Speaking of alternative fuels, Raymond, maybe the thing to do is just start doing it, and forget about all the wrongheaded plans of the Cheney administration, etc. This article below gives an example. NPR was talking about hydrogen fuel yesterday on Science Friday -- seems to be some momentum, but a guest expert cautioned that it takes decades to get the infrastructure in place. Let's get going.
By the way, every time I hear Gary Ackerman prattling again, I can't help but think of the little martians in the movie Mars Attacks who kept saying Ack Ack Ack, with different degrees of urgency. It was all they knew how to say.
sfgate.com
Commuter ferry goes organic
Oski switching to soybean-oil fuel
Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer
Friday, October 26, 2001
Passengers who tour the bay on the Blue & Gold
Fleet's "Oski" ferry may soon encounter emissions
that smell more like frying doughnuts than a Muni
bus.
The ferry is switching from diesel to a new
environmentally friendly fuel made from soybean oil.
The San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit
Authority, an agency charged with expanding the
bay's ferry network, gave $25,000 yesterday to
conduct the nation's first test of the new fuel in an
operating ferry.
Blue & Gold, which added $57,000 to the study,
started running its 400- passenger Oski, a charter
vessel, on 100 percent soybean oil fuel this month.
"The great thing about biodiesel is that you don't
have to undergo any costly refurbishments of an
existing vessel. You just change the fuel on it," said
Mary Frances Culnane, the Water Transit
Authority's manager of marine engineering.
"I talked to the engineer on the Oski, and he says it
sure smells good to him," she said.
There are more than 30 ferries on the bay. Transit
officials view the commuter fleet -- now at 14 -- as
a solution for cutting down on polluting cars. But
two years ago, Bluewater Network, a local
environmental group, publicized a study showing
that, per passenger mile, the diesel-run ferries
spewed more carbon dioxide, a contributor to
global warming, and toxic hydrocarbons than
Municipal Railway buses do.
Biodiesel, a fuel made from soybean, canola,
coconut, corn, or safflower oil -- or recycled grease
-- offers a clean alternative to fossil fuels,
environmental officials say. It's the fastest-growing
alternative fuel, according to the U.S. Department
of Energy.
Trucks and buses that run on it give off the sweetish
scent of French fries,
doughnuts or castor oil. The price is higher and, in
the Bay Area, the fuel must be purchased at the
Olympian station at Third and 23rd streets in San
Francisco. In case of the ferries, it is trucked to the
piers.
The environmental benefits are still being tested in
the ferries, said Jon Hie, vice president of
engineering and facilities at Blue & Gold.
The Oski -- selected for biodiesel because it's one
of the oldest and dirtiest in the Blue & Gold fleet of
five -- appears to be running fine on soybean oil, he
said. Starting next week, the company is adding a
system to control nitrogen oxides as well.
The company, which is cooperating with the Energy
Department on the study, won't have emission
comparisons for months.
The Water Transit Authority is conducting public
sessions to solicit comments on environmental issues
associated with the bay's ferry plan. The places and
dates may be found on the Internet at
www.watertransit.org. |
