www.dailyreckoning.com: Diesel Engines: The Answer to High Gas Prices, Says Energy Expert

BALTIMORE, Sept. 6 -- With America wide-awake to the shock of gasoline prices, fuel-economy technology may finally receive the attention it deserves from consumers and investors. In the automotive world, a budding challenger to the hydrogen fuel cell is the "homogenous charge compression ignition" engine, or HCCI engine for short.

Recent reports show that the HCCI engine fueled by diesel rather than unleaded gasoline, could theoretically double the traditional engine's miles per gallon without sacrificing power. Last-mile issues in getting HCCI engines to market, involving power variation and low-temperature catalytic converters, are seen as fully solvable.

"A form of HCCI technology is already in use in Japan, where environmental requirements are less stringent," asserts alternative energy authority, and frequent Daily Reckoning contributor, Justice Litle. "It is only a matter of time before HCCI technology becomes sufficiently 'green' enough to meet tough California standards."

Diesel HCCI engines may thus beat out fuel cell technology as the next big thing. "The logistical requirements of building a nationwide hydrogen network would be mind boggling, bring about real safety concerns due to the flammability of hydrogen, and easily cost hundreds of billions of dollars to implement," continues Litle.

"Diesel, on the other hand, is already widely available as the fuel of choice for the trucking industry. It is also easily processed by existing refinery processes, allowing for a low-cost transition from unleaded production to diesel production over time."

Justice Litle is the editor of Outstanding Investments, an investment newsletter that explores the world of natural resources and real assets to find those profits. Litle has implemented sophisticated trading and hedging strategies for clients on a global scale - a broad cross section including soybean farmers, cattle ranchers, currency hedgers, energy consultants, scrap metal dealers and everything in between.

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