Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), Cummins Inc. (CMI): The Forgotten $150 Billion Banking Bailout

The industrial side of internal combustion
Rudolf Diesel received a patent for the internal combustion engine that still bears his name on Aug. 9, 1898. This award legitimized Diesel’s work to improve the fuel efficiencies of early internal combustion technology, which by this point was dominated by gasoline-driven engines pioneered by Karl Benz and other 19th-century automotive inventors. EDN’s historical-moments blog notes the advances Diesel’s engine made over its competition:

Diesel focused on his knowledge that as much as 90% of the energy available in fuel is wasted in a steam engine. After experimenting with a Carnot Cycle engine, Diesel worked on his design for a compression-ignition engine where fuel was injected at the end of compression and the fuel was ignited by the high temperature resulting from compression. …

The diesel engine required a heavier, more robust construction than a gasoline engine at the time. Diesel engines ran more fuel efficiently than gasoline engines because of much higher compression ratios and longer duration of combustion.

Diesel soon established the Consolidated Diesel Manufacturing Company to capitalize on his invention, but he did not live to see diesel engines enter widespread industrial and commercial use. It was not until the formation of Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) in 1919 — six years after Diesel’s death — and the establishment of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in 1925 (and its switch to diesel engines in 1931) that diesel manufacturers began to gain a lasting foothold. The annual worldwide market for diesel engines is now fast approaching $200 billion, but these efficient engines are no longer confined to industrial use. Nearly 10 million “clean diesel” vehicles were sold worldwide in 2012.

The article The Forgotten $150 Billion Banking Bailout originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Alex Planes.

Fool contributor Alex Planes holds no financial position in any company mentioned here. Add him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter @TMFBiggles for more insight into markets, history, and technology.The Motley Fool recommends Cummins. The Motley Fool owns shares of Cummins.

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