Have you seen the price of diesel recently?

With the current tensions in the middle east and fuel being blocked from reaching its final destination many nations are having issues with the cost of Diesel and Gasoline. I've heard issues of pumps simply not having any supply in Australia. When I was in the Philippines I watched the price of diesel double within only a few short weeks. I saw profiteering by gas stations which refused sale one night and opened the next day with fuel much much higher than the day before. It is so bad that the president declared a state of emergency and there have been protests on the street.

However pain at the pump isn't anything new. It happened during COVID. It will happen the next time there is a shortage for any reason. It is not something that should surprise anyone. Sure it is awful. Sure it hurts many people. Yes, those people on the margins of society tend to hurt more. Yes there is a trickle down to all parts of society in the form of higher prices on virtually everything.

However, do you only see doom and gloom or is there the possibility of change? Is there any possibility for something good to come out of all this?

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Batteries, Renewables and Change

I told a friend of mine that I always try to see the bright side of any situation. Admittedly it is hard to see the bright side when people are paying twice as much for necessities and are looking at huge increases in prices.

However, I've been looking into "Can you grow and make your own" fuel for a long long time. The quick answer is that for some people it is indeed possible to make our own diesel or gasoline. For those willing to change it is also possible to go with an electric vehicle and create electricity with solar or wind power. For those people who are even more inventive its even possible to make a wood/charcoal powered vehicle. Don't believe me? Check here for a person who actually did it.

Now 15 years ago when I was looking at the possibility of alternative fuels for transportation it was a very small field of potential vehicles. Electric vehicles were in their infancy and honestly not that good. I can say this with absolute certainty because I actually have one of the original Mitsubishi I-miev. Now with some of the vehicles being produced by BYD and other companies electric vehicles are much much nicer, more affordable and generally better than they were a decade ago.

However, if you look at the math solar panels aren't perfect. Not even close. However the math today looks so much better than it did 15 years ago. Solar panels are cheaper, lithium iron phosphate batteries are better and cheaper and charge controllers and such are now readily available.

• I know with confidence a system that can reliably put out 2Kwh/day (often more) is less than 40,000 Pesos ($700 HBD from Lazada Philippines)

• The Chinese government has mandated that vehicles use 15.1Kwh or less for a 100km trip. Check out here to see for yourself.

• That means a very modest solar system could add just over 13km of range to an electric vehicle most nights with somewhat less on cloudy days.

• 13km is about how far a Toyota Corolla goes on ONE liter of fuel according to the trip computer on the vehicle I was driving yesterday.

• One liter of fuel right now in Vancouver? $2.029 from this link which is roughly P88

• Again doing a little math it would take about 450 days for the small solar system to pay for itself! Considering the solar system is likely to last 15-25 years? That makes it very cost efficient.

If you have room for 6 solar panels, an inverter, and two lithium ion batteries.
And of course if you only have a short commute to work every day :)

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Some people will still need actual fuel

For those people who have longer commutes they will either need larger solar systems or fuel to put in their vehicle. Right now there are two fuel options: Gasoline and Diesel. Guess what? Both of those have versions that are producible from natural products.

Diesel Fuel

The original Diesel fuel by professor Diesel way back when the engine was created? Peanut oil. The reason we use oil based diesel today was that it was really cheap. Modern diesel engines can run peanut oil or other oils but their injectors clog up quickly. Do a little treatment and you get BioDiesel which runs just fine. Which makes me think of Palm trees.

Gasoline

As for gasoline? Well, the original engines were made to run on pure alcohol. Works great but it fell out of favor with prohibition in the United States. Plus gasoline is cheaper and easier to store than absolute pure alcohol. However, alcohol has been produced by humans for thousands of years and distilling it to be pure is possible. Just need a sugar source and time to get it going.

Modern vehicles certainly can burn ethanol but it isn't a straight replacement. Alcohol can damage plastic tubing and seals so changing those for resistant versions is required. Alcohol actually burns better than gasoline so some tuning might be required but overall? Gasoline isn't required to get a car moving, ethanol/alcohol could do the trick.

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The economics of biodiesel

Now I'm going to ask @monica-ene about this one. However, from my reading Palm Trees are an excellent source of oil. Indeed one hectare of Palm trees can product up to 5000L of oil annually. Check the Malaysian Palm Oil Board to verify the amount.

• A bit of math. One hectare of palm trees (5000L) and diesel at P88/l --> P440,000 annually. Or about $7,000 HBD.

Can one person harvest so much oil? Can that yield be done repeatedly? Can it be marketed locally? All excellent questions and ones that could really make all the difference between profit and a failed project. However at its heart it IS worth looking into. It might be an option so that places like the Philippines wouldn't be 98% dependent on external oil sources

As for alcohol? I don't know the numbers behind it. Crops like sugarcane, sugar beets, corn and others could all be used to make alcohol. Regarding yields and profitability? No idea if it would be profitable. Then again, the more expensive gasoline gets the more alcohol looks attractive as a possibility.

Then there is biomethane. Also knows as BioGas. If you have things that compost you have things that can make natural gas. Natural gas can absolutely be burned to make electricity or compressed to make vehicle fuel. However, it is not great for home production except perhaps for cooking gas. Still if a country like the Philippines wanted to be more sufficient it could be worth looking into.

But there is still one problem.....

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The problem of scale

Right now there are so many people burning so much fuel that there is zero chance that a nation like the Philippines could produce its entire energy requirements from natural products. There is just too much diesel and gasoline being used.

If there was a total shift in how people worked, moved and lived? Maybe. However, that is still something in the future.

Then again it is said that necessity is the mother of invention. Looking at sky high fuel prices makes alternatives increasingly necessary and isn't it cool that there are options available to reduce our dependance on foreign nations and corporations to get us where we need to go.

Just my two thoughts as I'm looking at the high price of fuel. Thanks for reading and hope you found it interesting.

Thank you.