Chrysler Announces Hydrogen Fuel Cell Van
Juanfe writes: "Chrysler group announced a concept vehicle called the Natrium, powered by a sodium borohydride (NaBH4) engine developed by Millenium Cell. NaBH4 can be made from sodium borate -- basic borax, used in laundry detergent.
MilleniumCell is a US Company that, not surprisingly, has made strategic agreements with major borax purveyors in the US (which just happens to be thought of as the largest borax reserve in the world). Could this be the start of the end of big oil and the start of the start of big Borax?" superflippy points out that Chrysler's press release is related to the Electric Vehicle Association of the Americas (EVAA) Electric Transportation Industry Conference 2001.
Why do they let people like you type such crap like that. Find somewhere else to vent your anger.
Remember, the planes did not bring down the Twin Towers, it was the burning oil that did. I think there is a powerful metaphor there.
As long as oil is cheap there is no economic incentive to move towards alternative sources of energy.
After 9/11, though, you have to ask yourself is that 1.00 a gallon gas price really that cheap when you take into consideration that:
1) the money we spend on oil is used to fund militant Islamic agendas
2) those same Islamic militants have an idea to destabilize democratic values throughout the world and replace them with Islamic fundamentalism?!
After 9/11 the economists of the world, the bean counters etc... have to look at the continued *risk* of using oil on world stability. They now have a concrete example. They have real economic numbers to work with. They can project into the future (e.g. the procurement of weapons of mass destruction using money derived from oil sales) and see what the true cost of continued use of foreign oil is to America and her allies.
As programmers you probably understand that legacy is 9/10 of the law, and that once it has been coded, you don't want to code it again. One of the main reasons we have not switched away from oil is because we as a nation have invested untold trillions of dollars in creating an infrastructure to support the distribution of oil and gas throughout this great country, and indeed the world. That system is the legacy and captitalistic forces tend to keep existing systems in place.
However, if you consider the cost of say rebuilding Washington DC or LA or New York because some Islamic fundamentalist decided to nuke it with a suitcase bomb, which was bought using the same money we spent on oil,then all of a sudden the cost of a new distribution network looks *alot* cheaper.
We sent men to the moon. We can reduce or eliminate our dependency on foreign oil. The fuel cell thing is but one example. After that we can export our technology to every other country on the planet. That will effectively turn the black gold currently found in the Arab's back yard into something that is as useful as sludge. Let them worship Allah as they smear it over their bodies for all it would be worth.
Screw the Arabs.
I'm still working on a clever footer.
So you're losing control over your sphincters about the potential of having a bunch of NaBH4 in your car but you're sanguine about your current daily drive where you have 10-20 gallons of gasoline in your car? You are aware of course that gasoline is just a wee bit flammable?
cheap labor conservatives - they want to keep you hungry enough to be thankful for minimum wage.