Documentary "Fuel" free to watch on YouTube

[ENIAC]

I watched the documentary "Fuel" last night night. It's available for free on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/movie/fuel" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Director Josh Tickell takes us along for his 11 year journey around the world to find solutions to America's addiction to oil. A shrinking economy, a failing auto industry, rampant unemployment, an out-of-control national debt, and an insatiable demand for energy weigh heavily on all of us. Fuel shows us the way out of the mess we're in by explaining how to replace every drop of oil we now use, while creating green jobs and keeping our money here at home. The film never dwells on the negative, but instead shows us the easy solutions already within our reach.

 

[coqui]

NetFlix has this also. It was released in '09.
Really opens your eyes as to why our politicians aren't demanding we stop sending $50,000,000 per hour to OPEC's marginally "friendly" countries to pay for oil. :shock:

 

[GoingGreener]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention! Totally enjoyed the documentary. Still relevant to 2012, nice history, stats, interviews and music.

Noticed the express buses and street cleaning machines in our neighborhood are running on Biodiesel... no more smelly black smoke!

Also watched another Sundance documentary award winner, Gaslands. Another filmmaker documenting his personal experience, this time re energy companies & hydrolic fracking. Really, really, frightening to see people's welfare and the environment disregarded so callously for profit and the governmental part... ugh

 

[toasty]

 

[RedLeader]

I saw this earlier this year. A very good documentary, something everyone that has an interest in automobiles (whatever that interest may be) should see.

 

[ENIAC]

After watching the movie I was left wondering which diesel vehicles can use B100 biodiesel with no modifications and no warranty issues. Second who's really trying to suppress biodiesel sales? I suspect Big Oil, but I'm not sure. From what I read you can't purchase B100 in CA except through a "club". There's a CA law which says retailers can't store biodiesel underground, so therefore they can't sell it. http://www.pearsonfuels.com/group/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All I can say, is something doesn't feel right about all this. Feels like regulation is singling out biodiesel in favor of petrodiesel.

 

[ENIAC]

Found what I was looking for. A new law has been passed in California. So beginning June 1, 2012 you will be able to once again purchase B100 (ie 100%) biodiesel at retail.
http://www.californiabiodieselalliance.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[AndyH]

After watching the movie I was left wondering which diesel vehicles can use B100 biodiesel with no modifications and no warranty issues...

I've made and used biodiesel, up to B100, in my VW diesel. I really like the fuel but there are some down-sides.

I haven't seen a warranty yet that allows more than B10. A large part of that is that in order to make the new diesels much cleaner engines (when burning petrodiesel ), manufacturers have gone to higher injection pressure and are using injectors with smaller orifices. The engines and injectors run hotter than the older engines. Biodiesel is more viscous than petrodiesel and tends to heat more in the injection system. Heating and higher pressure produce more fuel system deposits. Deposits affect newer injection systems with smaller orifices much more dramatically than older engines.

From an engine oil perspective, biodiesel tends to form polymers in engine oil when it gets past the piston rings. Engine oil drain intervals cannot be extended and often have to be shortened, or at least dropped back to 'severe service' intervals.

Best option for trouble free B100 use is an older engine (pre-2004 VW's before the PD/unit injector engines, for example). And you'll still have to mix-in some petrodiesel during colder months as biodiesel - especially the US soy-based fuel - has a higher gel point than petrodiesel.

Though particulate volume drops in exhaust, and the carbon is close to neutral, NOx tends to increase in stock diesel engines when burning biodiesel.

I've not read anything that shows how biodiesel works when injected into diesel particulate filters to regenerate them.

Background info:
http://www.infineum.com/Documents/C...fuel Effects on Lubes - ICIS PanAm - 2009.pdf