[TML] Molding Ships

[Jerry W Barrington]

On 10/9/07 2:10 PM, "Charles Prevatte" wrote:

> Simple fact, oil is a limited resource.  It is going to run out.  Sooner or
> later, it will run out.  Better we find a repalcement now than try to find
> one after the lights start to go out.

Tim wasn't saying that oil won't run out, or that we shouldn't do
*something* to replace it.  He just said this doesn't like like the
something that's going to do it.

And every time I see press release or news item calling some prototype car
"zero emission", I cringe.  Neither hydrogen nor compressed air cars are.
You have to account for the emissions of the electric plant the is actually
supplying the power.  And all the talk of how they can be supplied with
solar power is way off base.  That fact is, they *won't* be, even if they
could (which is a dubious claim in itself).  That's why solar power is such
a miniscule fraction of electricity market.

> Perhaps air car are pie in the sky, but then, they have an order for 6000
> units currently, so somebody does not think it is imposible.

True, but 914 people drank the Kool-Aid at Jonestown as "an act of
revolutionary suicide".  39 joined the UFO hiding behind a comet.
*Somebody* will believe just about anything.  That doesn't make them right.

Besides, it didn't say there was an order.  It said they were "scheduled to
hit Indian streets".  That's pretty nebulous.

They can probably get a car that will work as that one was shown: a taxi.
Short distances in town, and frequent returns to their own shop, so it
doesn't need *any* public infrastructure.  And notice, it's a tiny little
thing.  Not much more than an enclosed golf cart.  No doubt all fiberglass
(implied by the seatbelt only attaching to the floor).  You can imagine how
that will do in a crash.

As others have stated, the energy density is critical.  How much energy can
you pack into the car.  From all the info, it just doesn't sound like much.
And Americans may be a bit odd about this, but all but the very cheapest
cars will do 200 or more miles on a fill-up.  The performance figures I'm
hearing just won't fly in America.  Can you imagine going on a road trip in
that thing?  Being in a regular-size car for hours is cramped enough.  This
sort of thing is why the serious attempt to replace gas-powered cars still
look like any other car.