Ward's columnist makes the case for tech agnostic efficiency incentives

Filed under: Diesel, MPG, Legislation and Policy

It's no secret that when it comes to promoting more efficient transportation, the current administration in Washington is all about batteries and plugs - pretty much to the exclusion of all else. In his latest column at trade publication Ward's Auto World, Drew Winter tries to make the case for the government taking agnostic approach to technology and simply promoting anything that would make a measurable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption. Just given the relative lack of technological understanding among most of the people in Washington, that certainly makes sense.



Add in the fact that cost constraints and charging limitations will likely keep EVs from comprising a significant portion of new vehicle sales for at least the next decade, and it's clear that other near term solutions should be getting a boost as well. Certainly, the tax credits that were provided to early hybrid buyers helped get that segment established in the last several years. The government also offers similar (although smaller) breaks to diesel buyers. Providing further incentives for diesel would help get more of these on the road and might convince manufacturers to offer it as an option in the U.S. On average, diesels consume about 30 percent less petroleum and produce about 25 percent less CO₂ (the difference coming from the fact that diesel fuel contains about 15 percent more carbon than gas) than a comparable gasoline engine. That's a real measurable difference that we should be taking advantage of today while continuing to develop other technologies for the future. We should also be doing more to help other technologies and fuels - like HCCI or bio-butanol - to come to market



[Source: Ward's Auto World]

Ward's columnist makes the case for tech agnostic efficiency incentives originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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