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High Speed Steam Powered Car
CodeWanker wrote in to tell us about a story about new steam powered vehicles that are aiming to set speed records. The car is kind of goofy looking, but more eco friendly (which works for the Prius ;) Don't expect to see anything like this at your local dealer any time soon tho.
are we really going to start progressing towards an almost dark ages type society where we ressurect old tech and reuse it constantly?
Is that such a bad thing assuming the old tech can be made to perform better than the new tech?
Turbines are interesting designs and have been tried in cars before IIRC (i remember seeing a documentary on History Channel about this), was it Ford? They had a car that basically ran on anything that burned; they even tried common isopropyl alcohol on it. Worked just fine.
I wonder how efficient this engine is. Also, how quiet - that was one of the main issues with the car i mentioned before, it sounded like a small jet plane.
If it's not broke, don't fix it. I like to see new technology being developed as much as anyone else, but I believe we also need to keep enough of an open mind that we do not overlook great ideas that have already been made and improve on those ideas. Old tech can easily become new tech through basic improvements in efficiency, reliability, affordability, etc.
BioDiesel = does not exist because of stupid taxes
The dark ages were characterized by a total lack of scholarship and invention. The Englightenment, you may recall, occurred not when people donned blinders to the past and started looking forward, but when they were willing to look further back than others had done. And, by building on Greek and Roman scholarship that was thousands of years old, they were able to usher in the environment of inventiveness that helped create the Industrial Revolution.
Hell, we still learn things from Plato. Or would you consider that "regression" as well?
Another one bites the dust
"Diesel = Terrible for the environment"
No not really if the US would adopt low sulfur diesel then it would not be much different than gas. Plus the one thing that people do not think about on electric and hybrids is the batteries. They are a nightmare to dispose or recycle.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
You would probably get even better gas milage on the highways actually. The problem would be that your car would accelerate terribly and have trouble getting up to highway speeds. The advantage of the Hybrids isn't so much that it makes compact gas-sippers more efficent (it doesn't do a particularly good job of that), but rather it makes them perform like regular cars so regular people will be interested in them. People don't like taking a minute to get to highway speeds, which is one of the big reasons Diesals had such a bad rap early on (have you ever driven one of those Diesal Rabbits? It's no fun.).
I read the internet for the articles.
Ever heard of something called the Pacific Ocean? It's plum full of that substance we call water. I hear there's even more oceans than just the Pacific.
I really do hope you're joking. Any amount of water we can "create" (that wasn't water to begin with) would be completely insignificant to the amount of water we already redistribute throughout the environment by just being alive.
AccountKiller
It's not the stigma, it's the envrionment. Even "clean" diesel engines rank horribly on particulate, NOx, and other nasty emissions.
I suggest you look into new diesel engines. They can be even cleaner than their non-diesel counterparts with recent innovations in diesel catalytic converters and filters.
Oh, and your precious diesel cars? They weigh more than their gasoline counterparts because diesel engines need stronger components (much higher compression).
A diesel engine may weigh slightly more than a regular gasoline engine (not if you use modern materials), but it certainly weighs less than a gasoline engine, an electric motor, and a pack of batteries. To get an engine to deal with much higher compression doesn't take that much strengthening; better rods, pistons, and crank.
The Prius hits 50mpg in real-world testing, too, with fuel that has 30% less energy than diesel.
Some recent numbers from Honda/Acura's new diesel engine in their... I think it's the new Accord, but they don't call it that: 76 MPG, 130 MPH stop speed, 8 second 0-60 acceleration. That's amazing numbers, and better than any hybrid system out there.
I'm not a diesel fanatic, infact it hurts me to say that something involving electricity is worse (I'm an Electrical Engineer), but the fact remains that hybrids just aren't all the automakers crack them up to be.
-Jesse
Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.
30% less emissions, half the efficiency.
Ever read about the good old days of good, clean, horse power? On big work projects, half of the horses were hauling water and food for the other half. Not to mention the tons of emissions - horse urine, road apples, and Al Gore's greenhouse gasses.