New fuels are an excellent idea, and some of the new engine designs are
just as
interesting. There is one company I have been following for years,
that was founded by Harold Rosen (Brother of Compaq Founder Ben Rosen)
They have a engine with just one moving part, uses no oil, no lubricants
by
using a revolutionary air bearing, no coolants. The exhaust uses no
catalysts
or other post-combustion exhaust treatments.
Since its founding in 1993, Rosen Motors has been developing a
powerful hybrid-electric power train that is twice as efficient as a
typical car's, uses half as much gas, and creates virtually no
emissions.
The Rosen Motors power train is a unique combination of a
turbogenerator, a flywheel motor generator, an electric drive motor, and
an electronic control system. It powers the same cars as those on the
road now, Ben Rosen says, "but it can take a sedan from 0 to 60 mph in
six seconds, more like a Ferrari than your father's Oldsmobile." The
power-train technology is the brainchild of Harold Rosen, a gifted
engineer who, in 1963, created the first geostationary satellite.
Read about this one at:
http://www.microturbine.com/index.asp
Hmmm I bet that can save a lot of oil that is used by triumphs.
RE: State of the Onion speech
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 07:25:22 -0800
From: Bill Babcock <BillB@bnj.com>
If we're really going to be serious about this...
A hydrogen transportation economy is actually technically sound. The
gasoline you burn in cars is NOT oil, it's petroleum based, a relatively
small component that is fractioned from the feedstock. The process of
making gasoline requires a lot of energy, transportation and loss. The
only feedstock is oil.
Hydrogen can be generated from any electrical source and electrical
generation is rarely oil-fired. Western coal is not scarce and
generation
plants can be mine-mouth. We also generate (and can generate more)
electricity from hydro, nuclear, wind, geothermal, and even
photovoltaic.
Of all those choices I prefer Nuclear (as a former nuclear power plant
operator who still has an appreciation of how well these plant CAN
work).
Transportation is less of a problem than gasoline because the Hydrogen
generation can occur anywhere with only minor transmission losses.
It's a good direction to take, has been well analyzed, and really does
require a national initiative by a leading power to undertake. The
exhaust
is water vapor, no greenhouse gases. It can be done so that there is a
net
positive for the environment and a sustainable mode of transportation.
But I'd hate to stand within a hundred yards of a Hydrogen powered
Triumph.
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