re: Biden cracks down on diesel trucks in bid to fight climate change, reduce emissions

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I'm hoping I didn't miss it, but this isn't targeting smaller personal use diesels is it? They run cleaner than gas vehicles.

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The point is that diesel engines of any size are the most practical, efficient and least polluting energy source for transportation. It is a simple math exercise, diesel produces far more energy and does for more work per volume than any viable alternative. Gasoline, LPG, CNG, electric, it doesn't matter. Nothing else comes close.

Oh I completely understand where you are coming from, hence the reason I'm buying the GMC you mentioned earlier. I was just wondering if the article was only talking about tractor trailers and what not or if they are targeting all diesel vehicles

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If only that container ship had been electric...

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If only all of our government was on that bridge.

And 1800kW ain't shite either.

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The energy content in Diesel fuel is so far superior to alternatives that there should be no argument. Sure diesel smells rough but the efficiency is fantastic. GMC has a 3.0 liter Turbo diesel 1/2 ton pickup that gets in the mid-30s MPG

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Never owned a diesel truck, but did have a 2015 diesel Volkswagen Passat (miss the hell out of that thing :banghead ). Great car that got about 46 miles per gallon.

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On July 26 2023, COSCO Shipping launched a 700TEU electric container vessel at COSCO Shipping’s No.1 Heavy Industry Shipyard at Yangzhou. The 120 meter long ship has a fully electric drive with 1,800 [kW] of total installed power. It is able to swap battery packs en route, enabling it to covering over 600 nautical miles of routes on the Yangtze River fully electrically without having to moor and recharge.

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For those who don’t know, 700 TEU capacity is essentially a large barge.

The Dali, at 10,000 TEU, is considered small in the shipping industry whereas new vessels, especially on the Asia-Euro lanes, are usually 20,000 TEU+.

There is an economy of scale in shipping. The larger the vessel, the less CO2 emissions per box for ocean passage.

Electric ain’t it for these large vessels. LNG, alternative fuels, low-sulphur fuels, and hybrid drive systems are the way to go. Fuel, or bunker, is the largest cost for steamship lines. Efficiency increases of even 1% could mean savings of millions of dollars, and billions of gallons of fuel.

I can’t imagine the immense added weight a vessel would take on for a battery big enough to power it from Shanghai to Los Angeles. The increased draft alone would likely be a problem at multiple US terminals. Our facilities are lacking compared Asian and European terminals.

That’s not even considering the eye watering cost of a battery that size. A container vessel has a life span of up to 30 years, so that’s at least one, likely two new massive batteries each would need. Where are these large vessels going to charge? Marine terminals are like airplanes at airport gates: get the vessels in, complete the import/export ops cycles and get them out as soon as possible. Just like steamship lines don’t have the money needed to invest in those large batteries, terminals don’t have the land or money to provide charging infrastructure. If a vessel sits unusable for many hours to charge, who pays increased rates to cover that cost? Consumers of course.

Even as it relates to terminal ops equipment like the tractors (used to move individual containers within the terminals) there are currently electric options available, but they cost 4x as much as their diesel counterparts, the charging infrastructure needed to charge them is also very expensive and take up valuable terminal space, and you lose use of them for hours on end while they charge — none of that being an issue with the diesel tractors.

All that to say: if the Biden administration starts putting its green tyranny crosshairs on the maritime shipping industry, it won’t be greener and it will be an economic disaster for the US and the US consumer.

Let the steamship lines continue to innovate R&D on better fuels, engine and hull designs to increase efficiency. We sincerely don’t need a create nothing group of bureaucrats getting in the way.

I think all government officials should have to fly on electric airplanes. Now, that would be an amazing reduction in carbon emissions (and stupidity).

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They want to go back to sails.

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its worse than that. they actually think this is an emerging technology. They should look up the definition of doldrums

Biden needs to start with himself in making a difference in climate change, the white House can only use biodegradable diapers, diaper bags and wipes for Biden. That should be equivalent emissions to a few thousand 18 wheelers

Trump is going to have to dedicate a sizable number of motivated and qualified people simply to undo everything this idiot usurper has been doing for four years.