Chief Delphi - pic: MARS 1523: Our New Tesla

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkFlame145 (Post 929846)

Emissions from cars are a major source of green house gases. Some people are under the impression that driving a hybrid vehicle will help "save the planet." Even though studies have shown that hybrid drivers tend to drive more then none hybrid owners. Also when you scrap a hybrid you end up doing more damage due to the batteries being dumped. Trust me I know that there is no one fix, but if people want to try to make a eco friendly car, then go hydrogen. All it puts out is water and oxygen.

No No No.

Energy can be neither created nor destroyed, it can only change form. And every time it changes form, nature takes a tax in the form of heat.

1) Hydrogen is the smallest atom, building a "cage" to effectively contain it is nigh impossible. It is also one of the most corrosive elements.

2) What process are you going to use to get your hydrogen gas? What would be its efficiency? In this process, there will be more pollutants than just "water".

In films, we often see car crashes that result in spectacular "explosions". That, like sound and fire in the vacuum of space, is a cinematic conceit. But if we had hydrogen fueled vehicles, it would become a reality. And then some.

The internal combustion engine has achieved an impressive state of the art efficiency and will be hard pressed to go beyond 50 mpg unless we can find a way to enclose all roadways in vacuum tubes. (exhausting the heat energy then becomes an issue :eek: )

Hybrids are effective at converting kinetic energy to electrical and back again with a small tax in heat to provide the same efficiency in the stop and go drive in a city per the highway.
However, the environmental cost of the batteries is no small consideration.

The previous post regarding pumped and centrifugal storage for peak vs. non-peak supply provides a good idea.

Volvo is working on a hybrid that stores braking energy in a small centrifugal storage unit. It is mechanical, lightweight, and has little of the environmental drawbacks of battery storage.
http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/vol...e-braking.html

There is also work being done with Ultra Capacitors that store the electrical energy physically vs. chemically. This is also better than batteries in that they are lighter. However, bridge the gap and you could be killed.

Emergency workers have been trained on using the "Jaws of Life" to free accident victims in hybrids. Cutting the cables on a hybrid vehicle with their higher voltage systems is an issue.
http://gas2.org/2009/01/25/dont-get-electricuted/

So, to forestall the inevitable DT's of our addiction to fossil fuels.
Nuclear plant baseloading, Wind and solar supplements spread around the grid in our homes and communities. Geothermal heat pumps where practical and solar street lights.

Of course, none of this will matter after 12/21/12 ;) , but just in case, we can prep.