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Non-Tech : Alternative energy
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To: Eric who wrote (4342)2/25/2008 9:28:25 PM
From: Road Walker  Read Replies (2) of 16955
 
In the case of a car the airmass going thru the engine compartment via the radiator removes heat.

I think heat is a different issue as most engines are water cooled, unless you drive a <'68 VW.

Air is moving with "resistance" through the car. It actually slows down compared to the air outside the car. If we add propeller blades and take energy away we are increasing the "resistance" and the airmass slows down even more as it flows through the car. Thus the car is experiencing more total drag as it goes through the airmass it is driving in. If there is more drag then more power is called for to maintain a steady speed. This requires the expenditure of more energy to keep the car moving at a constant speed.

And I think that's the key point. Would the energy lost by moving air through a fan blade be more than that lost by hitting a brick wall... the engine block. Certainly there would be some energy recovery from all the energy expended to move the 2 ton hunk of steel through the air. And you are taking relatively efficient wind energy and applying it to an inherently inefficient process, accelerating an automobile from a dead stop.

But I give up. You guys win. Air turbines for hybrid cars will not ever work in any case because they consume more energy than they produce... even though the wind is going to be there regardless. It's all about the generative power of brakes... which are so efficient in producing more energy than is lost in bringing a vehicle to a complete stop.

Can't win every argument... but sometimes, much later, you turn out to be right.
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