Car Tech: What's your favorite alternative fuel?
- 4/24/07 5:45 PM
My Bicycle
by tgelston - 5/3/07 4:18 AM In reply to: What's your favorite alternative fuel? by wcunning
The bicycle can go along way toward cutting energy consumption(whatever energy used. However, We need some serious infrastructure changes to make it easier, safer and more convenient for people to bike to work. There is a bill being introduced in Congress this summer that proposes to give up to $100 a month to employees that bicycle to work. Did you know that 1/2 the population of the US lives within five miles of their work?
And I want to add my two cents about ethanol - Everything I hear about this E85 from intelligent people sounds like a HUGE boondoggle. WHen you look at the amount of energy going into producing an acre of corn, transportation and processing it comes out less efficient than gasoline. But some big wig saw this as another way to add money to their already overflowing coffers and here we are with cute commercials of people running around giving everyone a yellow shirt and suggesting that it makes the world a better place.
The cleanest and cheapest fuel - GASOLINE!
by kvaneck - 5/3/07 5:02 AM In reply to: What's your favorite alternative fuel? by wcunning
I love all of you niave tree-huggers that suggest all of these alternative fuels, which either don't exist or are much dirtier/expensive than gasoline.
See http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/9978/patrick-bedard-page2.html
Today, these alternative fuels would create TWICE the emissions of gasoline....
More research and development needs to be done before we just switch.
Now, if you want cheap and clean electricity, let's go nuclear!
The big CF (electric)
by IE7Hate - 5/3/07 5:11 AM In reply to: What's your favorite alternative fuel? by wcunning
Untill cold fusion is workable, then I would go all electric because by that time battery useage,(ability to hold a longer charge,size,etc)will have cought up to the rest of useful car tech for electric vehicles of any type. I want atleast 400 to 500 miles per charge and the same responsiveness of gas power vehicles of today. 0 to 60 in 4.0,(or in that area ) is realistic.Welcome to my crazy dream...or is it if we get off our mindless backsides and wake up to make this have a chance at reality. One can hope!
...How about evolution?
by SefDef - 5/3/07 5:11 AM In reply to: What's your favorite alternative fuel? by wcunning
Options are many, but we will never again have such and abundant source of concentrated energy, almost ready to use, as oil. Oh well, we have to make it ourselves now.
Electricity is an obvious final answer for use in autonomous vehicles, for sure. Read about this demonstration vehicle for reasons, including elimination of many mechanical systems from the drivetrain: http://www.pmlflightlink.com/archive/news_mini.html
Search for "hybrid mini" for further enlightening commentary.
They use a fossil-fuel primary source for good reason: tremendous energy with small volumes and light weight. They worked hard to reduce the need to carry batteries, I'm sure, because they are the opposite.
Electricity has to come from somewhere, get transferred to the vehicle, and (the worst part) be carried with the vehicle. Future advances will improve on our current battery options, but our near future will still require a concentrated fuel for combustion or conversion. What that fuel is (or those fuels are) will be determined by concensus, according to what is available, where in the world. Very likely we will use electricity to synthesize a fuel, only to carry it for conversion back to electricity.
Here's something more interesting to read about: plasma gasification. The promise is that we might disassemble our garbage at the atomic level, using electric arcs to change it to a plasma state, and end up with a fuel gas "syn-gas" (CO and H2) and a neutral slag of harmless simple solids. It is sad that it will produce more energy in syn-gas than it would consume (in electricity), therefore can operate as a power-plant as well. If only we can figure out how to make a better liquid fuel from that (guessing butane or an alcohol), then we have pretty good answer.
Whatever happens, it is certain that we will have to keep on thinking and working on the issue!
Where is the science behind this rhetoric?
by FredMars - 5/30/07 8:33 PM In reply to: ...How about evolution? by SefDefSorry about the blank previou post. My Pc hiccupped, so I got a beer.
Folks, wake up to real science, not Bush science. Regardless of what we burn, we will put at the very least, heat into the air. Even biodiesel smelling like french fries doesn't make it any easier to deal with the hot exhaust of the mass transit buses as they leave the heat in their wake. Oil companies will do whatever it takes to convince you that more oil is what we need. All alternative fuels are kept more expensive so that oil/gasoline remains an easier choice.
Alternative fuels killed the electric car? Nah, I don't think so. It was pure politics. Electric is not expensive to produce, there are many, many ways to generate electricity that doesn't pollute the environment, and advances in solar PV and storage cells are making iot a very viable alternative. Imagine a diesel locomotive that can carry large batteries/capacitors to store power. Solar panels to convert to electric, and regenerative breaking/induction generators on axles, and the fuel consumption of these monsters will drop (conservatively) in half. Hybrids that only used their ICE to recharge batteries/capacitors would also cut fuel consumption, as would the current hybrids with elctric motors larger than 67HP. The Tesla Motors Roadster uses a 200HP eletric motor that weighs only 70lbs. Imagine that in your Prius. You could use a partable Honda (yeah I got the pun) generator to supply charge when your trying t break the land speed record.
If every new home built in America used Passive solar heating and PV for electric, that would reduce greenhouse gases, electric bills, and provide many places where you can plug in your all-electric vehicle. And that should buy us enough time to develop the free energy devices that have been supressed from market.
Ride the Wind
by Grizzly99 - 5/3/07 5:21 AM In reply to: What's your favorite alternative fuel? by wcunning
Plug-in hybrids (and/or solely rechargeable electrics w/o fossil fuel engine) recharged with electicity produced by wind tubines, scares the bejeezus out of the Saudi royal family to a far greater extent than any other currently vialble alternative fuel technology.
Scares the bejeezus out of the multi-national oil firms, too.
My favorite altrenative fuel
by wildroot4 - 5/3/07 5:28 AM In reply to: What's your favorite alternative fuel? by wcunning
Nuclear for electricity; Shale oil, we have billions of barrels in the US. And environmentalist at the stake!
Thorium
by laurajane2314 - 5/3/07 5:39 AM In reply to: What's your favorite alternative fuel? by wcunning
Well, actually the stuff you put in the car would be hydrogen, but the important thing would be that it would be made from water using electricity from a thorium power plant. Check out www.thoriumpower.com No greenhouse gases, 1/10 of 1% as much radioactive waste as uranium, no nuclear explosion potential, lots of other advantages.
Common Sense
by bbartbob - 5/3/07 5:40 AM In reply to: What's your favorite alternative fuel? by wcunning
The way alternative fuels are being derived is from big business - i.e. - ethanol - from corn - how much fuel does it take to make ethanol besides watch the price of corn when you go shopping and loss of other crops because the big business farmers are all going for corn - not the other rotating crops - My answer is
drive conservatively - no jack rabbit starts - no hugging the bumber in front of you - cruisenear the speed limit instead of being a yoyo - this will cause you to brake less - back to alternative fuels - electric is the way but the car companies are going for
use in below 30 mph - which is good in big city traffic but most people live within a driving area that is at least 40 mph which means the electric doesn't kick in - just gas - more waste - I like the cleaner disel fuels but dislike the high light drivers
thanks to car manufacturers the driving lamps for SUV's and PICKUPS go straight into your car - rear view mirror and if they are tail gating - when aren't they??? - you are blinded and maybe lucky enough to see
out you side mirrors - one last comment - in New Jersey
they finally got rid of mtbe - my gas mileage went up
now they added ethanol and it went down - the only item
that has changed is the gasoline additives that reduce
your MPG - my driving habits really haven't changed and
i am still driving a 99 camry with a 132k miles and track my mpg - only lately has the MPG gone from 26 up to 29 MPG - what changed/// GASOLINE ADDITIVES!!!!!!!
Eliminating Glare from High Beams Behind You
by BigDaddy69_77 - 5/3/07 3:42 PM In reply to: Common Sense by bbartbobThat little dongle hanging from the bottom of your rearview mirror is there to eliminate glare from headlights behind you. It amuses me how many people seem clueless about this standard piece of equipment in every single car. When the lights behind you get in your eyes just flick that dongle and you'll still see everything going on behind you at night, just without the blinding glare. Flip it back for daytime use. Happy motoring.
EVERY single car?
by ZachThurston - 5/3/07 5:02 PM In reply to: Eliminating Glare from High Beams Behind You by BigDaddy69_77My 1993 Ford Aerostar XL doesn't have one...
Hydrogen
by dengelhardt - 5/3/07 5:41 AM In reply to: What's your favorite alternative fuel? by wcunning
I think everything happens for a reason.
For some reason we are on a planet that consists of >70% out of H2O.
It doesnot polute and every life form on earth needs water in some way. If we split the water and bunr the hydrogen, we are back to the original material---water. So the very same fuel is recycled without byproducts to the very same fuel we started with.
Is'nt that wonderful. Problems with fuelcells and the like?
We simply have'nt figured out a better way to handle the hydrogen yet. Instead of focusing on the shrinking crude oil reserves, we should focus our attention and thoughts on the huge "fuel source" that is everywhere on our plannet. Besides the crude, usage of refined crude oil prods. and the refining process itself, all cause pollution and put strains on our environment.
Oxygen Burns Too!
by BigDaddy69_77 - 5/3/07 3:56 PM In reply to: Hydrogen by dengelhardtI'm always curious why people discuss "splitting" water to derive Hydrogen "fuel" but seem to ignore the fact that the other half of the equation, oxygen, is also an explosive gas that could provide energy.
You have to have a fuel to make it work....
by ZachThurston - 5/3/07 5:05 PM In reply to: Oxygen Burns Too! by BigDaddy69_77Simple combustion reaction:
CH4 + 02 -> H20 +CO2
Combustion Reaction without fuel:
O2->O2
As you can see Oxygen doesn't burn (react) without a fuel. It simply doesn't work...
hydrogen is bunk
by impala - 5/3/07 6:27 PM In reply to: Hydrogen by dengelhardtH2O is the low energy waste product as far as fuel production is concerned. You have to invest more energy to revert it to H2 and O2 than you ever get back from it. Then you have to invest even more energy to package the H2 into a high pressure storage. Then it leaks like crazy because it is the smallest molecule around and is corrosive. Hydrogen is a very very thermodynamically inefficient fuel. You're better off using batteries.
Solar energy is the way to go. Biodiesel is solar energy in a bottle.
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