[Peakoil] Ask an Expert; the End of Oil - part 2 (ABC)

[Keith Thomas]

And don't forget the energy and materials cost to switch over our  
vehicle fleet. I'd estimate we'd have to replace at least 25% of our  
vehicles with air power before it would be worthwhile investing in the  
infrastructure required to refuel them. It seems their range is about  
200km. If you run out of compressed air, you can't just hitch a ride to  
the nearest servo and buy a can of air.

It's unlikely that we would ever have green sources of energy  
sufficient for 25% of our existing vehicle use.

Air cars are like Toyota Priuses - another manifestation of Elizabeth  
Kubler-Ross's "Bargaining" stage. We need to skip through denial,  
anger, bargaining and depression and begin to work within a framework  
of acceptance.
--------------------------------------------
Keith Thomas
www.evfit.com
--------------------------------------------
On 21/05/2006, at 3:06 PM, Leigh Kite wrote:

> There's no getting out of the energy equation, you still have to come  
> up with the energy to drive the compressor that charges it.  But that  
> could come from a green source.  No doubt it'll be one of the  
> contributing solutions to the liquid fuels transition.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Leigh
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith Thomas" <keith at evfit.com>
> To: "'Peakoil Discussion'" <peakoil at act-peakoil.org>
> Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2006 12:13 PM
> Subject: Re: [Peakoil] Ask an Expert; the End of Oil - part 2 (ABC)
>
>
>> I'm no engineer, but it looks to be as sound as the model that took  
>> Joh Bjelke Petersen in when he was premier.
>>
>> With LPG-powered cars you have a tank filled with LPG under pressure   
>> (the compression of which itself takes energy). But the gas is, at   
>> least, a fuel. Compressed air is not a fuel, but a carrier of energy  
>> -  the energy stored in it by the compression process. Unless I have  
>> the  mechanical basis of the air car's engine all wrong, all the  
>> compressed  air car does is to use the energy stored during the  
>> compression as it's  released from the tank. Just like allowing a  
>> balloon to deflate.
>>
>> So, how many calories (or whatever unit of energy) does it take to  
>> (a) compress 90 cubic metres of air to 300 bars? How many units of  
>> energy does it take to (b) drive an air car 200 km? Is (a)  
>> significantly less than (b)?
>>
>> Isn't that the key question? The next question is: where does the   
>> energy come from to compress the air? It'll be coal-fired electricity  
>>  in Australia until Johnny's nukes come on stream.
>>
>> Incidentally, last month I came across a stat I have been seeking for  
>>  the past couple of years. It's on page 8 of the eighth edition of  
>> New Solutions, available here:
>>
>> http://www.communitysolution.org/pubs.html
>>
>> The stat is that a litre of petrol contains 8190 calories. Compare  
>> that to a kilogram of fat: 3700 calories.
>> --------------------------------------------
>> Keith Thomas
>> www.evfit.com
>> --------------------------------------------
>> On 21/05/2006, at 11:02 AM, Leigh Kite wrote:
>>
>>> Why the pessimism over compressed air cars?  These guys think they   
>>> have a solution.
>>>
>>> http://www.theaircar.com/thecar.html
>>>
>>> Those stats look pretty encouraging, and the cars seem to be at  
>>> production status.  Is there any reason for us to believe its all a   
>>> big hoax or something?
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Leigh
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith Thomas" <keith at evfit.com>
>>> To: "'Peakoil Discussion'" <peakoil at act-peakoil.org>
>>> Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2006 9:30 PM
>>> Subject: [Peakoil] Ask an Expert; the End of Oil - part 2 (ABC)
>>>
>>>
>>>> ASK AN EXPERT: THE END OF OIL - PART 2
>>>> How do we deal with less oil in a growing world? In part 2 of the  
>>>> end of oil
>>>> we look at the alternatives and implications: Are there  
>>>> technologies that
>>>> can replace our dependence on oil? What about medicines and  
>>>> plastics? Are we
>>>> looking at a world catastrophe? Here are the answers from some of
>>>> Australia's top experts.
>>>> http://www.abc.net.au/science/expert/realexpert/endofoil/
>>>>
>>>> Not a bad collection. I'm pleased they put the boot into compressed  
>>>>  air cars :-).
>>>> Sadly, the answers are about peak oil and related topics, but they  
>>>> don't touch on climate change, nor how the end of cheap oil will  
>>>> make it harder to deal with the impacts of climate change.
>>>> --------------------------------------------
>>>> Keith Thomas
>>>> www.evfit.com
>>>> --------------------------------------------
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
>>
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>
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