Will I evere realize a dream?

[Musclecar67]

I just finished watching a movie called "Who killed the electric car" its a good movie, and I have seen it a few times now. The film talks about how GM, California,Big Oil, and a few other party's killed GM's electric car back in 2001. Personally I am in favor of "Saving our Environment" .... I mean its just common sense to want to keep our world healthy, but at the same time I love automobiles. Obviously I would with out question choose the environment over my obsession with cars, but in my opinion there is nothing wrong with the cars we drive today for a few reasons.

1) Most of anything in this world gives off byproduct's. The combustion engine by itself produces two things HEAT & FRICTION.... the two things most moving objects produce whether they are artificial or biological. Therefore I say the problem is not the mechanics of the combustion engine, but the fuel used to run it.

2) Lubricant technology is advancing and Artificial / Synthetic products can and will replace petroleum based lubricants. They can also be recycled!

3) The combustion engine can be made to run on anything that combusts with compression and or spark.

As far as the electric car... I personally wouldn't mind having my everyday car be electric, maybe a nice SUV that I could just plug-in and feel good about owning. As long as the power, durability, and reliability were the same or better then what we have today. I do see a down side to electric powered cars being there range. The GM car in the film did 70 miles on 1 charge. And they said the average person in the U.S.A only needs about 29 miles to do there every day commute. Tho I travel about 80 miles in total a day including the little trips to the food store and diner...what about traffic? I hit at least 30 min of it on the way to and from work! The car is on and i'm going nowhere! OH NO wheres the next Energy Station?! Even if there were as many recharge stations as gas stations the time it would take to charge up for another 70 miles of GO TIME would probably take longer then the trip.
If an alternative fuel is going to be an "Alternative" it needs to be easily introduced into the system we have established. That being we put gas in our cars get 300 miles or so on it before we fill up again. We spend 5 min at the pump and drive off ready to go another 300 miles with out the hours of trickle charging :bs. If the production of ethanol didn't burn more fuel then produced I would say thats the best solution since 10% of our gas already is ethanol. I'm optimistic about it tho and I feel with more development that its the next step in our independence from OIL and eventually clean air, but one has to come first and my guess is Oil independence.... why because its always about the money.

One of my dreams is to own a Ford Gt...why because it is absolutely a performer in every way... its sexy, fast, comfortable, and carries a long lived heritage. Im only 21 and have most of my life ahead of me, but will I even be able to enjoy the things I am working so hard for? Why should I give up my dreams and hard work when the accused problem aka the combustion engine is totally open to updates and advances in technology... cars are only getting more fuel efficient, more powerful, and more practical. What other creation of man has endured because of its ability to adapt and accept change other then the wheel, and hmm.. oh yeah the B-52 :rofl? I find it hard to believe we cant find other liquids that can burn and do not pollute our environment. As I see it the combustion engine is 1 step away from being a 100% environmentally safe... for the recipe states "Just remove oil" :cheers

 

[KMCBOSS]

One of the major problems with electric cars is the battery. Inside the battery is series of lead plates. The battery will have to be changed on occassion. Imagine the huge lead waste disposal problem with millions of this things on the road. Hydrogen power seems far more feasible to me

 

[Empty Pockets]

... Hydrogen power seems far more feasible to me

Likewise.

But it's been explained to me that, right now, there are major league, industrial strength "issues" transporting this stuff (and other pblms) that have to be solved first.

 

[Musclecar67]

Sorry I meant to edit it but started a new topic and double posted. Please read & write in the updated thread. Tx

 

[nthfinity]

I hope I don't come accross as an ass too much...

But... I feel great that I drive a US made SUV all the time, I have great fun driving other peoples, (and sometimes manufacturer's cars) under WOT conditions driving because driving gives me so much pleasure. I'm not the biggest fan of paying 3$ a gallon, but It sure beats all alternatives except in tax per gallon.

I am so goady that I downshift while next to a hybrid just in spite of that human-loathing self-thinking do-gooder. I feel great burning the gas that they think they aren't. Pumping in more C02 just because they think that they are doing "their part."

Why am I such an ass?
3 or 4 times in the last 300 years, C02 has been at higher levels than it is today.... 2 of these times were measured before the industrial revolution.

Our global air and seat temperatures have been oscillating, but "generally" rising since the end of the last Ice age. 1000 years ago, the global average temperature was a whooping 5 degrees C warmer then it is today... guess who had its hand on warming the planet? Thats right, nature!

The current trend of "exponential climate warmth" that is born of pseudo science in the term "consensus" where they are trying to stop the balanced view from being heard... is over exaggerated to say the least. The sea's aren't rising, or falling any more then they have in the past... The Arctic has dropped a whooping 2mm since we started measuring it, and the Galapagos Islands haven't fallen into the sea more then a few inches of eroded sand.

There are Polynesian Islands who are "disappearing" Not because of the waters rising, but because of a natural process called "erosion"

The UN panel for climate change readily accepted that the earth has risen 1 degree Centigrade in 100 years + - .6 Degrees Centigrade.... seems kinda fishy to me.

30 years ago, it was common knowledge that we were approaching the next ice age... what will it be during the next trend in nature?

PPM = parts per million... there are 384 ppm of C02 in the atmosphere. 3 -4 times in history its been higher then it is today, 2 of which were pre-industrial revolution... that said (a second time, sorry), With all of the worlds machinery devoted to on time, it will take 5 years to increase that by 1 PPM assuming that nature doesn't use, absorb, dissolve that 1 ppm.

There was also a study done by the Max Plank Institute which actually finds direct correlation to solar activity, and the temperature on the earth... not only that, but that the sun has actually increased in solar activity in the last 25ish years.... which also coincides with the fact that other solar system bodies are experiencing similar climate shifts w/out the intervention of Man.

That said; its nice to know that there is 100's of years supply of Dinosaur oil awaiting pumping, refining, and finally burning of. I'm happy to know that my future children will have it available to them

[I worked for the National Weather Service a few years ago, and have yet to meet a Global Warming sympathizer in the industry... they do exist, however.]