As a quick aside, it's my understanding that biodiesel is currently subsidized by the government at about $1 per gallon and is still substantially more expensive than petroleum diesel. In Michigan the state government is even giving 15 years of no taxes to any company that starts up an alternative fuel company here.

hahaha motor gas is not subsidized in the US...it is taxed, though not enough IMHO

What I want to know is why the answer to the same question is so different here than in the EU or Japan. Why are particulates so important here/not important there that it apparently completely changes the answer? Doesnt seem to make a lot of sense to me.

Something that hasnt been brought up...why not more gas? As in, compressed natural gas? Seems to me I could outfit a compression station in my garage for relatively small amounts of money and never go to a gasoline station ever again. Arent cng vehicles some silly amount cleaner than diesel OR mo-gas?

Before my foot completely gets stuck in my mouth, I guess I'll point you towards this:

Linky

Put together by a not so neutral party, but it gives a good idea of some of the things that a portion of tax monies go to. My original statement was a little heavily worded, apologies for that. My focus has been on technologies, not money/economics unfortunately

That is great comedy. A very good example of how to use simple math to try and convince people that your point of view is correct, irrespective of any sense of reality.

Here is a good headline the writer would apparently like to see in the papers:
NEWSFLASH - The US government actively subsidizes EVERYTHING by allowing corporations to "write off" normal expenses of doing business!!!!!

There are other great tidbits this article includes in the "cost" of gasoline such as vehicle insurance, uncompensated costs due to travel delays because of congestion and accidents, cost of building and maintaining parking facilities, fire police and other emergency response services, and of course lets not forget the skyrocketing costs of pollution caused by gasoline (remember, pollution is caused by gasoline, not the burning of gasoline by the end user...), the entire US defense budget is just one giant oil company subsidy, etc etc

Thats fine, but remember, you could put a similar paper together on every single product in existence, so therefore every product is subsidized. For a little more down to earth (albeit still biased, after all, it doesnt account for the salary of the the Deputy Secretary of Energy...an obvious subsidy) check out http://www.thepriceoffuel.com/

The best comedy is based on the truth Now you're going to make me read that "paper" that I posted

It may be taxed enough but like Social Security, the collected funds aren't properly allocated.

Al, you could... the local authorities are not going to like having the gas compressor in the neighborhood and the neighbors certainly won't like the idea. On the other hand, I would LOVE to sell you the electricity for the compression and refrigeration.


I'll check it out. I also may have come across too strong; certainly not my intention.

Got to love a group that can "actively discuss" things and still have fun on and off track...

Nahh, all you have to do is only listen to what the big oil companies say. They wont steer you wrong.

I don't know what tier this bin that emissions standards mean in detail, nor have I gotten the details of how these guys rate things...but on this page you can see a cng civic being praised over a prius even though it has inferior mpg...Its interesting also to see how much "greener" the same package is going from regular gasoline to cng (the standard civic is on the list)
2007 greenest vehicles

David, here's what I was thinking of for fueling...phill

Diesels aren't just for towing anymore....

Banks Dmax Race Truck

Yowza......might have to ditch the Camaro and convert the tow vehicle.....





....now what would I tow with?????

I managed to routinely get about 11 mpg with my '77 Civic CVCC. Trying to get any performance out of a 55 hp car means keeping the gas pedal on the floor pretty much all of the time... and of course it didn't hold up so well.