Not ALL the chemical energy of the original fuel, though.
It's a gassifier and engine/gen pair. You heat the fuel in an oxygen-poor environment (the heat comes from burning a part of the fuel itself using what little oxygen is present) which releases volatile compounds and produces carbon monoxide. This syngas is then fed into an internal combustion engine where it's burned to completion to produce power.
Not groundbreaking technology... but proven to work and be a viable means of getting power, especially if you happen to have a lot of biowaste you can throw in there.
Sure, you CAN burn the charcoal leftovers. Might be useful as a cooking fuel, for example. Even if you did that, you're still only carbon neutral. It can also be used to improve soil quality to help grow food or cash crops... which seems like a better use IMHO. =Smidge=
Without a stronger central/federal government, we wouldn't have:
-The 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, and 24th amendments. Local governments are effectively prevented from discriminating based on race and gender.
-Won WWII. Being geologically isolated means we probably would not have been successfully invaded, but without the ability to conscript resources from the entire nation we probably would not have had the ability to project sufficient military power overseas.
-A space program of any sort. Again, the ability to pool resources for an undertaking no local government could possibly afford or would even consider. You can pretty much include any "Big Science" item; The Internet, The Manhattan Project, anything and everything the network of National Labs had a hand in really. You don't get big science without big funding.
-The national highway / railroad system. Imagine how costly and inefficient commerce would be with only a patchwork of locally built and owned roads and railroads, most of which would probably be toll roads to boot.
I'm sure if I review US history I could find a few more examples. I'm not trying to denigrate local governments - local governments are best suited for local issues and local actions. However when you are concerned about the nation and the rights and welfare of the citizens as a whole, you cannot rely on local politics to be consistent, fair or adequate. =Smidge=
I use the best encryption ever for everything I need to keep secret. The algorithm is a simple bitwise XOR applied to every byte in the file, using the data itself as a one-time pad. Completely uncrackable unless you know the data that was used for the pad.
A chunk of unidentified debris that has been described as "A curved section that fell off a semi-trailer."
Could be anything, but it is currently believed that the curved nature allowed it to be lifted up and driven into the underside of the car by being wedged between the car and the road. This was apparently enough to puncture the 1/4" steel plate that forms the bottom of the battery casing and destroy some of the battery cells within, causing the fire.
Debris strikes like this are fairly common, usually destroying tires but also puncturing engine oil pans and such. The Model S battery pack is essentially the entire bottom of the vehicle so it's a nice big target. =Smidge=
Only in vapor form. You can put out a match by dipping it in gasoline. That's part of the reason gasoline is such a good vehicle fuel.
Good luck having a condition where you have spilled liquid gasoline but no gasoline vapor, which is QUITE flammable.
Gasoline was chosen as a vehicle fuel because once upon a time it was a waste product of kerosene production, so it was cheap and plentiful. The advantage it had was being VERY VOLATILE - easily evaporating into the air to form an explosive mixture. A carburetor does not need to "condition" it at all, just deliver a carefully controlled dose. Because of this you could produce an internal combustion engine without the need for a fuel injection system like diesel engines required, and with a lower compression ratio, so the engines would be simpler, lighter and faster. Less efficient, too, but who really cared when the fuel was so cheap? =Smidge=
Hell, not only do I not use it, I can't think of many times I have even heard people mention it.
Woe betide you should you ever find yourself on a Windows machine without a mouse, then. Can't say I use it often but when I do I'm glad it exists. =Smidge=
They have the NISMO RC, which is a race car developed by their motorsports division that uses the same battery and motor as the LEAF. That thing's been around since Tesla was still struggling to build their Roadsters. Does that count?
You also need to consider that an all-electric drivetrain is going to easily be four times more efficient, so you'd need only 1/4 as much energy to cover the same driving. That brings the parity MUCH closer. =Smidge=
I wasn't aware Nissan as even trying to make a Tesla rival.
Tesla has put their energies into making a brand based on performance and style. Nissan's LEAF offering is focused on affordability. They are not competing for the same market any more than Hyundai is competing with Lamborghini. =Smidge=
No, zeolite is essentially filtering medium, similar to activated charcoal.
I'm talking about actually coagulating the contaminated water to prevent it from leaking out. Then you could scoop it out and re-liquefy it for processing. =Smidge=
Cement might not be the best option, but I agree that's something along the right lines.
I was actually thinking gelatin, or some other coagulant, which would entrap the contaminants preventing further leakage without preventing future recovery and processing (you can re-melt gelatin). If the goal is to halt the leaking, something along those lines seems like a potential solution. =Smidge=
I've read there is up to 28 million tonnes (depending on who you ask) of lithium available for commercially viable mining, and the total quantity of lithium on the planet being something like 3 million billion tons (only a fraction is actually accessible, of course). Lithium is about as plentiful as nickel.
If we go with a conservative 8 grams of Li per 100 Watt-Hours of battery capacity, that 28 million tonnes translates to 355,000,000 megawatt-hours of storage - Enough for nearly six billion 60kWh Tesla vehicles. That's roughly five times as many vehicles that are thought to be on the road on the entire plant today.
Granted that only a portion of our lithium production goes to batteries, but even if we consider those other uses there is nothing like a shortage of Lithium on the horizon. The bottleneck is entirely production related.
Plus, unlike oil, lithium is not consumed when used and can be recycled. =Smidge=
"Notice: Please press 'Accept' to the agreement below within the next 59 second(s) to avoid having every photo on this device forwarded to your twitter account."
More seriously, traditional dealers are considered a hurdle to EV sales because they have to compete with their other inventory. Dealers may not be as knowledgeable and enthusiastic about EVs to make an effective sale. There's also a notion that, since thee majority of a dealer's profit comes from the service department, that EVs don't get pushed as aggressively because they don't need as much service.
Since selling factory direct runs afoul of many state laws here in the US, this seems like an interesting alternative... just take the human interest out of the sales pitch. =Smidge=
Digging a hole is not expensive. Gather a dozen people to work just an hour or so and you can dig a very large hole very quickly. Plus it's a job, so you could actually pay them something and they'd be not quite as poor... it's basically a public works project.
As for the cost of plastic... how does that compare to the cost of treating sick people? Seems money well invested if it results in a long term solution to not just the spread of disease but in general an improvement in living conditions. =Smidge=
If you REALLY want to rob a bank, and get away with it scott-free, apply for a job. Once you worm your way into upper management you'll be able to grift millions and hardly anyone will call you on it, let alone prosecute.
But even buying a solar panel or windmill is non-green, as current technology spends as much in fossil fuel to mine, refine, produce, distribute, install, and maintain the equipment as you get back in power.
Might be the case, but it needn't be. Much of the energy required to produce something like a solar panel or wind turbine can itself come from renewable resources.
But your point about improving end use efficiency is dead on: one unit saved at point of use could result in dozens or hundreds of units saved as you go up the supply chain. =Smidge=
Go back to browsing Wikipedia until you understand why you just made a fool of yourself. Here's a hint: internal combustion engines don't run on the Carnot cycle, so you can't use it to evaluate the engine's efficiency.
You are quoting maximum thermal efficiency, which is only theoretical. In practice you rarely get anywhere close to that in automotive applications. Engine RPM, load and temperature are all wrenches-in-the-works that you have to deal with.
Meanwhile, electric motors have comparatively flat efficiency curves, largely independent of load, and are virtually always above 70% even under the worst circumstances. =Smidge=
Slashdot Mirror
Not ALL the chemical energy of the original fuel, though.
It's a gassifier and engine/gen pair. You heat the fuel in an oxygen-poor environment (the heat comes from burning a part of the fuel itself using what little oxygen is present) which releases volatile compounds and produces carbon monoxide. This syngas is then fed into an internal combustion engine where it's burned to completion to produce power.
Not groundbreaking technology... but proven to work and be a viable means of getting power, especially if you happen to have a lot of biowaste you can throw in there.
Sure, you CAN burn the charcoal leftovers. Might be useful as a cooking fuel, for example. Even if you did that, you're still only carbon neutral. It can also be used to improve soil quality to help grow food or cash crops... which seems like a better use IMHO.
=Smidge=
Without a stronger central/federal government, we wouldn't have:
-The 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, and 24th amendments. Local governments are effectively prevented from discriminating based on race and gender.
-Won WWII. Being geologically isolated means we probably would not have been successfully invaded, but without the ability to conscript resources from the entire nation we probably would not have had the ability to project sufficient military power overseas.
-A space program of any sort. Again, the ability to pool resources for an undertaking no local government could possibly afford or would even consider. You can pretty much include any "Big Science" item; The Internet, The Manhattan Project, anything and everything the network of National Labs had a hand in really. You don't get big science without big funding.
-The national highway / railroad system. Imagine how costly and inefficient commerce would be with only a patchwork of locally built and owned roads and railroads, most of which would probably be toll roads to boot.
I'm sure if I review US history I could find a few more examples. I'm not trying to denigrate local governments - local governments are best suited for local issues and local actions. However when you are concerned about the nation and the rights and welfare of the citizens as a whole, you cannot rely on local politics to be consistent, fair or adequate.
=Smidge=
I use the best encryption ever for everything I need to keep secret. The algorithm is a simple bitwise XOR applied to every byte in the file, using the data itself as a one-time pad. Completely uncrackable unless you know the data that was used for the pad.
The output also compresses really well!
=Smidge=
A chunk of unidentified debris that has been described as "A curved section that fell off a semi-trailer."
Could be anything, but it is currently believed that the curved nature allowed it to be lifted up and driven into the underside of the car by being wedged between the car and the road. This was apparently enough to puncture the 1/4" steel plate that forms the bottom of the battery casing and destroy some of the battery cells within, causing the fire.
Debris strikes like this are fairly common, usually destroying tires but also puncturing engine oil pans and such. The Model S battery pack is essentially the entire bottom of the vehicle so it's a nice big target.
=Smidge=
No kidding - in a conventional vehicle that object would have ended up inside the passenger compartment, and possibly in the driver's leg.
=Smidge=
Only in vapor form. You can put out a match by dipping it in gasoline. That's part of the reason gasoline is such a good vehicle fuel.
Good luck having a condition where you have spilled liquid gasoline but no gasoline vapor, which is QUITE flammable.
Gasoline was chosen as a vehicle fuel because once upon a time it was a waste product of kerosene production, so it was cheap and plentiful. The advantage it had was being VERY VOLATILE - easily evaporating into the air to form an explosive mixture. A carburetor does not need to "condition" it at all, just deliver a carefully controlled dose. Because of this you could produce an internal combustion engine without the need for a fuel injection system like diesel engines required, and with a lower compression ratio, so the engines would be simpler, lighter and faster. Less efficient, too, but who really cared when the fuel was so cheap?
=Smidge=
Every ~2 minutes, a fire department somewhere in the US responds to another call of a vehicle fire.
Statistically, on a per-car basis, they are safe... but there are so many vehicles that vehicle fires are actually quite common.
=Smidge=
Hell, not only do I not use it, I can't think of many times I have even heard people mention it.
Woe betide you should you ever find yourself on a Windows machine without a mouse, then. Can't say I use it often but when I do I'm glad it exists.
=Smidge=
They have the NISMO RC, which is a race car developed by their motorsports division that uses the same battery and motor as the LEAF. That thing's been around since Tesla was still struggling to build their Roadsters. Does that count?
=Smidge=
You also need to consider that an all-electric drivetrain is going to easily be four times more efficient, so you'd need only 1/4 as much energy to cover the same driving. That brings the parity MUCH closer.
=Smidge=
I wasn't aware Nissan as even trying to make a Tesla rival.
Tesla has put their energies into making a brand based on performance and style. Nissan's LEAF offering is focused on affordability. They are not competing for the same market any more than Hyundai is competing with Lamborghini.
=Smidge=
Reducing traffic volume improves traffic flow. Just sayin'
=Smidge=
No, zeolite is essentially filtering medium, similar to activated charcoal.
I'm talking about actually coagulating the contaminated water to prevent it from leaking out. Then you could scoop it out and re-liquefy it for processing.
=Smidge=
Cement might not be the best option, but I agree that's something along the right lines.
I was actually thinking gelatin, or some other coagulant, which would entrap the contaminants preventing further leakage without preventing future recovery and processing (you can re-melt gelatin). If the goal is to halt the leaking, something along those lines seems like a potential solution.
=Smidge=
Not sure what SD is.
My guess: "Slashdot"
As in: "Slashdot is a bunch of mental wankers and hipsters."
I don't keep up with the latest internet troll abbreviations though.
=Smidge=
I've read there is up to 28 million tonnes (depending on who you ask) of lithium available for commercially viable mining, and the total quantity of lithium on the planet being something like 3 million billion tons (only a fraction is actually accessible, of course). Lithium is about as plentiful as nickel.
If we go with a conservative 8 grams of Li per 100 Watt-Hours of battery capacity, that 28 million tonnes translates to 355,000,000 megawatt-hours of storage - Enough for nearly six billion 60kWh Tesla vehicles. That's roughly five times as many vehicles that are thought to be on the road on the entire plant today.
Granted that only a portion of our lithium production goes to batteries, but even if we consider those other uses there is nothing like a shortage of Lithium on the horizon. The bottleneck is entirely production related.
Plus, unlike oil, lithium is not consumed when used and can be recycled.
=Smidge=
Quantum Cryptogaphy exists in a superposition of simultaneously being secure and not-secure.
(Eh, somebody was gonna...)
=Smidge=
"Notice: Please press 'Accept' to the agreement below within the next 59 second(s) to avoid having every photo on this device forwarded to your twitter account."
More seriously, traditional dealers are considered a hurdle to EV sales because they have to compete with their other inventory. Dealers may not be as knowledgeable and enthusiastic about EVs to make an effective sale. There's also a notion that, since thee majority of a dealer's profit comes from the service department, that EVs don't get pushed as aggressively because they don't need as much service.
Since selling factory direct runs afoul of many state laws here in the US, this seems like an interesting alternative... just take the human interest out of the sales pitch.
=Smidge=
Digging a hole is not expensive. Gather a dozen people to work just an hour or so and you can dig a very large hole very quickly. Plus it's a job, so you could actually pay them something and they'd be not quite as poor... it's basically a public works project.
As for the cost of plastic... how does that compare to the cost of treating sick people? Seems money well invested if it results in a long term solution to not just the spread of disease but in general an improvement in living conditions.
=Smidge=
Cholera is one of those things that can easily be kept at bay with education and best practices.
1) Boil your water before drinking or using in any food that will not otherwise be cooked thoroughly.
2) Develop better latrine habits
These two things can go a long, long way towards beating the epidemic.
=Smidge=
If you REALLY want to rob a bank, and get away with it scott-free, apply for a job. Once you worm your way into upper management you'll be able to grift millions and hardly anyone will call you on it, let alone prosecute.
=Smidge=
Unless it's PLA, then it comes mostly from plant starch.
=Smidge=
But even buying a solar panel or windmill is non-green, as current technology spends as much in fossil fuel to mine, refine, produce, distribute, install, and maintain the equipment as you get back in power.
Might be the case, but it needn't be. Much of the energy required to produce something like a solar panel or wind turbine can itself come from renewable resources.
But your point about improving end use efficiency is dead on: one unit saved at point of use could result in dozens or hundreds of units saved as you go up the supply chain.
=Smidge=
Go back to browsing Wikipedia until you understand why you just made a fool of yourself. Here's a hint: internal combustion engines don't run on the Carnot cycle, so you can't use it to evaluate the engine's efficiency.
=Smidge=
You are quoting maximum thermal efficiency, which is only theoretical. In practice you rarely get anywhere close to that in automotive applications. Engine RPM, load and temperature are all wrenches-in-the-works that you have to deal with.
Meanwhile, electric motors have comparatively flat efficiency curves, largely independent of load, and are virtually always above 70% even under the worst circumstances.
=Smidge=