Originally posted by: frostedflakes
Originally posted by: Zebo
Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: Queasy
Originally posted by: Genx87
Not sure what a long term solution is. Possible electric but I think Hybrids are a good cross over technology for the next few decades.
The Volt looks like a good concept. 40-60 miles on battery then a gas engine fires up for anything longer. That way you can get longevity out of the car if you need it while being able to drive around the city without expending any gasoline.
Using Hybrids as cross-overs will work even better when we start seeing plug-in Hybrids.
Agreed. The next generation after plug-in hybrids will be primarily powered by the electric motor, with only a small displacement (~600cc) ICE to keep the batteries charged up during longer trips.
These are very close to reality. Once the battery tech is finally there, EV will take off like an explosion. Not just for environmental or oil cost reasons, but because EV is quite frankly superior to ICE in every way.
You think oil is in short supply that's nothing compared peak uranium to make the energy and lithium to carry it. Then there is the small matter of building
10,000 Nuclear power plants to get the energy we get from oil. And wind, hydro and solar covering the earth is not a physical option to yield 10 terawatts of power.
EV = fad & for rich and famous.
Wut? Nuclear accounts for about 20% of our energy, and we only have like 100 facilities. Plus a lot of these are older designs, newer reactor designs are larger and more efficient.
And fuel requirements wouldn't be as big of a deal if we built breeder reactors and reprocessed our spent fuel rods. I'd be much more worried about radioactive waste. Nuclear just has to last another 50 years or so, by then we'll more than likely have commercial fusion reactors.
Thats false. Nuclear accounts for about 20% of our household electrical needs which would skyrocket once we add cars, forklifts, buses and all things that use energy to the grid by a factor of 90.
Don't take my word for it here is Richard Smalley of Rice University, Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry giving some prospective.
" We have to somehow wean ourselves of our dependence on oil, and the
sooner the better. What is less well known is the incredible
magnitude of the worldwide energy challenge that is before us. The
problem is not just oil. Somehow, within the next few decades, we
must find a new energy source that can provide a minimum of 10
terawatts of clean power on a sustainable basis, and do this cheaply.
To do this with nuclear fission would require no less than 10,000
breeder reactors. Assuming we don't get it all from nuclear fission,
where is that 10 terawatts of new power going to come from? Who
will make the necessary scientific and engineering breakthroughs?
Can it be cheap enough to bring 10 billion people, world population at
that time, to a reasonable standard of living? Can it be done soon
enough to avoid the hard economic times, terrorism, war, human
suffering, that will otherwise occur as we fight over the dwindling oil
and gas reserves on the planet?