Austin Shackles wrote in message
...
On or around Sat, 13 Dec 2003 19:50:33 -0000, "Oliver Keating"
enlightened us thusly:

Hybrids.

I am quite interested in the Honda Insight MkII

the only thing that yer hybrid should allow you to do is to run an
internal
combustion engine at higher efficiency by limiting the rev range etc. at
which it operates. which is good, but it's always going to involve fossil
fuels somehow.

The problem is that LPG isn't really "a solution". The fact that most LPG
conversions are aftermarket doesn't help matters, as often the actual
emmisions that can be achieved by a guy in a garage are much worse than
what
can be achieved in a research lab with multi-million budget.

well yes, obviously, but...

Modern car engines are very highly tuned to reduce emmissions, but the
aftermaket LPG solutions are tuned so that they work. I suspect many
conversions end up being no cleaner than they started off with.

there I disagree. Modern cars produce low emissions by the use of a
catalytic converter, and still produce CO2 and H2O, this is unavoidable.
The modern electronic fuel systems are more efficient - possibly up to
double the efficiency of the old-fashioned carbs.

However, a lot of LPG conversions use the same electronic fuel control as
modern petrol systems, and thus achieve the same sort of efficiency.
There's a slight CO2 gain, power-for-power, in that the Propane/Butane
which
is LPG has proportionally more Hydrogen than Carbon, however, water vapour
is also a greenhouse gas.

the main thing that LPG engines are better on is harmful stuff, sulphur
and
nitrogen compounds (compared with diesel) and benzene and similar
(compared
with petrol).

I can also get my old-fahioned V8 to produce less CO and unburnt HC on LPG
than it ever did running twin SUs.


And what do you think happens to all those removed catalytic convertors that
have all sorts of nasties in them when they get removed? Ah, good old
landfill!!!! LPG is currently the only commercially viable alternative fuel
that IS cleaner than petrol or disiesel, hybrids still burn petrol and store
all sorts of nasties in the cat for the future, hydrogen production is
probably more environmentally unfriendly than running on petrol in the first
place, and di-lithium crystal matter/anti-matter warp drive engines are a
long way off! Now, howsabout a nuclear powered turbine
engine/generator/traction motor set-up?
Badger.