2009-07-11

 

Natural Gas for Fleets

I want a campaign to lobby to have all federal vehicles, all state vehicles, and very large counties and cities in the Western U.S. to convert to either electric or NG. Now, small cars that run around in cities (like the guy who is the head of the parks & recreation or animal control division) can use electric. But, people who work for the Forrest Service, or Bureau of Land Management, or Health and Human Services that travel to small towns all over the place, electric is not practical. But NG could be. So, if we could get these major fleets, like the Texas Railroad Commission, or vehicles in the California Department of Transportation, or the FBI, U.S. Border Patrol, etc., to convert to NG that is the answer.

I don't want to focus on anything else. Just sell the idea that we have a 50 year plan, and Phase One is the aforementioned, then, 25 years from now, we move those fleets to either electric or hydrogen, or what ever. But, we need to start somewhere, and start now.

Getting private individuals and fleets to use NG or hydrogen is just not that practical (right now). There is no infrastructure for them to fill up the tanks. But, having NG fueling station at the yards that house these government fleets, and at government offices and compounds, would be a realistic accomplishment. If these major government fleets take up 5% of the vehicles on the road everyday, that would be 5% we could move from oil to NG. This helps lower demand for oil, raise demand for NG, and lowers carbon emissions.

But, nobody wants to listen to my idea. I don't want NG to be used for electrical power generation, I want nuclear, wind, solar, geothermal for that. I want NG to be in these big government fleets. After you get all these government fleets on NG, you could start looking for large private fleets, but you have to start somewhere, and I think this is the place to start.

Phase II could be non-government fleets.

But, lets start where it could be easier to a) start, and more importantly b) finish.

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2009-07-07

 

Idea For Stranded Car Dealers and Some Plant Workers

Back in May, when the news of Chrysler and GM severing ties with some of their franchise dealers was splashing all over the news, I came up with an idea that just might help some of those dealers and one of the manufacturing plants that was to be shuttered.

I emailed my local-national politicians (Tom Udall, Jeff Bingaman, and Martin Heinrich) and the White House (both Barack and Joe), telling them; 'I had an idea, please contact me.' Well, an email never came nor did a phone ever ring. They say on the news that they want to help, but I wonder?

Here is my idea:
  1. We have dealerships without a home out there (AND! employees, voters, campaign contributions, and tax receipts)
  2. We want higher fuel mile-per-gallon standards in place (good for more votes!)
  3. We have plants and parts suppliers shutting their doors (more employees, votes, campaign contributions, and tax receipts)
Suggestion: Give them a new product to build and sell.

In Australia the Peugeot 308 HDi (Hybrid Diesel) set a world record for fuel economy by getting 75 MPG on the highway in a trip around the continent. (Go Google "Peugeot 308 HDi world record").

Peugeot has not sold cars in this country since the first oil shock in the 1970s.

So:
  1. Take one plant that has been shut
  2. Take the dealers that have been cut loose
  3. Take $5-to-$10 billion of that damn stimulus money
AND, roll them all together to create:
AND,

Need any more help, my opinion, like my ass, is full of it. At least I came up with something.

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