Petrol sux Diesel rox

I know that when it comes to automobiles, most people will consider a petrol rather than a diesel. The general impression is that diesel engines are big, dirty things that run heavy machinery, trucks, ships, etc… However, with the advances in technology and engineering, the diesel has been made more suitable and even desirable for the everyday family car. I am serious. The diesel is not only more economical than the petrol, it can also be more environmentally friendly!!

Firstly, diesel is cheap. Go to any fuel station and you will know. The reason is that diesel is easier, and hence cheaper, to refine than petrol. On top of that, diesel having longer chains of hydrocarbons is about 15% denser than petrol (15% more energy per litre). And since car fuels are sold by volume and not weight, you get more per litre of fuel for diesel than petrol!! Remember also that it is cheaper per litre for diesel too!!! That’s a double blessing!!!

Secondly, diesel engines (with higher compression ratios) are more efficient than petrol engines. And this translates to greater fuel economy. Generally, diesel engines have 30% better mileage than equivalent petrol engines. And as we all know, better fuel economy also means lesser greenhouse gases emissions. Plus the fact that diesel fuel is cheaper, a diesel car saves both your wallet as well as global warming. (One should note that despite lower carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions, the trade off is that diesels produce more oxides of nitrogen and particulates. Still, burning less fuel is better in the long run.)

Thirdly, diesel engines can run on the earth-friendly bio-diesel. Bio-diesel is a non-fossil fuel alternative that can be obtained from vegetable oil. That’s right! You can also mix the bio-diesel with petroleum-diesel. There have been reports that a diesel-biodiesel mix results in lower emissions than either can achieve alone. –Wikipedia. So be responsible and reduce your carbon foot-print. Be a man! Do the right thing!

Of course, diesel engines and diesel cars, like everything else, have their short-comings. The main short-comings for putting the diesel engine in cars are its poorer power-to-weight ratio and its higher noise and vibration levels. However, advancement in technology and engineering has reduced these short-comings as compared to the past. With rising oil prices and worsening environmental woes, I believe that the diesel engine’s advantages over petrol engines far outweigh its disadvantages. So get a diesel car and throw that petrol car away!

Haha… OK… this blog entry is a little heavy… maybe too heavy. But I advocate diesel over petrol. Just wanted to share my views and enlighten you pple about the diesel. I am also trying to enlighten my dad about diesel over petrol. For more info, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine . Anyway, here are some food for thought:

In 2001, nearly 36% of newly registered cars in Western Europe had diesel engines. By way of comparison: in 1996, diesel-powered cars made up only 15% of the new car registrations in Germany. Austria leads the league table of registrations of diesel-powered cars with 66%, followed by Belgium with 63% and Luxembourg with 58%. Germany, with 34.6% in 2001, was in the middle of the league table. (wikipedia)