sometime, I’ve still been hoping that the news of Volkswagen not having US diesel in 2007 was not true. Unfortunately I’m not able to bury my head in the sand any longer after reading Mark Phelan’s Detroit Freepress article. I kept thinking that the “German engineering” (see ads) ‘gears would have something up their sleeves to meet the US new diesel emission standards. Unfortunately it doesn’t look as if there is much hope.
🙁

According to the article, “VW will drop the diesel version of the Jetta, Golf and Beetle models for the 2007 model year, which begin this fall. The new U.S. limits for nitrogen oxide emissions are among the most stringent in the world.” Far be it from me to question the logic of the EPA that permits pickups and SUVs but restricts fuel sipping TDIs? I guess 45mpgs running Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) being introduced in 2006 isn’t good enough? You would think that keeping fuel efficient cars rolling along while we sweat over imported oil and reduce the existing sulfur from 500 ppm to 15 ppm would be a logical choice. Our government is brilliant! [/sarcasm]

On a positive note, Volkswagen’s diesel sales have risen to over twenty percent of their new car sales in recent months. The price of fuel has convinced many America’s to test drive a TDI and buy the frugal but comfortable cars. The good news is that VW will offer the diesel Touareg SUV in 2007, and is cranking up production of the 2006 Jetta TDIs in hopes to stretch into the next model year. (Touareg diesel … tell me more!) Also, a new diesel Jetta that meets emissions standards in all 50 states is being planned for 2008.

6/1/2006 EDIT: Jeep to Offer First Full-Size Diesel SUV

So you can’t get a fuel sipping VW TDI Beetle, Golf, Jetta or Passat in 2007 because they aren’t emissions ready … don’t worry buy a diesel Jeep. “The diesel-powered Grand Cherokee will get an estimated 19 miles per gallon in the city and 23 miles per gallon on the highway.” Not that I’m against having a few more diesel powered vehicles, but the car, suv, truck emission playbook bothers me. I can’t go out and purchase an economical and cleaner (ULSD) TDI in 2007, but I can buy less economical diesels that are bound to spew more pollutants than 45mpg TDIs? What am I’m missing here???

Category: Automotive, Biodiesel, Volkswagen | 10 Comments »
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Posted By RichC on May 29, 2006

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day and began to be observed on May 30th, 1868 to commemorate the sacrifies of Civil War soldiers. It was declared a General Order No. 11 by General John A. Logan May 5, 1868. The General Order stated:

“The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.”

Over the past century many men and women have serviced their country. Over 35 million served in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Iraq, and as well as several smaller engagments requiring our armed service personel. Unfortunately, more than half a million Americans gave the ultimate sacrifice dying for our country.

Let’s all remember that Memorial Day is more than celebrating the end of spring and the beginning of summer … it a time to reflect on those who have given their lives for the freedoms that we all to often take for granted.

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Tags: Holiday, honor, Memorial Day, remember

Posted By RichC on May 28, 2006

According to Bloomberg News, Honda intends to use a plasma reactor exhaust treatment system in preparing diesel cars to meet EPA restrictions in the United States. The US patent indicates that exhaust will flow through this plasma reactor and and “separate out harmful nitrogen oxides and forms of nitrogen dioxide that’s then reduced or absorbed by alkali metals and silver.” DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen’s technology uses and ammonia based chemical based in urea injection to reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxides.

According to Bloomberg, “Honda, the world’s largest engine maker, aims to sell a U.S. diesel model by 2009, five years after introducing its first such car in Europe. The company hasn’t said which models will be available with its new engine. Takeo Fukui, Honda’s president, said May 23 that diesels may eventually be available in the U.S. in the Odyssey minivan and Acura MDX sport-utility vehicle.”

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Posted By RichC on May 27, 2006

This is going to be a very quick Saturday morning update as the ‘honey-do list’ takes priority today. I’ve had a chance to run the battery down in the Palm Treo 700p yesterday after coming home with my new ‘toy.’ (yes I suffer from “gadget addiction”) The photo above is from the new and improved 1.2 megapixel cellphone camera and although is better than most, it does not provide the quality that I could see anyone using on a day to day basis. I can’t see anyone replacing a midline digital camera just yet, but then again that is probably not why someone purchases a cellphone anyway? (my son installed new rear lights, his birthday present to his sister, in her VW Jetta TDI; I don’t know the correct slang to ‘comment positively’ now that it’s 2006 so will rely on the ‘tried and true’ …. KEWL! )
😀

The 700p was activated through Sprint, one of two carriers in the US to sell the 700p. Verizon has been selling the 700w (Windows) for several months now and according to a few photos and stories I’ve spotted on the internet has a few 700p (Palm) available too. The quality of the phone sound in regular use is exceptional in comparison to other cell phones I have used and that alone should be a primary consideration when comparing models. I should take my own advice … I didn’t as I was more interested in the Palm database functions and ED-VO service. (higher speed internet connection)

The ED-VO after activation at my local Sprint store works flawlessly where I live north of Cincinnati. The footprint of covered high-speed internet area should be pretty good where I travel each week and it will be well worth paying the extra monthly premium. I used the included browser called Blazer and it seems to work well. It has a few features that helps when viewing webpages on such a small screen. (a major disadvantage on phone-sized devices). The Treo 700p shines in the screen area, as the small view 320×320 pixel screen is exceptionally bright and sharp compared to my i500, a Palm Treo 600 and older PDAs I have used. Palm OS supports this higher resolution whereas I’ve heard Windows does not; the Palm 700w has a 240×240 pixel screen.

SMS messaging (text messaging) is a highlight of the Palm, as it works very well and can be used to comfortably hold a conversation between devices including other PDA phones, computers or cellphones. I’m not a big user of SMS but I know many who use text messaging heavily.

Email is another thing, I spend a significant amount of time using email. From the brief look at the included Versamail package that was preloaded onto the device, it looks to be a complete email client optimized for the Palm. My wife used Chatteremail on her Treo 600 and finds it easy to use in reading and responding to emails. I’m sure many reviewers will be able to compare the Treos to the Blackberries although I’m not qualified in doing a side by side. I will say that the Versamail product seems to work acceptably and was very easy to set up. I retrieve my mail quickly and briefly answered a few in short sentences (I’m not fond of typing on the Treo) and then ran into the first snag, an attached PDF file. No problem I thought, as Palm bundles a Documents to Go application that is supposed to read Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint and even read PDF files. Nope … wouldn’t recognize the PDF. (created in Adobe Acrobat 7.0)

I was able to compose emails quite easily and even attach documents and photos that I snapped with the camera. It also has video capability … but that will have to come at another time. Off to please “the boss” and get some household chores done.

Category: Automotive, Cellphone, Gadget, Technology, Volkswagen | 8 Comments »
Tags: 700p, diesel, jetta, palm, tdi, treo, volkswagen

Posted By RichC on May 26, 2006

This is going to be a challenging post … and short. I have opted to try a new smartphone — the Palm Treo 700p. (have used a Samsung i500 Palm based phone for the last several years) As I sit pecking on the tiny chicklet keys I realize this is not going to work. Tomorrow I’ll try to comment from a computer.
🙂

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Posted By RichC on May 26, 2006

Robert Heron and Patrick Norton host a web based video podcast called DL.TV that reviews technology events twice a week. I occasionally … well regularly … watch or listen to their broadcast. They host a great 40 minute program at DL.TV and offer their reviews and thoughts on technology news of the week. In program #62 Robert mentioned his testing of a projection tv unit that he uses a can of compressed air to blow off some dust but the explanation is better coming from the source; check it out below.
😀

Robert Heron ‘burps flames’ … sort of. 🙂

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Posted By RichC on May 25, 2006

Mandating biofuels: It looks like the ‘politically correct’ thing to do … even though I also see it as a good thing to do. The Louisiana legislature looks to be proposing that their state use ethanol and biodiesel as production comes online. The House Bill 685 introduced by Rep. Francis Thompson would require that 2 percent of gasoline and diesel being sold in the state be of ethanol or biodiesel. Other states such as Minnesota already have laws mandating the use of domestic renewable fuels so this looks to be a trend.

(check out the article in the New Orleans online Times-Picayune)

Once production of ethanol or biodiesel within Louisiana reaches a certain level, House Bill 685 by Rep. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi, would require that 2 percent of all gasoline or diesel sold in Louisiana contain ethanol or biodiesel. While the proposal does not require retailers to sell the blended fuel to consumers, Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom would be put in charge of a regulatory framework that would oversee sale of the products throughout the state.

Category: Biodiesel, Energy | No Comments »
Tags: biodiesel, biofuels, correct, minnesota, new orleans, politically

Posted By RichC on May 25, 2006

General Motors will be testing a new marketing gimmick in the states of California and Florida in hopes to boost sales of a few of their models. They will be “capping fuel prices” as $1.99 for buyers of Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban sport utility vehicles and Impala and Monte Carlo sedans; the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL SUVs; the Hummer H2 and H3 SUVs; the Cadillac SRX SUV; and the Pontiac Grand Prix and Buick LaCrosse sedans. The catch is that you must subscribe to OnStar for $16.95/month, but still not a bad deal if you’re looking to buy a new GM vehicle. (read Dee-Ann Durbin Associated Press article here)

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