by BlisteredWhippet » Tue 07 Mar 2006, 14:44:06
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('nocar', 'A')ll these things that get lots of mpg also have small gas tanks. When you run out you run out. They are almost as vulnerable to disruptions in the distribution of fuel (it is not a good idea to store gasoline at home).
I vote for a bicycle. Or tricycle.
Nocar
I totally agree that all this is unworkable without the infrastructure. However, given enough time and resources (tools and knowledge), an ethanol still, and appropriate tools, we could make piston engines work in combinations with other technology to perform tasks perhaps more effectively than with, say, a horse or mule.
But how hard is it to retrofit existing technology? It seems to me that a small displacement engine, with tolerances that would accept running pure ethanol, that had a simple ignition advance, that ran without a battery (on a magneto, for instance), that ran without needing highly specific oil lubrication....
Am I thinking of a steam engine? Sterling?