Fry Rides
- Posted by: TheresaEverline
- on May 24, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Nothing livens up the drab earth tones of environmentalism like some purple shag carpet, which is why BioBling—a Los Angeles-based biodiesel car dealer and detailing service—thinks a tricked-out Cadillac Eldorado makes the best kind of petroleum-free car. For a 10-percent finder’s fee, the company locates available used diesel cars that can run on biodiesel fuel. After upgrading the fuel lines, BioBling then happily installs all the trimmings like spoilers, custom paint, or flat-screen TVs, and, more practically, connects clients with a biofuel distributor.
“If we can make going green more sexy and hip and fun, then a greater number of people are going to embrace it,” says founder Colette Brooks. A swanky Cadillac Seville with a “GRN FUEL” license plate might draw envious (and incredulous) stares, but of the few dozen cars BioBling has so far paired with buyers, most have been sturdy Volkswagens and Mercedes Benzes in the $5,000 to $15,000 range. Still, BioBling is prepared to go all out in making any car as pimped-out as it is environmentally friendly: the 27-inch gold rims are waiting.
LEARN MORE biobling.com
DISCUSSION: 5 Comments
The car in the phot above is a Lincoln Mark VII not a “Cadillac Eldorado”. Al Gore III must have been stoned when he wrote the article.
I hate to cast a sour note on a noble cause, but the environmental impact of biodiesel is not quite as rosy as all that. In addition to extra N02 emissions, it’s still typically mixed with sulfur and soot spewing diesel.
Now couple that with the fact that a 20 year old diesel Mark VII (not cadillac El Dorado) probably gets about 15-20 mpg, and the license plate looks less and less appropriate. I like the idea of making alternative fuels “cool” but it needs to be understood that this is more for show than effect.
As good as it may seem to try and wean the modern baby from the teat of oil with green-grown fuels, think for a moment about the land area required to produce these biofuels.
Crude oil is highly concentrated plant and animal matter; the distillation of centuries of anchored sunlight. The problem is not only the effects of carbon release in such a short period, it is also the simple gross over-use of energy.
Look at it as an addiction – tobacco, cocaine, heroine or whatever – and see biofuels as the side-effect wonder-drug that will let you keep your high, allow you to function normally and heal you at the same time.
Doesn’t that sound good?
Should read:
’side effect-free…’
The woman who wrote the article probably smells and rides a bike everywhere. She tried at least!