http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/12202.page Public Action http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1122473 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1122473 GMT
It is kind of funny. We have men and women who serve in the armed forces dying overseas in order to spread democracy. Yet you would take away someone else's freedom in order to make fuel cheaper for yourself? Why do you hate freedom?]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1159041 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1159041 GMT
No need to use the oil for cooking first, if fast food goes out of style. Biodiesel is mostly made directly from soybeans, using cooking oil is more something for cheap tinkerers to try. The supply is limited.]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1158828 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1158828 GMT China should stick with bikes

Hmmm. You tell 500 million (or whatever) emerging middle class Chinese that we won't let them have cars. That may make perfect environmental sense, but I don't think it's gonna fly. They will rightly point out that we (Americans) enjoyed a century (plus) of unfettered personal transportation and middle class lifestyle, so who are we to tell them what to do?

Cities will have some supply of biodiesel from cooking grease from fast food

An interesting random thought: as we get healthier (??) and eat less fried food and fast food, what will happen to the supply of biodiesel? Or is there no danger of a fuel shortage there?]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1122230 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1122230 GMT http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1119694 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1119694 GMT
Loved seeing the beloved 'bros' on PBS!!! We are very long time fans of the radio show, and I am lucky enough to live in a place that picks up two different hours in a row on two different stations. I credit you guys with being a fun male influence in our house on Saturday mornings: My eldest is working on her doctorate in atmospheric chemistry, with a plan to work on alternative fuels next... she loved the PBS show as well, as did my fascinating biz-lawyer-to-be son. Youngest took off to Scotland for her forensic studies, and she's the one who got the rest of us into F1!]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1119017 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1119017 GMT
1. plug it in for an overnight charge.

2. A generator powered by some combustion source to keep the batteries charged after first few miles of driving. This could be gasoline, LP, bio desiel, high percentage ethanol perhaps even the much sought after power cell. (wich is not a combustion source but might eventualy be able to supply enough power).

3. a solar panel on the roof that will act as a trickle charger to keep batteries charged while it is parked in the sun. (just be sure to park on the top level of the parking garage.) An optional trickle charger might be a deployable turbine style windmill that could be used in windy areas/days.

The option of what generator is in the car would be varied and might vary by model or option much as we have the option for color or sport wheels. Perhaps one tpe or another will become the more desireable (probably based on price) It could also very by region as to what fuel source is the cheaper.

What we know as gas stations will become know more as fuel stops and supply a variety of fuel not gas and desiel but LP, bio desiel, ethanol, hydrogen. Perhaps some rapid recharge method will be developed and offered at fuel stops as well. Perhaps a reserve battery or set of batteries that will be owned by the fuel supplier and swapped out when depleted or the deposit returned if the driver decides not to use the fuel supplier's reserve batteries.

As the cost and demand for gasoline increases globaly, those who are able to afford "hybrid" vehicles will begin to purchase them. This will cause a demand for them that will be met by car manufactuers that will use thier creativity to develop better and better designs. It may take a few years for the demand to ramp up but the need for affordable transportation is not going to go away. The market will dicate the car of the future. The most affordable fuel source will win out. As I have indicated that may be different from one geographic area to another. It seems likely that a variety of fuels will be available nation, even world wide. ]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1118623 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1118623 GMT These lightweight plastic cars would be perfect for developing countries, since they could be produced very cheaply. Millions of people could afford their first car without adding to the global demand for petroleum.

Um, guess where almost all plastic comes from?]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1122221 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1122221 GMT http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1100246 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1100246 GMT Another well known reduction-oxidation reaction is when a mixture of powdered aluminum and powdered iron rust is ignited. The aluminum takes away the iron rust's oxygen to form aluminum oxide and leaves behind pure iron in a molten state. All the energy released was the energy that originally was used to convert aluminum ore into metallic aluminum. This mixture is known as thermite and here is a link to a thermite video.
http://www...rCWLpRc1yM ]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1123223 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1123223 GMT http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1122229 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1122229 GMT Are there any physicists of engineers on this forum who can comment on some of these ideas?

~OK]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1100214 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1100214 GMT In the future (later part of this millenium) there will be no need for automobiles. We will simply go to beaming stations where we will be beamed up just as on Star Trek to a destination. 

You should watch the documentary that was done on "The Science of Star Trek". They covered the beaming. It was pretty funny.

First off the amount of memory to store the juxtaposition of every single atom on a human would take a stack of disks on top of each other reaching halfway into the milky way....We're talking a few THOUSAND LIGHT YEARS.

Second...If using the Fastest computers currently available it would take it LONGER then the age of the Universe to beam just ONE person....About 14 billion years. So computers better get a LOT FASTER....Say a few hundred trillion times faster then they currently are. Fastest computers these days are running about 10-20 trips (Trillion Instructions Per Second).

Third...(This one I really liked). Given Einstein's formula E=MC^2...(The amount of energy in an object equals the Mass of the object times the Speed of Light Squared)....When you convert the object (lets say a normal size human), the amount of energy the person would be converted to would be that of a million million hydrogen bombs going off all at once. Great line from the show. "If you COULD do it, it may not be very Environmentally Friendly." ...Beam one person and destroy the earth.]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1105280 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1105280 GMT Until we're ready to go where no person has ever gone before...there will be things known as automobiles. These vehicles will be driven by magnetic electric motors on each wheel, see the Loerner-Porsche of 1901 (Dr. Porsche knew what he was doing). The motors won't smell like subway trains do today when their windings get old because they'll have motors similar to those in your Dyson Vacuum cleaner. So actaully you'll be driving a vacuum cleaner and not an automobile. They'll also have to install a speaker to make automobile noises so that people won't will recognize that a vehicle is approaching and stay out of its way. The vehicles power source will either be a hydrogen power cell with salt water precipitator which will take H20 and create hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen will be stored in tanks so that you can recessitate someone should the occassion occur or if the car is submergeed by having been driven by a Kennedy then everyone in the vehicle will be able to escape or survive until someone comes to rescue you. There will be special batteries constructed to hold the additonal energy captured by the vehicles solar pannel and by the wind generator that will be mounted in the front grill of the car to capture additional electrons. Needless to say the cars will be clean, cheap, have personal entertainment systems, air conditioning, cell phones, and they will completely computer controlled. You won't be allowed to drive your car. Instead you'll issue a command as to where you want to go...take me home, etc...and be taken there. So now more DUI. You can be stoned out of your mind...your car will be your designated driver. Finally, most electricity to automobiles as well as all other electronic devices will have electric "broadcasted" to them over the airwaves just like Nikola Tesla, the inventor of Alternating Current (AC) said it could just prior to his strange suicide/death in a gotham flop house room prior to the start of WWII. Some speculate he was being sollicited by der Fuhrer to return to Europa and work on his scheme as well as something else called an Atom Bomb. Strange that the FBI immediately entered the case and seized all of Tesla's work papers, most of which have never been found. A team of folks form MIT accomplished Tesla's broadcast scheme last year when the broadcasted electricity to their home entertainment system. Also in about a year gasoline prices will be back down to $.99 a gallon when the elections are over...and the bandits in bed sheets no longer believe they can use petroleum as a weapon (or veapon as they like to say).]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1100014 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1100014 GMT We need AirTrains over all our Interstate Super Highways , the VanWyck Expressway is designated an I-678, in New York City in the coming decade they should extend the AirTrain into midtown Manhattan and LaGuardia Airport, as was originally envisioned by former Governor Mario Cuomo who initated the AirTrain project, and then on top of the Long Island Expressway'x(LIE or Distressway or World's Longest Parking Lot)
HOV lane to MacArthur Airport in Ronkonoma and then onto Riverhead where is should split to the South Folk (Hamptons/Montauk) and the North Folk (Southold/Pt. Orient). This would enable to elitest from Manhattan (see Sex In The City, or other pop-culture crap TV programs) to get to Easthampton in about thirty minutes withou having the take the filthy diesel busses of the Hampton Jitney or the Hampton Luxury Liners. There would also be a bar car on the AirTrain so folks could get sloshed on their way home or to vacation (two drink maximums). This could also be done in Boston and Washington DC with links to their respective resorts (Cape Code or Maryland Shore or Myrtle Beach). Such an AirTrain system could wisk people from NY to LA in about a day at very little cost! The power to the system can be generated by non-zero state reactors or other electric generators. This can be done it doesn't take Rocket Science or Rocket Scientist.]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1103021 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1103021 GMT
In my opinion the future will be a fuel centered economy. Hydrogen peroxide can be made from sunlight and is also a byproduct of ordinary fuel cells. I can imagine small scale production of H2O2 from co-genarators in homes as well as large scale production in desert areas where sunshine is plentiful but farming is not vialble.

I think today's HOV lanes will evolve into high speed car-trains. You will drive your can onto a monorail type of apparatus where a computer will combine cars going to the same destination and will join them front to back to travel at very high speeds between cities.

~OK]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1098217 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1098217 GMT Why don't you put this car in service with Joe Six-Packs family for a year?
Also if you really want to test Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology effectively put them in your Impala or the Australian Caprice that you eventually plan to bring to the US or some other NYC Taxi Cab and Limousine approved chassis and unleash it on the streets of New York City. Remember Motorcraft's (Ford Motor Company) "Taxi Tested Tough" parts campaign?
I'd like to apply for the "Joe Six-Pack" testing position should it come open.]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1103017 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1103017 GMT http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1097018 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1097018 GMT http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1097011 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1097011 GMT energy storage medium, not a source fuel. You have to spend energy to make hydrogen (whether stripping hydrocarbons or electrolyzing water), and you get only part of that energy investment back from the fuel cell.

Refineries do not run on hydrogen fuel cells. They may produce hydrogen for use in cracking heavier oils into lighter ones (such as gasoline), where you need to add hydrogen when you break up long hydrocarbon chains and rings, but they don't generate electricity from it (except possibly for backup purposes).]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1122216 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1122216 GMT http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1096221 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1096221 GMT
THEY USE HYDROGEN ELECTROLYZERS FOR ELECTRICITY TO RUN THE OIL REFINERIES THAT MAKE YOUR GASOLINE!!!!

Yes, we have the technology. Yes, we are already using it. But they don't want you to know that cuz they want your money from the oil. They haven't bled you dry yet. And yes, we have the infrastructure.]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1096220 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1096220 GMT http://www...ology.html

]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1096011 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1096011 GMT

Re: ‘Energy’ is at the root of all our problems!

Dear Tom & Ray,

I thought I’d put these thoughts in the hands of someone with a little influence. I could have chosen my congressman but like I said, I need someone with influence.

This is of course the Reader’s Digest version of the case I’d like to make. I can help fill in the details later with such trivia as facts and figures.

First, the world’s need for energy is growing. Second, the world’s energy supply, other than from renewables, is shrinking. One third of the world’s population (Asia) has gone from bicycles to rickshaws to Lincoln Navigators in less than two decades as Hubert’s Peak (“peak oil”) has come and gone.

The burning of hydrocarbons for energy continues to have a disastrous effect on our environment and climate. The “Atlantic Conveyor” (ie., “Gulf stream”) is coming to a screeching halt. The implications of this latter point are very significant.

Increased political, economic and military vulnerability are only a few of the problems issuing from our ever growing appetite for oil and gas.

Here’s the solution… Yup, that easy:

Produce energy from the many forms of ocean derived energy such as wave action, thermal / salinity differential, and tidal (including “low-head kinetic”). Sea water is 832 times denser than air! See http://www...ology.html for an example of but one stranded technology for capturing energy from low head low velocity currents.

That takes care of the electrical grid; now, just convert all land based surface transportation (highways and railways) to electric. Done…

Now was that hard?

Just promote Burt Rutan’s version of a Plug-in Series Hybrid Electric Vehicle (see May 2006 issue of “Automobile” magazine, "No Flight of Fancy", page 74), similar to GM’s announced Chevy “Volt”. I suspect GM never really intends to build it or they would be doing so already; there’s nothing really holding them back, though they claim they're waiting for just the right battery. Balderdash!

Electric Vehicles won’t be a hard sell after convincing the motoring public that they can drive for 1/4th the fuel cost of gasoline, and that after a while they won’t miss the manly throb of a reciprocating engine (part of what killed the Wankel!). I foresee the day soon when we’ll look back on our burning of stuff in our vehicles to make them go, as ‘quaint’; quaint like a Stanley Steamer! And electric vehicles will eventually be cheaper to buy because they are much simpler to build than reciprocating combustion engines and transmissions and cooling systems and clutches, etc. etc.

Help shame our federal government into underwriting a serious R & D tidal initiative. Oregon is funding a significant “wave action” pilot project through Oregon State University.

Why haven’t these dual transitions of usine tidal energy and driving electric cars already taken place? You tell me…. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but I do believe it would be hard to underestimate the collective intellect of “them and they”!

Thank you in advance for lending your credibility and influence to this effort. I for one think you are more than just a pretty face…
]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1095011 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1095011 GMT http://www.cyclonepower.com/

stock trading and chart http://fin...z=m&q=l&c=
]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1094640 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1094640 GMT your schedule, mass transit has the drawbacks of 1) frequent mode changes and 2) you have to conform your schedule to it. As an example, I used my real-life example of taking mass transit to get from college to a job interview and back. If I had a car, I could have been there in a couple of hours. Instead, I had to start very early in the morning, walk a considerable distance to the nearest bus stop to get the right bus, take several city buses to get to the intercity bus station, go all the way down to NYC, come back up to White Plains, take a cab to the interview, and then reverse the process that night. It was not fun. Plus, people like the autonomy and personal space of their own vehicle. I don't know what transportation is going to look like a decade down the line (much less 50 years), but it can't look like today!]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1122215 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1122215 GMT http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1094418 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1094418 GMT http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1122212 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1122212 GMT http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1092035 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1092035 GMT http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1091847 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1091847 GMT
In Germany, I've heard that the government subsidizes investment in solar installations by private landowners as well as using public lands such as freeway medians for solar infrastructure. Private citizens in America can sell solar power back into the grid but the investment required at this time is arguably too much for normal people to afford. Maybe we could increase input into the grid the way Germany does.

Given the theory that people will choose the technology that has the highest cost benefit ratio for them personally, it seems like solar electric could be the answer if the US government would jump start the financials of the technology. Every American property owner could become a mini-business owner. American dream and all that. And that's before we explore wind, tide, hydro, geothermal and (bite my tongue) nuclear. Oh silly me. I forgot about the oil companies and the farm lobby. But maybe if "we built it they would come..."

I do need to comment on an earlier thread in this discussion. It started with an assertion that the best solution was no car at all. I live in a place where I am the second to the last of 7 employees on a linear 9 mile commute. We all need to be the same place at the same time every working day. Each of us could pay 7 times less to get to work if we cooperated in a car pool solution. I can't get my work mates to even listen to the idea. So much for conventional economic theory. People do NOT act in their enlightened self interest on this subject.

Tom and Ray, do you guys have the horsepower to contact Jeremy Clarkson on BBC's Top Gear to review the Tesla car? ]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1091045 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1091045 GMT
I traded-in my 1999 300M for a new Prius. I commute 90-miles (orund-trip) each day to work. The next model Prius I've seen hints of on Toyota's website seems to be a car I might want when the battery needs to be replaced in the Prius I drive now.]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1090427 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1090427 GMT www.eyedestu.com
We offer an alternative "Zero Energy Lifestyle" utilizing the unlimited energy of the Sun and the inexhaustible geothermal energy of the Earth to achieve conditioning the interior of your home at a more comfortable level than your present home, also utilizing solar PV for your electric usage and to recharge the advanced battery pack of an all electric plug-in automobile.
Imagine your annual savings with virtually no utility bill and not buying gasoline for 75% to 90% of your family's driving !! ]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1074837 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1074837 GMT Really enjoyed you guys on that Future
Cars show on PBS. Here's a question on that
subject. Instead of say, charging a battery
with house current, has anyone thought of
making a small hydrogen generator that could
either be seperate or included with the car?
If I remember my high school physics class
(and I have to admit, that was a long time
ago), all it requires is an "H" shaped glass
tube and alternating current. That, and some
kind of compressor should be all it would
take. That way, the hydrogen fuel cell
vehicles wouldn't be dependant on hydrogen
fueling stations. Anyway, it's an idea]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1071011 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1071011 GMT
The military cannot possibly continue to be dependent on fuel sources that are increasingly antagonistic to our foreign policy and even to our way of life. Why isn't the military solving this problem?]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1070413 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1070413 GMT
For what it's worth, a Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe have fold down backseats and passenger seats, so you can actually carrry 8ft lumber inside the car if you really wanted to. ]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1071032 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1071032 GMT
What is wrong with taxes? Do we need to raise them to pay back all of the money we are borrowing from China to fund the so-called War on Terror?]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1070827 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1070827 GMT

Right now I have a choice between buying a small efficient car that is useless to go to the lumberyard or take on a family trip, or I buy a big car that wastes gas most of the time but serves all my needs.
]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1070255 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1070255 GMT http://www...cycles.php]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1070222 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1070222 GMT http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1070227 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1070227 GMT I just watched the Nova program on PBS about alternative/environmentally friendly car technology. It's obvious that we as a society will have to retool, as its obvious we have polluted the environment for decades too long. We cannot continue on this way, without far reaching consequences to our environment, health, and other issues. As China and India become more prosperous, they too will join the fray. I have a few suggestions: what if you combined some of the great ideas presented on NOVA, for instance, a car with carbon fiber body panels for better strength and lighter weight...would not have to worry about door dings, and hail damage, fender benders, etc. any more, and doesn't compromise on passenger roominess! Incorporate solar panels on the hood and roof of the car that would send solar energy to a storeage device. As backup, you could also use electric power. Solar would provide a continual charge, and when darkenss or clouds obscured solar, electrical techology could be utilized. Here is the problem, I feel. According to one of the experts, there are 170,000 gas stations here in the US. Big business would want to utilize some other source of fuel that must be purchased every day. Otherwise, what's in it for them? Like Tucker, if you build a better mousetrap, there will be many interested parties, such as special interest groups, etc., that will try to squander the technology. It's obvious to me, that we must harnass natural forms of energy that do not cause emissions problems, such as wind, solar and hydro-electric. Nuclear technology is rediculous, because what do you do with the radioactive waste? Bury it in salt domes? What if an earthquakes rupture the domes, or you have cave ins and these events cause leakage? What about seepage into the underground springs and water supply? Ethanol causes only 25% less emissions, but you still have emissions, and have to grow a WHOLE lot of corn! You can build a better gasoline engine, but you are still faced with the same problems, just not as much of it. If a gasoline engine is 20% efficient, and electrical is 85% efficient, and it causes no harmful side-effects, it is a no-brainer. I think it's time we ditch our nostalgia. We can still produce some hip looking cars with new technology, and make them even better than before. The end result is that in 10 years, we could potentially change the world.
]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1069853 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1069853 GMT http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1224418 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1224418 GMT
Liquifying natural gas and transporting it to markets is actually quite effficient; gas by pipeline from Alaska will be MORE EXPENSIVE, but also more secure. And it's actually quite safe, no more dangerous than handling other hydrocarbons. Worldwide, LNG is really big business. Tiny Malaysia owns more than 20 LNG tankers, giant floating thermos bottles, to transport its LNG to Korea and Japan.

Most of the world's natural gas deposits are found where the consumers don't live, so Russian and Algerian gas supplies much of Europe and LNG from the Middle East supplies Japan.]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1104637 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1104637 GMT http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1095031 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1095031 GMT
But Tom & Ray obviously slept during Organic Chemistry 101.

On last week's radio show they showed their woeful ignorance by not being very helpful to the caller from North Carolina, by confusing Propane (C3H8) with Methane (CH4), see thread: PROPANE TANK UNDER CAR.

Had they done their chemistry lesson, they would know and understand the LOW-CARBON benefits of CNG-powered vehicles:

Compressed Natural Gas has a proven track record as a Clean Fuel for vehicles in many countries around the world.

The World's Greenest production (ICE) vehicle ever measured by the EPA is the Honda Civic GX (inherently low emissions, with near zero pollution (AT-PZEV) , now in it's 10th year of production.

Heck, even Jay Leno's done TV show's on the benefits of methane-powered, natural gas vehicles.

Tom and Ray blew it by ignoring this proven CLEAN FUEL technology, and the important future transportation
role CNG will play.

CNG is the stepping-stone to the NO-CARBON, Hydrogen future.

CNG is a domestic fuel (no war required). Can you say, "Petroleum displacement?"

CNG is plentiful and less expensive (Known North American reserves are estimated in excess of 100 years), CNG could even be totally sustainable using bio-methane reclamation.
CNG-fueled vehicles have 25% less CO2 footprint compared to gasoline, due to the fuel's low carbon content.

Come on Tom & Ray, do your homework. Start by taking a look at: www.cngchat.com

]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1064819 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1064819 GMT
I know you personally may not have chosen the agenda on the Nova show but I must emphatically tell you that there are better engines or significant modifications to engines than the 100 year old Kettering Design. Language in the show said things like “100 years old” and so on. This is the Kettering Internal Combustion Engine. We know that adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well this is not so when it comes to innovation, try and buy a brand new Typewriter or mechanical calculator or get on repaired.

My point! In 1990 I worked with Doug Brackett in South Portland, Main and some bright young Combustion Engineers from MIT to refine Doug’s Engine design. He had several patents then and many more since then but his design was truly remarkable. Like the PC is to the Typewriter, the Bracket Engine will be or should be compared to the Kettering Engine. Most of the work if not all the work to improve engine efficiency has been in the Manifold, outside the engine, and to the automobile chassis and frame to make it lighter and stronger. The basic deficiency with the Kettering design is it does not fire at top-dead-center (TDC). It must partially decompress to the firing angle to provide the push down combustion. Doug’s engine allows firing at TDC. This opens the door to using lower Octane fuels like methanol, grain or cellulosic alcohol, vegetable oil, and the often ignored Surfactant-Water-Alcohol-Gasoline mixtures. Firing at TDC allows the fuel to detonate instead of combust. Detonation is far more efficient than Combustion. This is what the Diesel Engine does; Detonate the fuel, but the Diesel also suffers from efficiency problems because the cylinder must be larger, and slower turning, resulting in unneeded mass and slower RPM, and an adverse Power/Torque Curve.

By causing detonation at TDC, the Brackett Engine converts much more of the heat and therefore the fuel to motion, reducing exhaust gas temperature (EGT) and increasing consumption reducing partially consumed hydrocarbon emissions. Lowering the EGT eliminates Nitrogen Dioxide generation, eliminating the need for a catalytic converter.

Another premium of the Bracket design is the lubrication system for the Crank is closed or sealed, no combustion products are introduced to the Lubricants. This significantly increases Engine life and reduces repair and replacement.

Lower EGT allows ceramics to be used for Engine construction because there are no lingering high temperatures.

The Engine and the cylinders can be made flat where the piston is a thin brick. The engine can be only inches thick like a box so it may be placed under the cab between the axles.

As you may know, a combustion Engine is like a Compressor but in reverse. Because the Brackett Engine does not contaminate the lubrication system, the engine can house a compressor in the same block/crank assembly. This compressor may in turn move compressed air into the manifold to further increase efficiency.

There are many more premiums of this design but these are the high points.

My Brackett Engine Design Page. http://www...rator.html
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1)What is the battery's life span?
2)How much is replacement? (27th April 08 - I just read an article in the Austin paper written by the owner of a 2003 Toyota Prius. He stated that a replacement battery costs $3,500)
3)What do we do with the dead batteries? What is the likely cost?]]> http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1061251 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1061251 GMT http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1059193 http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/cartalk/posts/list/970809.page#1059193 GMT