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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mac Con Ulaidh who wrote (164364)	3/25/2009 11:58:29 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361737

Here's rail. One seems to be missing...Disneyland to Vegas :>) High Speed Rail coming to America - Kerry introduces landmark bill (UPDATE 4) by beachmom Tue Nov 25, 2008 at 07:38:44 AM PDT images.google.com === Multiple Birds – One Silver BB: A synergistic set of solutions to multiple issues focused on Electrified Railroads theoildrum.com

To: Mac Con Ulaidh who wrote (164364)	3/26/2009 12:10:46 AM
From: cosmicforce	Read Replies (9) \| Respond to of 361737

There are several "instant" bonuses for us - they require money, but when you consider how much we pay for "defense" (I have doubts about how much "safer" nuclear weapons actually make us), these start to appear cheap. If I have this many ideas, imagine the thousands of grad students wanting grants. College students doing research raise your standard of living. Very high correlation. I'd like to see some national discussion of the following, which represents a few things I've thought about. Electric cars: The efficiency of motors is better than engines. We have several new technologies that appear poised to give us instant charge capability. Charge your car in the time it takes to pump gas. My house is already wired. Exotic wind: Dirigibles that are shaped like wings to lift turbines high into the stratosphere where sustained winds drive them. Build offshore for safety. Exponential paybacks on efficiency with increased height. Air still at the ground? Could be going 60 mph or more at altitude. Exotic aircraft: Half-blimp/half-aircraft to carry people at 300 to 400 mph. Yes, it is slower, but ... Fuel economy is unbelievable. Okay it takes 3 1/2 instead of 2 hours to get to Seattle, but the ticket could be 10-20% of the price of a jet. Run them full fewer times a day. Ideal for long trips. Give everyone near business class at 40% of the price of a jet. They also crash more slowly than a jet. Trains instead of buses: I traveled the US by the Ameri-pass back in 1976 - a peak life experience - put 17k miles on my Ameripass in 90 days. Offer low cost train service to all major cities by passes. Additional passengers can actually cut operating costs when you cater dinner and drinks. Cut greenhouse gases and pollution while actually permitting travel to occur. Trains instead of trucks: Build distribution terminals and build pairs of tracks where there are currently single-way tracks. Have trains that are 10 miles long with embedded locomotives every mile that drop out of line to reroute the tail of the train to side destinations where freight is off-loaded to the terminals. This prevents stopping. Truck travel is cut by probably 75% or more. Cuts wear on roads too. Rent-your-roof solar: Give companies tax free incentives to lease the roof of the houses in the hottest parts of the country. Everyone there now lives in shade - hot water is a free by-product, improving the efficiency of solar cells. The excess electric power is sold for profit to the grid. Profits shared with the homeowner. When people aren't home, they don't use power. Now their house stays cool and their hot water heater is fully charged for evening laundry and baths. Sea-water vegetable gardens: I have a design I'll give away for free that allows people to grow vegetables over beds of seawater. It's untested but someone could do some calculations if they wanted to try it for real. I may build a model in my backyard this summer. Sea water is heated in shallow plastic-lined ponds, stored in stryofoam insulated, plastic-lined tanks at night and the vapor is allowed to condense in the soil, cooled from the top by more sea water flows, which eventually end up in the pond, all is isolated by plastic sheet which lasts a long time when covered with a mm or two of soil. The vapor condenses and nourishes the roots. Turn the Sea of Cortez into the Garden of Eden.