Tesla Drama

[Lotus Fury]

Solar power plants in very dry sunny areas - Africa/SW US Mexico/ Australia desert/ Middle East. This would minimize the environmental impact of these huge fields of solar panels/mirrors. Pump ocean water to these locations. Use the solar power to 1- purify the water 2- crack it into compressed hydrogen. Now we just need to move the hydrogen to areas that do not have the sunlight to do it on their own. We can use existing CNG and oil pipelines. Zero Carbon or any other greenhouse gasses.

This solves all the worlds problems and I can retire a multi-billionaire. Maybe I will even buy Hawaii. Or Fiji. Or some other exotic island as long as it ends in I.

[fitfan]

Originally Posted by SweetDaddyD

If the government wanted to improve the emissions from ALL vehicles, .

...or just get rid of the silly "truck emissions and safety exemptions" that loop hole legislation was the only thing keeping GM afloat for many years...

[Chris Mackey]

Originally Posted by Lotus Fury

blah blah blah...This solves all the worlds problems and I can retire a multi-billionaire...

The only guy richer is the one who invents a working penis enlargement pill.

[rob13572468]

Originally Posted by Lotus Fury

We can use existing CNG and oil pipelines.

no you cant... hydrogen needs to be transported and stored in stainless steel pipes and tanks.

[Lotus Fury]

Originally Posted by rob13572468

no you cant... hydrogen needs to be transported and stored in stainless steel pipes and tanks.

Then I'll invent Hydrogen that doesn't.

[mikeyd]

Originally Posted by ChrisB

Doubling from 1 to 2, and 2 to 4, and 4 to 8 is pretty easy. 8 more doublings, not so much. Take a piece of paper, any piece of paper, and double it 8 times.

... Exponential growth demonstrated brilliantly - watch it for 2 mins - honestly !!!

YouTube - Evolution Of Dance Party

The above video has very little to do with this thread - just wanted an excuse to share the video - it's really funny.

[Cardinal]

Originally Posted by apk919

+1

It's nice to think that technology will solve all the problems of electric cars in the next few years... but technology cannot always do whatever we want it to at a reasonable cost (or sometimes at any cost).

Think about it... why go to electric cars at all? Why don't we just figure out how to make gasoline synthetically, as well as figure out how to burn it absolutely cleanly (no significant greenhouse gases or pollutants)?

The same thinking can be used to justify nuclear energy (although I think it's already more than justified)... we'll definitely figure out the storage problem in the future, right?

Why do people have infinite faith in technology for some things, but not others?

I keep hearing people talk about France, and how much of an inspiration they should be. "They are so green. No CO2 in France!" Well yeah, they get over 80% of their power from nuclear means.

The only power source that will satisfy the most militant environmentalists as well as our realistic energy needs is something called "magic," and nobody has figured it out yet. Nuclear power is clean and safe. The problem is everyone remembers Chernobyl, 3 Mile Island, etc, and it scares the hell out of them. It fosters a "not in my backyard" mentality. Even John Kerry who is all for green technology is fighting against a proposed wind farm near his island vacation house. Everyone supports prisons, dumps, train stations, etc, just not in their backyard.

[tandemracer]

Good grief, it is already 2009! Where is all the cool technology that I read about when I was growing up? We were supposed to have stopped using cars a decade ago. I want my nuclear-powered hovercraft so I can zip around town like George Jetson. Oh, and I want a vacation home on Mars.