PeakOil is You
The Pressurized Air Car?
Re: IS THIS THE END OF PEAK OIL?
by smallpoxgirl » Thu 22 Mar 2007, 11:30:43
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SolarDave', '1'). Two 6 Volt 220 AH golf cart batteries contain roughly 2.5 KWH if you drain them down agressively.
That is a very good point. Kinda puts it in perspective doesn't it?
"We were standing on the edges
Of a thousand burning bridges
Sifting through the ashes every day
What we thought would never end
Now is nothing more than a memory
The way things were before
I lost my way" - OCMS
Of a thousand burning bridges
Sifting through the ashes every day
What we thought would never end
Now is nothing more than a memory
The way things were before
I lost my way" - OCMS
-
smallpoxgirl - Expert
- Posts: 7258
- Joined: Mon 08 Nov 2004, 04:00:00
Re: Compressed air car article - Gizmag
by smallpoxgirl » Thu 22 Mar 2007, 11:50:42
I just saw this:http://www.theaircar.com/Mines_reports.html
They had the engineering audited by a firm in Paris who confirm that it has a range of 70 miles at 31 mph or 416 miles at 12 mph! They don't even mention speeds above 31mph. That's stable speed, BTW. No slowing down, speeding up, hills, etc. I'm pretty sure you could get further faster with a horse and buggy.
They had the engineering audited by a firm in Paris who confirm that it has a range of 70 miles at 31 mph or 416 miles at 12 mph! They don't even mention speeds above 31mph. That's stable speed, BTW. No slowing down, speeding up, hills, etc. I'm pretty sure you could get further faster with a horse and buggy.
"We were standing on the edges
Of a thousand burning bridges
Sifting through the ashes every day
What we thought would never end
Now is nothing more than a memory
The way things were before
I lost my way" - OCMS
Of a thousand burning bridges
Sifting through the ashes every day
What we thought would never end
Now is nothing more than a memory
The way things were before
I lost my way" - OCMS
-
smallpoxgirl - Expert
- Posts: 7258
- Joined: Mon 08 Nov 2004, 04:00:00
Re: Compressed air car article - Gizmag
by jbeckton » Thu 22 Mar 2007, 11:58:10
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kolm', '
')(a) energies are not all alike,
(b) net energy calculations are not always the only thing that matters,
(c) people won't act 'rational' (maximize energy flow over lifespan of humanity), but what economists call 'rational' (maximize short-time earnings).
')(a) energies are not all alike,
(b) net energy calculations are not always the only thing that matters,
(c) people won't act 'rational' (maximize energy flow over lifespan of humanity), but what economists call 'rational' (maximize short-time earnings).
Is a wind generated watt different than a coal generated watt as far as the end user is concerned? These statements are just semantics.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kolm', '
')The problem is that they are not very reliable. (Ask the danes about it.) People don't want unreliable power supply, so power suppliers need backups, either by call options on power or by back-up plants.
Coal and nuclear provide base load and will for the forseeable future. Wind and solar will supplement.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kolm', '
')First of all, Parson type steam turbine couples work at about 40%, not 33%, and they are used in the power industry if it pays off economically. In NPP, you usually don't want many things that can jam, because down-time and maintenance costs you dearly, hence you usually accept lower efficiency than theoretically achievable. Second, even 33% is not too far from carnot efficiency, hence I do not understand what you mean by 'not efficient at all'.
Forget Parson. Whats the efficiency of the average steam turbine generator in the US? About 33%. Not too far off from carnot? Lets see-
TH=1005 degF =813.71K
TL= 95 degF =308.15K
nth=1-TL/TH
=1-.38
Carnot = 62%
Yeah, good call 33% is close to 62%
But who cares about these useless thermodynamic thingies that add nothing to the conversation besides................. proving you are full of crap.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')Where does nuclear energy suck air out of the atmosphere?
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kolm', '
')At its ventilation openings. Cool air is used to cool cooling water.
Sure, but where does the steam burn oxygen which was the point I was making? Exactly, thats just taken out of context.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')It uses a nuclear reaction to boil water, the rest is no different from a coal plant.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kolm', '
')Hell yes it is. If you have a leakage in the cooling water containment of the coal plant, you can make a guesstimate how long you can run this thing and go on; in the NPP, you have to shut down immediately and file an incident report.
But this is definitely considered to be an Urban vehicle. It'd be great for West or East coast rush hour traffic, nearly useless for open highway, probably something like 10-20 miles of range. This could probably be doubled with aerodynamic improvements (Wow, 40 miles! 
Besides, food has a ~10:1 caloric fossil fuel penalty, so until that changes, I doubt there'll be much difference between one or more people using these things and a single cyclist. Maybe an electrified velo could have a leg up, but I don't think we could pay most people to use 'em.
