Thursday, May 10, 2007
WTF!?
So, I'm on my way to work today and I see this big ass SUV pass me going at least 10 over. On the back of this huge 15mpg Tahoe carrying one passenger is a window painting of a landscape with horses. Underneath the window painting is a bumper sticker that reads: "Save gas. Ride a horse."
Electric Vehicle Solution - maybe...
So I'm wondering what your thoughts are about solutions for electric assisted or fully electric powered vehicles. Sure they're great for short trips into town for work or school, but they're not so great if you want to go on a road trip.
So what I'm thinking is that they need to come up with exchangeable batteries. I guess it would work a lot like propane tanks. You pull into the fuel station when your battery is low, pop your battery out of your vehicle, pay a few dollars, and exchange your low battery for a fully charged one that you can pop back into your vehicle and be off!
The batteries could even be recharged using renewable energy resources like wind.
Now, I have no idea the amount of wind power would be needed to charge a battery for a 2 or 3 person small vehicle... but I'm sure that some of you out there have thought about it or already have it figured out.
So... what are your thoughts?
So what I'm thinking is that they need to come up with exchangeable batteries. I guess it would work a lot like propane tanks. You pull into the fuel station when your battery is low, pop your battery out of your vehicle, pay a few dollars, and exchange your low battery for a fully charged one that you can pop back into your vehicle and be off!
The batteries could even be recharged using renewable energy resources like wind.
Now, I have no idea the amount of wind power would be needed to charge a battery for a 2 or 3 person small vehicle... but I'm sure that some of you out there have thought about it or already have it figured out.
So... what are your thoughts?
Damned if I do.
Ok... so I've come to the conclusion that no matter what I drive, it's still a car and it still sucks.
If I buy gasoline for my car then I'm supporting big oil, war, and all of the atrocities, including human rights violations, that happen in countries like Sudan. As well, I'm definitely contributing to CO2 emissions.
If I fill my car with ethanol, since most of it is made from corn grown in second and third world countries instead of corn made here, and also because it's made from a food source that isn't very energy efficient, I'm supporting starving people rather than letting them have food to eat and still contributing near the same CO2 emissions.
Not only that, but the cost of producing 1 litre of ethanol is about $1.24 inculding tax subsidies. That's $4.59 a gallon!
Even worse, the good byproducts do NOT outweigh the bad byproducts! Corn crops contribute the most herbicide pollution and soil erosion that any other crop grown! Also, ethanol plants are not held to the same standards as other refineries when it comes to chemical pollutants. That means that they can, and do, produce and introduce into the environment more pollutants than other fuel refineries.
Ethanol from sugar cane costs $0.33 per litre. That's certainly better... and people don't need raw sugar to survive. Unfortunately, it also amounts to a net negative energy savings.
Apparently the only thing that *might* be a viable renewable fuel source is not a liquid fuel at all. It's a pellet. Switch grass pellets have an energy return of about 1:14.6 kcal. Pellets can also be a good alternative source of energy in stoves for heating. Unfortunately, I don't see any automakers rushing out to make pellet fueled cars and trains.
So... I guess as long as I'm driving a car and as long as the city continues its 20 year argument of *how* and *where* to build a commuter rail, then I'm stuck being responsible for killing and raping people in Sudan or starving people in South America.
Damned if I do. Damned if I do.
If I buy gasoline for my car then I'm supporting big oil, war, and all of the atrocities, including human rights violations, that happen in countries like Sudan. As well, I'm definitely contributing to CO2 emissions.
If I fill my car with ethanol, since most of it is made from corn grown in second and third world countries instead of corn made here, and also because it's made from a food source that isn't very energy efficient, I'm supporting starving people rather than letting them have food to eat and still contributing near the same CO2 emissions.
Not only that, but the cost of producing 1 litre of ethanol is about $1.24 inculding tax subsidies. That's $4.59 a gallon!
Even worse, the good byproducts do NOT outweigh the bad byproducts! Corn crops contribute the most herbicide pollution and soil erosion that any other crop grown! Also, ethanol plants are not held to the same standards as other refineries when it comes to chemical pollutants. That means that they can, and do, produce and introduce into the environment more pollutants than other fuel refineries.
Ethanol from sugar cane costs $0.33 per litre. That's certainly better... and people don't need raw sugar to survive. Unfortunately, it also amounts to a net negative energy savings.
Apparently the only thing that *might* be a viable renewable fuel source is not a liquid fuel at all. It's a pellet. Switch grass pellets have an energy return of about 1:14.6 kcal. Pellets can also be a good alternative source of energy in stoves for heating. Unfortunately, I don't see any automakers rushing out to make pellet fueled cars and trains.
So... I guess as long as I'm driving a car and as long as the city continues its 20 year argument of *how* and *where* to build a commuter rail, then I'm stuck being responsible for killing and raping people in Sudan or starving people in South America.
Damned if I do. Damned if I do.
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