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Unread 24-05-2006, 13:28
Ben Piecuch Ben Piecuch is offline
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Re: Water to Fuel Cars

The need to reduce our dependency on foreign oil is the main driving force for these hybrid cars (at least to the US public.) The energy needed to move your 3-4000lb vehicle will always be a requirement. Where that energy comes from is the big question.

Using gasoline = foreign oil, since the US doesn't produce enough of it's own. Using electricity/batteries means that the energy comes from some massive power plant. Power plants run off coal, natural gas, geothermal vents, nuclear energy, water (dams), garbage, etc... Most power plants are depleating the natural resources of our planet, and therefore, aren't much better than relying on foreign oil for our transportation needs. The truly universal solution to our energy needs is renewable energy. Solar, wind, ocean currents... Until these energy sources are included into the worlds infrastructures, we'll continue to depleat our natural resources. Using all the new "alternative fuels" only helps to increase (in some cases) the efficiency of the system. Other "alternative fuels" actually decrease the efficiency. The fuels don't truly replace the energy system, they just reform it.

As Ken pointed out earlier in this thread, the more processing you do to your energy, the less efficient the whole energy process becomes. Taking methane and breaking out the H2 to run your fuel cell car HAS to be less efficient than just running your car on just methane. For this guy in Florida, he's using the gasoline engine to run the alternator on his car, which in turn creates electricity to electrolyze water. The resulting gases are fed back into the gasoline powered engine which created it in the first place... (HUH?) How does that possibly increase the overall system efficiency?

For the time being, if you want a more fuel efficient car, slow down. A 10mph difference on the highway will make a dramatic change in your vehicle's mpg.

BEN
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