The Air Car

I just love this, LA to NY on one tank of gas! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmqpGZv0YT4

 

It certainly brings down the cost of driving.

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/2704/is8dhdt4bqz4kpcgwnxvv75vs5.png
By at 2007-08-14

 

Interesting but I still think lithium ion cells and electric motors are what we'll be using in the near future,the new cells NASA are developing have a "claimed" energy density of 900watt hours per litre while hydrogen cells only have 400watt hours per litre with again "claimed" unlimited charge life

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/Electrochemistry/doc/pers.html

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/002023.html

If you compare those to the energy densities of the current fuels we use its obvious how far we have to go before they become practical,if you notice compressed air is at the very bottom thats why the whole car had to be designed around massive 300bar air tanks,you dont wanna be sat on those in a crash

Gasoline 9000 Wh/l 13,500 Wh/Kg
LNG 7216 Wh/l 12,100 Wh/Kg
Propane 6600 Wh/l 13,900 Wh/Kg
Ethanol 6100 WH/l 7,850 Wh/Kg
Liquid H2 2600 Wh/l 39,000* Wh/Kg
The new lituin batteries from NASA would be here 900wh/kg
150 Bar H2 405 WH/l 39,000* Wh/Kg
Lithium 250 Wh/l 350 Wh/Kg
Flywheel 210 Wh/l 120 Wh/Kg
Liquid N2 65 Wh/l 55 Wh/Kg
Lead Acid 40 Wh/l 25 Wh/Kg
Compr Air 17 Wh/l 34 Wh/Kg
STP H2 2.7 Wh/l 39,000* Wh/Kg

 

The didn't mention a lot of side uses, things like lawnmowers and weedeaters and such, which in their own way are bigger polluters than cars.

Something they didn't mention, and is no small deal in places like Texas, is AC. In this part of the world a car without any AC just won't cut it. Wonder if they could cool the car with solar cells (and charge the air tank when it was parked). Now that would be an eco friendly car.

You imagine what a lightweight engine like that could do for airplanes?

 

Who forsees the oil companies buying this patent and shelving it?

*Raises hand*

 

I can imagine that happening.
Just like in that movie, "Who Killed The Electric Car". GM had a full electric vehicle on the market, and once the legislation mandating its production was lifted, they bought up EVERYONE'S lease, and destroyed the cars.

I can also imagine that there will be a push for comparable cell technologies for hydrogen cars, as it seems they (the anonymous "they") prefer those, so they have an industry maintaining the moving parts. (ie, oil, filters, bearings, etc) Electric cars have none of these.

 

Given several states push for clean air improvements (Texas being one of those) there is an incentive for this technology. Besides, as Japan has already proved, big companies reach only goes so far. We've already ceded a lot of our industries away due to that kind of shortsidedness, I suspect it's like railroads or telephones, once an idea's time has come it will happen. Whether it says "Made in the USA" is another story.

 

great clip, i can't believe how small that engine is.

"who killed the electic car?" great documentary

Well the source of all of our world's energy is Ultimately the sun. For millions of years, plants have trapped this solar energy, some decomposing into petrolium. We are using up this stored sun energy like candy. Eventually their won't be any left, and wind, solar, and hydro power simply won't be able to keep up with energy demands by themselves.

I do not believe in global warming due to CO2 emmissions (see "the great global warming swindle"). Put pollutants are another thing entirely.

We are destroying our air quality. Smog is filling the sky's over our world's cities.

Asthma is on the rise, surprise surprise.

I do not believe our future lies in combustion such as ethanol and bio diesel.

The ideal energy source needs to be completely renewable (well i guess the sun's going to burn out eventually, but long after im gone lol). Being able to efficiently harness solar energy is our future. The plant kingdom has been doing it for millenia.

Eventually will run out of fuel for our Nuclear Reactors. Fusion (how the sun creates energy) is not yet harnessed.

We cannot keep damming our rivers at the cost of aquatic ecosystems.

This is getting pretty long, Ill stop now.

gimpster

 

I've seen stuff like this all my life. I certainly wish them all the best and escape the oil assassins - but