Why is there no mention of the VW Jetta TDI in your green cars section?

Question

It gets 55mpg and can run on B100 (BioDiesel)- a renewable, non-fossil fuel.

Answer 1

The diesel version of the Jetta is not available in the USA.

Answer 2

Unfortunately fossil fuel is used to produce the electricity that processes the raw materials into bio fuel

Answer 3

It sure should.  AS should the VW diesel. Especially when with mild modification it can use 100% veggie oil, straight from the bean (or seed).

Answer 4

I own a TDI Jetta and a TDI Passat, so I like the cars and diesel engines.

But I am not sold on biodiesel or ethanol.

I know from all the scientific literature that ethanol takes just about as much energy to produce as the energy value of the output, and many scientists say it actually takes more energy to produce than the energy obtained.  Look at the EPA's MPG ratings for E85 vehicles and you will see that they are 30% lower than gasoline engines.  This, it takes about 1.4 gallons of ethanol to go the same distance as a 1 gallon of gasoline.  And the ethanol costs more per gallon.

I have not seen studies on the economics of biodiesel, but I suspect they aren't much better.

I have driven with 20% biodiesel (which cost more than ordinary diesel) and the fuel economy was not noticably different from ordinary diesel, so maybe it is not as bad a trade as ethanol.

But ethanol has shown how we can raise the price of fuel and food at the same time and biodiesel would necessarily come from crops currently used in the food chain, so I expect that it will have similar inflationary effects on food costs.