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Volkswagen's concept version of the 2008 Tiguan TDi, which VW showed at the Los Angeles Auto Show last week, features a new common-rail, high-pressure fuel-injection system and Bluetec emissions technology. Volkswagen plans to sell the new Tiguan small SUV with a 2.0-liter turbocharged diesel engine in all 50 states, probably by late next year. That will give Volkswagen an exclusive. No other small SUVs are available in the United States with a diesel engine, which usually offers a fuel economy gain of 30 percent over a gasoline engine. The Chrysler group's Jeep brand dropped the diesel option from the...

Toyota Motor Corp. has developed an ultra-clean diesel engine designed to clear stricter emissions standards to be introduced in Japan, the United States and the European Union in the coming years, sources said. The company plans to install the engine in its European models in the latter half of 2008, and in so doing aims to become the world's first automaker to commercialize a next-generation diesel engine, the sources said. Germany's BMW AG has said it will roll out a diesel model with comparable emissions levels in 2008 in the United States. Honda Motor Co. announced a plan to introduce...

LEE COUNTY: The Lee County Commission voted unanimously to proceed with plans to build a bio-diesel plant at the Gulfcoast Landfill. The decision upset residents in the nearby Stoneybrook Community, and even brought one woman to tears. Homeowners have safety and health concerns about the plant. Cathy Ciaffone lives right across the street from the landfill. "We came to where we thought we'd be happy at. We have to move if our health doesn't get better," said Ciaffone. She says her children and her neighbors suffer from fevers and sore throats. According to her the problems can all be blamed...

GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co. unveiled the diesel version of their Tosca passenger car at the Papertainer Museum in Olympic Park, Seoul, Wednesday. The model has a 2,000 cc variable turbocharger commonrail diesel injection engine, a 0-100 km/h acceleration rate of 11 seconds and can reach speeds of up to 206 km/h. The car uses a combination of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technology and a diesel particulate filter (DPF) to meet the emission limits of Euro IV, a set of emission standards applying to vehicles sold in the EU since 2005. The new Tosca arrives in Korean showrooms next...

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 28, 2006 -- On the eve of the Los Angeles Motor Show, DaimlerChrysler, AUDI and Volkswagen announced that they intend to establish the BLUETEC brand name as the designation for particularly clean, highly fuel-efficient passenger cars and SUVs with diesel engines. Under the shared concept of BLUETEC, each of the manufacturers involved will be working on their own technical systems for meeting the world's most stringent emission regulations. The latest J.D. Power study, "Global Outlook For Diesel," predicts that the share of diesels among first-time registrations in North America will rise to over 15 percent by 2015....

Leading agri-business Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has announced it will boost its North American oilseed crushing operations on the back of an increased global demand for food and biodiesel. The firm yesterday said its capacity increases in the US and Canada will result from the expansion of five soybean crushing plants and two canola crushing plants. "Expanding our crush capacity will enable us to meet the increased demands for vegetable oil and oilseed proteins, driven by the world's growing need for energy and food," said stated Scott Fredericksen, president of ADM's North American Oilseed Processing business. ADM said that factors...

CHEVROLET will show its first diesel-engined car at this year's Bologna Motor Show. Set to go on UK sale in the first half of 2007 and distinguished by a new, chrome finished radiator grille, the new Lacetti TCDi comes with an all-new 2.0-litre common rail turbo diesel engine, developing 121PS at 3,800rpm and 280Nm of torque at 2,000rpm. With a Bosch-developed common-rail injection system, the new engine allows the car to accelerate from 0-62mph in just 9.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 117mph, returning a combined fuel economy figure of 58.8mpg in the Lacetti five-door hatchback and...

ruth be told, "clean and quiet" are not words that typically describe diesel engines -- until now. For Mercedes-Benz, those words are key components of a new diesel engine brought to market with the 2007 Mercedes E320 BLUETEC Sedan. BLUETEC reflects the German automaker's dedication to reclaim blue skies with advanced technology in engine and fuel management developed for its E320 BLUETEC sedan, launched this month to coincide with the introduction of low-sulfur diesel fuel across the U.S. The ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel contains 15 parts per million (ppm) of sulfur content compared to 500 ppm sulfur content from existing...

AutoblogGreen has reason to be happy, having found evidence that Toyota's recent purchase of a 5.9% stake in Isuzu will bear fruit in 2010 when the Japanese juggernaut marries its Synergy hybrid drive system with a diesel engine. Presumably such a hook up was made possible, or at least hastened, by the expertise in diesels that Isuzu brings to the table. Toyota knows its way around an oil burner too, but its Hino commercial truck division usually deals with diesels meant for trucks and buses. Heck, even we have to admit that we're excited for such a combo, as diesel...

Japanese automaker Mitsubishi recently announced it is developing a diesel engine for a European market vehicle, and although it says it has no plans to bring a diesel option to the U.S., it hasn't ruled it out, according to a report in Automotive News.

Heavy-duty action is heating up in the pickup arena. Each of the Big Three is fielding a new or revised diesel engine, beefed up to grind it out in the marketplace. All are powerful and capable, but Dodge believes its new 6.7-liter Cummins inline six-cylinder turbo-diesel, available in 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 models in January, stacks up well against its formidable competitors. The engine also marks a big evolutionary step from the 5.9-liter turbo-diesel it replaces. Displacement is a key advantage in the diesel battle, said Don Altermatt, Chrysler Group senior manager for diesel engine engineering, with the...

Reactors Being Shipped to South Africa SAN DIEGO, CALIF. (BUSINESS WIRE) Nov. 13, 2006 — Green Star Products, Inc. (US OTC: GSPI) today announced that it has signed an agreement with De Beers Fuel Limited of South Africa to build 90 biodiesel reactors. Each of the biodiesel reactors will be capable of producing 10 million gallons of biodiesel each year for a total production capacity of 900,000,000 gallons per year when operating at full capacity, which is 4 times greater than the entire U.S. output in 2006. The 2-ton reactors will be built by GSPI at their Glenns Ferry...

Whenever Toyota makes a move, the world takes notice. Japan’s #1 automaker (which looks poised to be the world’s largest) has been a leader on hybrid development, but has been a little behind the curve when it comes to diesel development. It especially lost face when archrival Honda boasted it would have clean diesel models on sale in the U.S. within 3 years. Toyota’s only response at the time was, “We’re working on it.” Although Toyota owns Hino, a maker of medium and heavy-duty trucks, the company’s experience with smaller-displacement diesels is limited. So it figured its time (and money)...

A new economic study, released by the National Biodiesel Board, says that the growing biodiesel industry will add $24 billion to the U.S. economy by 2015. The figure assumes that the biodiesel industry will grow to produce 650 million gallons annually. If this growth holds, the study says biodiesel will create 39,102 new jobs. However ambitious the numbers, the study seems right to assume that the biodiesel industry will continue to grow. American Ag Fuels, one company in the process of building a new plant, is expanding production from 2 million to 5 million. "We decided to expand because frankly...

Reaches 1 Million Gallon Biodiesel Production in Pollock, LA Los Angeles, CA -- Diametrics Medical, Inc. (BULLETIN BOARD: DMMC.OB) , which will change its name to "Allegro Biodiesel Corporation" pending shareholder approval, Nov. 14 announced that its production facility in Pollock, LA has produced more than a million gallons of soybean-based biodiesel since it began operating in April. The company also said it today filed its Form 10-QSB with the SEC. "Last month we surpassed the one million gallon mark, which represents an important early milestone for our company," said President and Chief Operating Officer Darrell Dubroc. "In the last...

The Diesel Technology Forum and Mercedes-Benz USA co-sponsored a diesel survey, which was conducted by Opinion Research Corp. of Princeton, New Jersey. The survey found that 50 percent of Generation Y (18-29 years of age) and 46 percent of Generation X (30-41 years of age) would consider buying or leasing a new clean-diesel vehicle. The survey, which involved more than 1,000 respondents, also found that 70 percent of respondents think that Americans are not doing enough to reduce fuel consumption, although 69 percent of the drivers surveyed reportedly took steps to change their driving practices during the past year.

In a poster session at the upcoming 25th Army Science Conference, to be held 27-30 November 2006 in Orlando, the Army Research Laboratory’s Vehicle Technology Directorate is presenting an overview of three unconventional engine concepts being developed under its sponsorship. The three engines are: a low-power, high energy-density Nutating engine targeted at unmanned air and ground vehicles, auxiliary power units, and generator applications; a turbine concept that uses semi-closed engine cycle synergistically coupled with a vapor-absorption refrigeration system; and the Bonner Engine, a new, two-stroke combustion engine concept in which two cylinders reciprocate in a 90° X-configuration, each between...

Japanese scientists may have found a cheaper and more efficient way to produce "biodiesel." The renewable, vegetable oil-based fuel can be used in conventional diesel engines, which are found in about 2 percent of cars currently sold in the U.S. and in about 40 percent in Europe. The breakthrough could be just in time—industry experts say that demand for the cleaner, greener fuel is on the rise. Any vegetable oil can become fuel, but not until its fatty acids are converted to chemical compounds known as esters. Currently the acids used to convert the fatty acids are prohibitively expensive. Michikazu...

RTTNews) - Ford Motor Co plans to set up a plant in India to manufacture diesel engines, as the consumers are shifting to more fuel-efficient option in the fast-growing car market. The new plant would have a capacity to manufacture around 100,000 units of the 1.4-litre Duratorq engine each year, according to sources. Ford, which manufactures 60,000 vehicles per annum at its Maramalainagar plant near Chennai, presently buys petrol engines from Hindustan Motors Ltd and imports diesel engines. Ford's Endeavour sport utility is a diesel model and 70% of sales of its Fiesta model have diesel engines. The Fiesta is...

The first powerboat to run entirely on biodiesel fuel -- a renewable, non-hazardous fuel made from plant and animal products including canola, soy and palm oils -- visited Boston this weekend as part of a worldwide promotional tour designed to raise awareness about alternative fuel sources. As part of the tour, the Earthrace boat will try to break the current powerboat record of 75 days for equatorial circumnavigation of the globe, aiming to complete its trip in less than 65 days. New Zealand-native Pete Bethune, who invested his life savings in this project, founded the Earthrace organization. Now the...