"".....you're not counting the cost of charging your car while it's parked in the garage (i.e. "moving the smokestack," the effects of which you continue to ignore).""
Because anyone who is versed in the issues knows that point sources are easily controlled. Plus, they are more efficient.
Really, TC, you are educated on the issues, aren't you? Otherwise, you are just showing your tail.
But, I will assume you are just playing the Devil's advocate and do realize that all of these issues were beat to death decades ago.
This is settled science.
Note, I am not assuming that you aren't a dumb ass and don't know your ass from a hole in the ground. Or that you are shockingly ignorant. I am assuming that you want me to expound on the the economics for those who aren't old enough to have lived through an energy crisis.
I realize that you are incapable of doing more than one liners.
That's ok. Most people would assume you are a moron and incapable of putting together a real argument.
But, I will credit you with more subtlety.
Moving the smokestack isn't a bad idea. For one, it is easier to control environmental issues for point sources. Not to mention that they are more efficient at conventing energy to electricity. One of the major problems with IC engines is that they need to run at more than stoichiometric ratios to avoid knocking. That means they need to run fuel rich. And that means they aren't as efficient as they could be. Not only that, they have to run at variable speeds. That means they cannot be optimized. Now, to compensate, they need a transmission and a drive train. Both of those increase the amount of friction in the system and thus mean that energy is converted to heat instead of motion. This is why trains have used a diesel/electric system for decades. It is the most efficient way to use an IC engine. You have a diesel turbine driving a generator and that powers electric motors that drive the wheels.
Don't trust me, ask Jozef. He can tell you.
Turbines are more efficient than piston engines. The biggest reason is they don't require the same degree of cooling. You do understand thermodynamics, I assume? The less cooling a heat engine requires, the more efficient it will be. If this isn't obvious, let me know.
Now, electric motors are much better matched to traction uses than piston engines. For example, they produce the most torque at low speeds, unlike a piston engine. And high torque is just what you need in an automobile at low speeds. As a result, an electric vehicle can minimize transmission losses by placing the motors in the wheels. Not only that, they can use regenerative braking to slow the vehicle. Braking in a pure IC vehicles only generates heat, in a properly designed electric vehicle, the act of braking means most of that energy is captured.
How am I doing, TC?
Ok, the downside so far has been that there isn't a viable method to run cars off of pure electricity. However, the larger fraction that you can do it, the better. If EEStor can pull it off, then there is a clean win. Without it, Chevy's Volt is the next best thing. Because, Tenchu, despite your skepticism, it is a great solution. Even better would be a hydrogen fuel cell solution. But that assumes a good way to store hydrogen. So far, we don't have one. I have done more than one text wall on this issue, I don't have the patience to do it again. Suffice it to say that a nuclear power plant->hydrogen->fuel cell automobile creams any possible IC competitor by more than a factor of 2 is a given.
So far, that isn't the case. Now, if a method of efficiently generating sodium borohydride from borax is developed, that will change. Because a sodium borohydride solution can have a similar energy density as gasoline. With an important exception, It produces a liquid waste with a similar weight as the original solution.
Now, none of this is relevant if ultracapacitors can really work. If they can, well, clean win. If not, then we are looking at sodium borohydrate. If that can't be done efficiently, then we are looking at the Chevy Volt as has been described.
TC, how did I do? Did you understand anything I posted? Given your tendency for single liners, it is difficult to gauge whether or not you actually understand anything...
Again, all of this was hashed out decades ago. None of this is new. In fact, much of this has been known for more than a century.
But, if you are nearly as smart as you pretend to be, you already knew that. If not, well, you are as stupid as you pretend to be.
Your choice. |
