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The Pub For General Automotive Related Talk |
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#1 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Central Q..10kms west of Rocky...
Posts: 8,307
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Holden hopes to have a car fuelled by household waste within a couple of years.
Australia’s most popular car could soon be running on dirty nappies and food scraps. Holden has formed a consortium with Caltex, the Victorian Government and three other technology companies to explore the viability of an ethanol plant in Victoria that would convert household rubbish into fuel. And the car maker has committed to launching a Commodore that is capable of running on 85 per cent ethanol by the end of the year. Caltex will support the introduction of the new E85 Commodore by installing E85 pumps in 30 metropolitan and regional service stations later this year and increasing that figure to 100 within 12 months. The E85 Commodores will also be able to run on regular unleaded or E10 petrol. The ethanol plant would take two years to build and would be capable of producing 200 million litres of ethanol a year from a variety of waste, including building materials, paper, cardboard and household food scraps. It would cost roughly $300 to $400 million to build. The technology to convert the waste into fuel has been developed by US firm, Coskata. The process uses bacteria that feed off carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen and excrete ethanol. Local waste management company Veolia will be responsible for providing the household waste to the plant. Holden’s energy and environment director, Richard Marshall, said the technology would provide environmental benefits as well as reducing Australia’s dependence on foreign oil. “Our vision is that this technology will, in time, cut Australia’s dependence on petrol by up to 30 per cent and make a contribution to sustainable motoring and greenhouse gas reduction,” Mr Marshall said. Marshall said using household waste rather than food sources meant ethanol production could be significantly increased without raising any “food for fuel” issues. “This process can use anything from dirty nappies to food scraps,” he said. Australian ethanol is currently developed from waste by-products of sugar cane and wheat, but to increase production substantially, the current suppliers would need to convert food-producing agricultural land to ethanol crops, which would attract criticism. “What we’re trying to do here is to move [ethanol] from a boutique fuel into the mainstream,” he said. To move the fuel into the mainstream, however, the consortium will need to overcome the fact that E85-capable cars use substantially more fuel than petrol cars. To attract buyers, petrol stations will have to heavily discount E85, but Marshall believes the price will be “very competitive” with petrol, especially in the longer term as petrol prices rise. “We know that if petrol is about $1.50 a litre we need to be selling E85 for about $1.20 a litre. “We’re expecting over the next year or so that the price of petrol is steadily going to go up. Even if ethanol right now at the bowser mightn’t be cheap enough to make it financially neutral we expect that over the next few months or year that will certainly change,” he said. He said that converting waste to ethanol was a cost effective solution, because people would actually pay to supply the plant with its raw materials. “You’ve actually got people paying you to take it away,” he said. The plant would also help the environment by converting waste into fuel rather than landfill, which produces methane. General Motors has a big commitment to ethanol fuels in the United States, with more than 3.5 million E85-capable cars on the road. It has committed to making more than half its vehicles E85 compatible by 2012. Caltex Australia’s general manager, marketing, Andy Walz, said the company was committed to expanding beyond its traditional fuel mix. “Caltex already has about 400 service stations that sell E10 and a growing biodiesel market. We believe the biofuels industry has a vital role in a sustainable transport fuels future and that biofuels are a good business opportunity for Caltex,” he said. Marshall said ethanol would form part of a multi-pronged “sustainable motoring” strategy for Holden. “We’re not saying this is the only solution. We’ve always said there are multiple solutions. There’s no silver bullet. I think people are now starting to talk about silver buckshot. Ethanol is very much an important piece of that buckshot, LPG is another and then electricity is part of it as well and conventional petrol will be important,” he said.
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#2 | ||
Virtuous Bogan (TM)
![]() Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: TAS
Posts: 27,565
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We have one of the worlds largest supplies of LPG and they waste there time with this.
Good on GMH for getting their name out there again.
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#3 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Gren A Waverrey
Posts: 2,364
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Could soon be running on dirty nappies...........and fairy dust too.
It's all about creating a green image.
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Practicing - Sleeping with a guitar in your hand counts, as long as you don't drop it. Don't snap my undies. |
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#4 | ||
Long live the Falcon GT
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Victoria
Posts: 1,630
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So - to refuel, I just roll up to the local dump/tip and cram some filthy rubbish in to my car??
I think I prefer a servo thanks...
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#5 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Central Q..10kms west of Rocky...
Posts: 8,307
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Quote:
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CSGhia |
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#6 | ||
Regular Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 48
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I for one think E85 in more places is great.
There is currently two pumps in VIC that I know of. Fuel Town in Southland and United in Hoppers Crossing. Bring on the E85 and more timing in my engines ![]() |
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#7 | |||
Cobblers!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: The Shire, NSW
Posts: 4,489
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Quote:
What is E85 like for economy? Finally the 3.0 SIDI might achieve something.
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Ego BFII Ghia Titanium Silver E53 X5 4.4i Gunmetal EF XR6. Now retired from active duty. Roses are red. Violets are blue. OS X rocks. Homage to you. |
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#8 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Geelong
Posts: 2,374
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couple of years ,pffft
Couple of decades maybe |
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#9 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,312
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Quote:
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My ride: 2007 Falcon Ute BF XR8 Orange, MTO. |
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#10 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 618
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Quote:
lol no, what they do is they take rubbish waste to a specialist refinery. it's mixed with bacteria and put under heat and pressue to liqufy it. once it's liquid they then refine it back into petrol. remember oil is just old bones and organic life that has been turned to liquid under heat and pressure over time. this is just a faster version of that. any organic matter can be made into petrol. |
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#11 | ||
Winning's Winning!
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Aspendale, Victoria
Posts: 1,033
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i wouldnt say no to free fuel...
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#12 | |||
Virtuous Bogan (TM)
![]() Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: TAS
Posts: 27,565
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Quote:
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#13 | ||
as in chopped
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,991
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![]() The New Boss is onto something. I always wanted to build a Flux Capacitor but now Holden will possibly build one for me.
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-> Reading this signature was pointless <- |
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#14 | |||
Long live the Falcon GT
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Victoria
Posts: 1,630
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Quote:
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#15 | |||
Long live the Falcon GT
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Victoria
Posts: 1,630
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Quote:
*(SIMPSONS QUOTE)* Homer: Okay, boy. This is where all the hard work, sacrifice and painful scaldings pay off. Clerk: Four pounds of grease. That comes to... sixty-three cents. Homer: Woo-hoo! Bart: Dad, all that bacon cost twenty-seven dollars. Homer: Yeah, but your mom paid for that. Bart: But, doesn't she get her money from you? Homer: And I get my money from grease. What's the problem? ******* Ain't nothin for free....
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#16 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,412
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Quote:
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#17 | ||
Lucky, lucky bastard!
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Sydney, NSW
Posts: 1,321
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Doesn't anyone else think this could be a good idea?? The technology is already available to convert waste products to Ethanol, so we have a 'fairly' renewable source of energy (lets face it, we are always going to have some form of waste)...as an added bonus less goes into land fill...whats wrong with this? Am i missing something or are we purely just being Holden Haters again??
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2015 Mondeo Trend 2.0T Diesel, Deep Impact Blue 2012 FPV GT-P 6spd Auto, Lightning Strike |
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#18 | ||
The Vengeful One
![]() Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Tazzy
Posts: 12,762
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Always knew holdens were S!@# lol!, now they will smell like it to haha!
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#19 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: brisbane
Posts: 509
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Quote:
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#20 | ||
Banned
![]() Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 8,303
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![]() It's been done. |
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#21 | ||
Peter Car
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: geelong
Posts: 23,145
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I knew GM Holden ran on total crap, now their cars can too.
They would have plenty of crap to use by putting a bucket under Bob Lutz's mouth. |
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#22 | |||
FEARsome 429
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Snobs rock.
Posts: 230
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Quote:
"You took the words right out of my mouth" ![]()
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Live by the Ford Die by the Ford! 1978 429 XC Fairmont GXHELL. |
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#23 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,119
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Whats that saying?? Ah thats it "You are what you eat" So what does this say for the new E85 Holden.....
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#24 | ||
Regular Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 48
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I love the ignorance of this thread.
High Ethenol blends are common practice in the states, v8 super cars run it too. Sure it uses 20-30% more fuel (IE fuel system upgrade), but it is cheaper per litre and make great power. There are quite a lot of jap import guys using it in their cars on the street in aus. The only reason it is not as common as there is ******** all places to get it right now. Hopefully that will change soon. I for one will be using it once I have some more money to splash on some bigger injectors (again) and some redundancy in my fuel system for a safety net. Get on the bandwagon ;) |
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#25 | ||
Regular Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: bendigo vic
Posts: 30
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can they brin back the delorian as well caz they were kick ***
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#26 | ||||
Happy Volkswagen owner
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Manly
Posts: 256
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Quote:
Not all of us want time bomb in the boot of our car thats starving our engines of lubrication... Stoney!
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Curent ride: 2009 model VW Golf 118tsi - 1.4L supercharged and turbocharged - ECU flash - 151kw and 318nm - 6.7s 0-100. Quote:
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#27 | ||
Render unto Caesar
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: ::1
Posts: 4,221
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Good on Holden for jumping on this opportunity. It is a benefit to us all (if all parties keep it going) and even more so a great marketing tool.
This is where Ford should have been, they should have been the ones to get it on this. You wonder why Holden has more publicity?
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"Aliens might be surprised to learn that in a cosmos with limitless starlight, humans kill for energy sources buried in sand." - Neil deGrasse Tyson |
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#28 | |||
Regular Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 48
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Quote:
http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/for...A-t258776.html |
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#29 | |||
Render unto Caesar
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: ::1
Posts: 4,221
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Quote:
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"Aliens might be surprised to learn that in a cosmos with limitless starlight, humans kill for energy sources buried in sand." - Neil deGrasse Tyson |
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#30 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 11,279
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Whoops, I thought this was another Holden SIDI thread.......
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