Free Republic

Houston, TX -- TexCom, Inc. (OTC Pinksheets: TEXC) held a groundbreaking ceremony on December 21 for its Houston Biodiesel, LLC plant at the LBC Houston, LP terminal site in Seabrook, TX. "This terminal is ideally suited as our initial plant location. The site affords us the capability to bring in our raw materials such as soybean and other vegetable oils by vessel, barge or rail, " said Lou Ross, CEO of Texcom. "The plant will benefit from the fact the Houston Ship Channel is one of the nation's leading ports in terms of the volumes of agricultural commodities that it...

Cat’s variable compression ration engine relies on an eccentrically-mounted crankshaft. The VCR mechanism.Hydraulic pistons control the cradleAs part of its research and development into HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition) regimes for meeting coming heavy-duty engine emissions requirements, Caterpillar has developed—and filed a patent on—a variable compression ratio (VCR) engine. A variable compression ratio engine offers the potential to increase combustion efficiency and decrease emissions under varying load and speed conditions. Caterpillar is part of a Department of Energy-funded research project on high-efficiency, clean combustion along with ExxonMobil (fuels and combustion chemistry), Sandia National Laboratories (optical diagnostics, fuel spray and combustion,...

24 December 2006 Philippine Star. Philippine company Bio-Energy NL Inc. plans to invest up to $300 million (roughly P15 billion) for an integrated coconut plantation and biodiesel plant in Northern Luzon in the Philippines. The coconut plantation will occupy 500,000 hectares of land and the refinery will have a capacity of approximately 300 million liters (80 million gallons US) per year. Construction of the integrated coconut crushing/refinery plant will take about three years. Fruit bearing for the coconut plantation is expected within four years. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) reportedly has agreed to fund the feasibility study—to be...

The Nikkei Business Daily reports that New ACE Institute Co. and the National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory have developed diesel engine technology that reduces emissions of oxides of nitrogen from engines fueled by rapeseed-based biodiesel blends by 80%. The engine uses a combination of Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) and a high-boost strategy that runs combustion at triple the pressure of naturally aspirated diesel engines. New ACE, founded in 1992, is a consortium funded by Hino Motors, Ltd.; Isuzu Motors Ltd.; Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp.; and Nissan Diesel Motor Co., Ltd. to pursue new diesel combustion strategies aimed...

The pace of a hot hatch, but more practical, cheaper and with fuel economy of nearly 50mpg – on paper, Skoda’s Octavia vRS TDI is a winner. Take off for the first time and you’ll probably find yourself trying to rescue the Octavia from stalling. Although the 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol version is a well known performance bargain, only now has the Czech manufacturer decided to introduce a diesel option. Producing 170bhp, the vRS TDI isn’t short of power and, in estate form, it should make the Octavia an unbeatable all-rounder. Fire the engine, though, and initial impressions are that refinement...

AutoWeek reports that Valeo SA has several development contracts with automakers for its camless engine. Although Valeo would not confirm the contracts, a spokesperson said the supplier is working with several global automakers on camless engines. Camless technology is projected to deliver as much as 20% better fuel economy over a conventional engine. Valeo presented its camless Smart Valve Actuation (SVA) at the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show. In a camless engine, each engine valve is operated individually by an actuator that is placed on the upper surface of the cylinder head, directly above the valve guides. Each actuator is...

Biodiesel, an alternative fuel made from used and new oils or animal fats, has been fueling diesel engines since their conception 113 years ago. The first production of biodiesel was conducted by an English scientists in 1853. Forty years later, Rudolf Diesel's first diesel engine, built in 1893, was powered by peanut oil, and won the grand prize at the 1900 World Fair in Paris. "The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today, but such oils may become, in the course of time, as important as petroleum and the coal-tar products of the present time," Diesel...

Peugeot have introduced a new 2.2 twin turbo HDi diesel engine to the 607 range. Using sequential twin parallel turbochargers, a world-first on a four-cylinder diesel car, the new diesel engine produces 170bhp. The price, excluding works, is E53,305. At low engine speeds, just a single turbocharger operates. It is then supported by a second turbocharger, which starts to operate in parallel between 2600-3200 rpm, according to the applied load and atmospheric conditions. Standard equipment on the new version includes includes metallic paint, laminated side windows, a JBL Hi Fi system, a six-disc CD auto-changer, electrically-adjustable front seats with...

A biodiesel plant capable of producing 30 million gallons of biodiesel a year is being proposed for a site in southeast Rochester, reflecting the boom in renewable fuels. The newly formed company, called Midwest Biofuels, is looking to build the plant on 2.4 acres of land at 1830 3rd Ave. in southeast Rochester, the site of the former Fisher Auto Supply and a vacant lot. While the site is only a block from a residential neighborhood, city officials have conducted a preliminary review and have come away convinced that "it looks like a good project," said Gary Neumann, Rochester Assistant...

Mazda is planning to launch a diesel version of the Mazda 3 in February. The car is likely to be badged D Sport and will have a 143 horsepower engine with a top speed of 130 mph. The new Mazda 3 Diesel will give Mazda the chance to compete with cars such as the Ford Focus and Peugeot 307 which already come in diesel varients. The car is expected to do 0-60 in 8.5 seconds and is expected to achieve 55mpg.

A new eco-friendly bio-diesel plant is about to open in Lake County. Silver Bullet Energy is opening its new production facility in Groveland, on State Road 50. The company claims the plant can produce up to 7.2 million gallons of biodiesel fuel per year, by using an eco-friendly processor that can produce high quality Biodiesel from waste vegetable oil and raw sewage.According to the National Biodiesel Board, the alternative fuel will add $24-Billion to U.S. economy

Nissan Motor says it will release vehicles equipped with new, environment-friendly diesel engines, in the Japanese, North American and Chinese markets in 2010. Nissan Motor Co said on Monday it will release vehicles equipped with new, environment-friendly diesel engines, in the Japanese, North American and Chinese markets in fiscal 2010. The release of the new vehicles will be part of the Nissan Green Program 2010, a medium-term environmental action plan, that also includes a project to launch a gasoline-electric hybrid car, based on Nissan's own technologies, in fiscal 2010 for the Japanese and North American markets, the automaker said. With...

Honda's Alabama-built vehicles could be among the first to get a new "clean" V-6 diesel engine the Japanese automaker is developing. Honda CEO Takeo Fukui told the Automotive News trade journal that the new diesel engine should go in the company's light truck models, which include the Odyssey minivan and Pilot sport utility vehicle assembled at the Lincoln plant. The Honda Ridgeline pickup and Acura MDX SUV could also be candidates, according to Automotive News' Dec. 4 issue. Fukui said the light trucks are "the Honda products that would need this kind of technology." The engine is expected to follow...

STUTTGART, Germany — Mercedes-Benz said it is rolling out a second diesel offering for its flagship S-Class lineup this month, a new 2006 S420 CDI. The latest edition to the S-Class lineup develops 320 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque from a 3996cc CDI engine with twin turbochargers. The engine is mated to a standard seven-speed automatic transmission with steering-wheel gearshift controls. The S420 CDI sprints from zero to 62 mph in 6.6 seconds and has a top speed of 155 mph. The company said the more powerful diesel model replaces the V8-powered S400 CDI. Standard features include automatic climate...

Zytek, in conjunction with Lithium Technology Corporation (LTC), has launched a demonstration diesel-electric plug-in hybrid version of a smart for four in London. The lithium-ion battery pack from LTC subsidiary GAIA Akkumulatorenwerke can be charged by either the internal combustion engine (ICE) and by regenerative braking or by household mains (plug-in hybrid). The vehicle has a fuel economy of more than 84 mpg Imp. (3.36 l/100km or about 70 mpg US) and an all-electric range of 20 miles. The battery pack has an output of 288 V, a capacity of 7.5 Ah (or about 2.2 kWh of energy) and...

DETROIT – Three new powerplants join the list of Ward's 10 Best Engines winners for 2007, the 13th rendition of the annual competition that recognizes automotive powertrain excellence.

Engineers at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University have developed a continuously variable transmission based on a cam and a planetary gearset that might increase fuel efficiency 3-5%. Much work has gone into the field of continuously variable transmissions, which can be categorized as traction, belt, ratcheting and hydrostatic drives. The new cam-based system is a ratcheting drive type. Ratcheting drives take rotational input, convert it to an oscillating motion of varying amplitude, and then rectify this motion through a number of one-way clutches to a rotational output. One of the distinctive attributes of the new transmission developed...

Catfish exporter Agifish plans to turn catfish fat into biofuel to run diesel engines, with industrial-scale production set to start next year, an official of the firm said July 4. The company said it had won government approval to build a factory in the southern Mekong delta province of An Giang and produce about 10 million liters of the fuel per year. "We have received the green light from the government to commercialize the fuel from 2007 and build a plant to process 10,000 tons of catfish a year. The fuel will be used for diesel engines in the domestic...

PHOENIX, AZ--(MARKET WIRE)--Dec 4, 2006 -- PetroSun, Incorporated (Other OTC:PSUD.PK - News) announced today that Algae BioFuels, a wholly owned subsidiary, will commence the field testing stage of the cultivation of algae for biodiesel production during the first quarter of 2007. The test site will be located in Arizona. ADVERTISEMENT click here Algae BioFuels will install a biodiesel refinery in Arizona upon the successful completion of the field cultivation trials. The initial phase of the refining process will produce up to ten million gallons per year. The refining capacity will be increased after the initial phase of production and refining...

The UK specialist car maker Trident has launched a sports car powered by a 6.6 litre GM diesel, which it says combines a potential 50 mpg fuel economy with the highest torsional rigidity of any car tested. The Iceni R has a stainless steel chassis and ‘unique’ central spine rollover protection, and is also guaranteed for life against corrosion. At a constant 100km/h the Iceni will return a “Smart car-beating” four litres/100km. The car’s front-mounted 6.6l engine is sourced from GM. The power supplied is in excess of 375 bhp at 3,100 rpm, whilst its torque in excess of...