Diesel fuel is very similar to heating oil, the primary difference is that diesel fuel contains less sulfur. The inventor of the diesel engine was Rudolf Diesel, who was actually born in Paris, but later moved to Germany where he invented his own engine, which features self-ignition generated by high compression. Because of the high compression, the engines must be heavier and sturdier than gasoline engines. Wiki tells us that Diesel mysteriously fell overboard on a steamer en route to London one evening and his body was not discovered until ten days later by some sailors.
He had originally designed the engine to burn coal dust, and then vegetable oil before the petroleum industry learned how to produce the heavy petroleum product. The EIA website also tells that diesel engines have 20-40 percent better fuel economy than gasoline vehicles and 94% of American goods are shipped using diesel-powered vehicles. Of course, if you live in a city, you know that most city buses are also fueled with diesel. A disadvantage of diesel fuel is the harmful emissions. Believe it or not, but today's diesel vehicles have one-eighth the emissions of twelve years ago.
The emissions are more than just greenhouse gases. $3.5 million in recovery funds to help cut diesel pollution tells that diesel exhaust contains fine particulates, other pollutants such as nitrous oxides, and others that have been linked to respiratory, asthma, and other diseases. Low sulfur diesel fuel and exhaust control systems can reduce the particulates by 90% and nitrogen compounds by 25-50 percent. Clean air nonroad diesel rule defines the regulation of emissions from nonroad diesel engines. By 2014, Tier 4 regulations will require nonroad diesel engines to cut emissions of pollutants by more than 90%.
Diesel exhaust is linked to cancer development via new blood vessel growth explains the discovery of a new link between exposure to diesel fumes and cancer. The particulate matter (PM) from diesel exhaust comes into the body from the lungs and then is carried throughout the body where they cause the development of new blood vessels. That doesn't sound like a bad thing, but these rogue blood vessels are what permit tumors to grow rapidly and bypass some checks and balances of the autoimmune system. The researchers explain that only two months of exposure is sufficient to promote the development of a tumor.
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