As the calls for cleaner fuel emissions continue, there is an alternative to diesel in the works.
The Department of Energy recently gave a mechanical engineering professor $2.5 million. Doctor Adam Dempsey is tasked with creating a new supportive combustion system that will allow farm equipment to run on ethanol and ethanol-gas mixtures. He says it will “pack the punch” of a diesel engine while meeting emissions standards.
His invention comes as diesel prices reached a new record high overnight of $5.57 per gallon. That is pinching farmers’ budgets at a time when other input costs, like fertilizer, are already stretching resources thin.
Right now, diesel reserves on the East Coast are at the lowest level in more than 30 years.
Major trucking companies say truckers and farmers need to prepare for a diesel shortage. So far, the Biden Administration has not released diesel from the strategic reserve.
It is not just diesel prices soaring - the cost of natural gas is skyrocketing, too. It is raising manufacturing and transportation costs across the country, impacting the bottom line of most industries.
Do not expect it to go down anytime soon, as the U.S. continues to export supplies to Europe to make up for Russian sanctions.
Gas output is also down because of insufficient pipeline capacity and bad weather.
Industry executives across the country are calling for gas companies to prioritize domestic demand.
Related:
Diesel Distress: inventory shortage creating rapid price surge for diesel fuel
War in Ukraine is causing pain at the pump; producers are looking at an expensive planting season
Congress will vote on a bill barring excessive fuel prices
