R.L. Polk & Co., a marketing firm that collects and interprets automotive data, lists the top ten states with the most registrations of hybrid vehicles for 2005. The states, registrations, and percentage, are:
1. California 52,619 26.4 percent
2. Florida 10,470 5.3 percent
3. Texas 9,632 4.8 percent
4. New York 9,372 4.7 percent
5. Virginia 8,650 4.3 percent
6. Illinois 7,286 3.7 percent
7. Washington 6,970 3.5 percent
8. Pennsylvania 6,948 3.5 percent
9. Massachusetts 6,060 3.0 percent
10. Maryland 5,673 2.8 percent
I hope Paul had the chance to see "Dateline" on NBC(Sunday, May 7, 2006) about Brazil ethanol and what is "happening" right now. They interviewed a former Sun Micro System partner and he's pushing, shoving this ethanol thing along in Washington. He's looking to get us (USA) fully into ethanol in about 5 years!
Maybe there's something on there website and some follow-up.
I didn’t catch it on the tube, but I just read the link.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12676374/
He sees ethanol coming from a lot of sources... paper mills, orange peels...
The key to success with ethanol, from the consumer’s perspective, will be a fragmented free market system where different suppliers/manufactures compete and not a broad corn based market than someone can capitalize on at the expense of the rest of us.
It will be interesting to see if the current slight slack in demand for gasoline that has caused the drop of gas prices in the past week continues. It seems that $3+ a gallon is the magic number for consumers to slow down their use.
The consumer has conserved.
These oil companies (plus the "futures"(stock market)watch how the public responses very, very closely. Hence the "Rocket-n-Feather" pricing in the market. It shoots up like a rocket for all bad news (or somebody sneezes) and then all the "excuses" are given about "fear of" and then nothing happens and the price floats now at .01-.02 cts. in a week or two.
In the current "R&F" market...their looking at the Memorial Day weekend coming. They make it appear to float down so YOU and I start thinking about going on the trip that WE might/would have NOT taken! It's a "bait and switch" or bait and hike if you will. The public says, it's not much more and then go on this trip anyway...so the companies are laughing at US for our indecision!!
As to your thought about the "fragmented market" will BE the way the oil companies AND companies like ADM, Cargill and some coal companies to expand into this area without looking like they are in it! They vast land options/leases(foreclosured farms/mineral rights) in the corn belt/coal belt(mineral rights/land options, again) areas our my examples. They been buying this stuff for the past 25 years.
To diswade a "too diverse" fueling system(as mentioned above)...the "govnment" MUST mandate (make into law) just as Brazil has done. YOU sell fuel at this station...you sell all or nothing. They(oil companies) really seem to understand that kind of thing...well sorta.
I gotta go read/look into this "new engine" type that you posted above. Looks to have possibilities.
This government will never mandate something that will lower profit for the people that put them (and their personal investments) in office.
Voters must demand reform or better yet educate themselves to use their power as consumers to manipulate the economy to better serve their own interests. Companies only exist because we consume.