Greg Mankiw reports on the adoption a newfangled piece of farm equipment which runs on fuel derived from grass.
Defending the liberal tradition in history, science, and philosophy.
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Defending the liberal tradition in history, science, and philosophy.
Greg Mankiw reports on the adoption a newfangled piece of farm equipment which runs on fuel derived from grass.
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Unfortunately, this equipment suffers from an atrocious standby mode. While it operates very efficiently while in use, it continues to consume fuel at almost the same rate while idle. Also, these types of engines suffer from an odd sort of fatigue, where they can only be operated for maybe 8 to 10 hours in a given day.
If used at their full daily capacity, the overall cost per mile may well be far better then your traditional gasoline powered engine. However, their full daily capacity is decidedly lower then for gasoline powered engines, and if under-utilized, their cost per mile can start to look a lot less attractive.
We have variation equus, and they’re probably utilized 2 to 4 hours a month. And out of the entire fleet, only a handful get used at all. Yet they all consume fuel at a constant rate. The cost per mile becomes prohibitive.
(Can somebody please tell my in-laws this?)
Hee haw.
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