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78 Comments
- uptwolait, on 12/31/2008, -3/+34I'm pretty disappointed we're not yet powering everything with dilithium crystals.
- inactive, on 01/01/2009, -1/+22warranty void if seal broken.
- LordMalak, on 12/31/2008, -3/+24The next cheapest energy: whale oil.
- Flyman360, on 12/31/2008, -2/+18Baby seal oil would be cheaper
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/ ... - Barackalypse, on 01/01/2009, -1/+15Fantastic, so we don't need to go wasting tax dollars subsidizing all this alternative energy crap, we just wait and once cheaper alternatives are available the market will decide a winner. Or I suppose we could let the Government do it, but then we'd end up getting some crappy result like ethanol.
- allowners, on 12/31/2008, -3/+17That would be sweet.
- Halgy, on 01/01/2009, -1/+14Pft. Dilithium crystals don't actually power anything, they're just used to regulate matter/antimatter reactions. Don't you know anything?
...I'm going to to masturbate alone now. - EntangledPhysx, on 01/01/2009, -1/+12Plastics can be made from plants.
- twiztidsinz, on 01/01/2009, -1/+12Let's go clubbing!
- Pinkertinkle, on 01/01/2009, -2/+13We all know from The Matrix that people are the best source of power. People stacked in pods reaching into the sky and fed the liquefied remains of other people.
- Ultomato, on 01/01/2009, -0/+10i dont think its skepticism about the electric car, the only thing holding it back is battery technology which would improve if there was a deman for them, its the skepticism of alternative energies that power those cars.
- Richandler, on 12/31/2008, -1/+10Wow is ABC trying to a make a 20 year prediction?
- inactive, on 01/01/2009, -0/+9let's seal the deal
- Akairenn, on 01/01/2009, -0/+9...And the price will fall as the price of dinosaur-based oil rises. More companies will invest in plant-based oils; progress will happen.
And if I'm smart enough to realize the benefits of ramping up plant oil production *before* the last drop of decomposed dinosaurs is gone, surely are people with the venture capital connections to make it happen. - nullcodes, on 01/01/2009, -1/+8Better not let the eco terrorist group Sea Shepherd hear ya.
- JoshChan, on 01/01/2009, -0/+7*****. Coal is cheaper.
- groo68, on 01/01/2009, -1/+8Hemp can make plastic, stronger than steel material, oil, and other components used to make up a car, or to make up our society.
- Stuffburger, on 01/01/2009, -1/+8Since when have oil and natural gas been cheapest? IIRC coal is substantially cheaper per unit energy, just messy, difficult to transport and awkward to use, relatively speaking.
- leapingstan, on 01/01/2009, -1/+8I wonder why there is such a skepticism surrounding the electric vehicles. Considering the potential everyone should be jumping on board, trying to advance the technology. May bee it's a healthy attitude to be a skeptic, but considering all the trouble with oil, such an alternative should be attracting more attention.
- kaelyiesta, on 01/01/2009, -0/+6Agreed. I can't wait until profitability and sustainability become one in the same.
- kineticarl, on 01/01/2009, -0/+6And here I was, thinking it was nukyaler.
- getoffmybridge, on 05/05/2009, -0/+5I've noticed a lot of sensible comments get buried here. I usually try to ignore it when it's one of mine, not that many of my comments are necessarily what you would call sensible.
- mrtymcfly, on 01/01/2009, -1/+5well all of that would go into cost, wouldn't it?
- sndream, on 01/01/2009, -0/+4If they need to use the word "May" while making a 20 years prediction, ABC should stop trying to make prediction.
- BradMajors, on 01/01/2009, -0/+4Oil has not been used to generate electricity because it is so expensive for a long time. Oil is used for transportation not because it is the cheapest, but because it is a convenient liquid. It would be difficult to build a car which used coal as a power source.
- BradMajors, on 01/01/2009, -2/+6There is enough oil to last the rest of our lives. The only issue is how much it will cost.
- grumpyrain, on 01/01/2009, -1/+5What people need to remember is that cars require a hell of a lot of energy. Conventional fuels like Petrol and Diesel contain massive amounts of energy per KG (~45 Megajoules/KG) and unlike Hydrogen also contain massive amounts of energy per square metre.
Petrol can store about 9.5 KWhr/L, so a tank will contain 570KW/hr of potential energy. Even though an internal combustion engine efficiency is lucky to hit 20%, you are still requiring batteries capable of storing over 100KW/hr to get a range similar to what people expect from a car.
Simply put, with current production ready technology batteries, such capacity is extremely expensive, heavy, and slow to recharge. Eventually, demand for such batteries will create research into these batteries (or supercapacitors) cheaper and lighter. In the short term, hybrids (in all its variants) will provide a stepping stone off oil dependency. - c3rul3an, on 01/02/2009, -0/+3TickTockTickTockTickTock
- AReallyGoodName, on 01/01/2009, -1/+4Yeah. For 10x the price. The process of which requires oil to transport the plant material and plastics around.
- groo68, on 01/01/2009, -0/+3All in good time.
- inactive, on 01/02/2009, -0/+3I agree. We didn't need government subsidies to convince us to switch from cassettes to CDs. Or videotape to DVDs. Everyone knew they were better.
When there are better forms of energy available we'll switch to them. But since the whole global warming thing is a broken wagon with the wheels falling off, there's no reason NOT to use all the oil we can get our hands on. - TopherT, on 01/02/2009, -0/+3That certainly makes a whole hell of a lot more sense. 2nd law of thermodynamics being what it is, there's no way to generate electricity from the human body without losing energy from your inputs (food, etc.)
- gall0wsp0le, on 01/01/2009, -0/+3You had me until Obama's $4 gas. Good troll attempt, but you had a misstep on the cross-bar.
- papadopus, on 01/01/2009, -1/+4and if you read the cracked article, you'd know that was a last minute plot change
we were originally meant to be used for super fast processing power - stillaq, on 01/02/2009, -0/+3Genetic manipulation = programming. (Already making oil from algae, with just a few tweaks...)
So, not that far off really... - gall0wsp0le, on 01/01/2009, -0/+3Soon we will have a whole world powered by WIND and DREAMS!
I'm only half-joking though. Places like the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, not to mention the Asian Steppes, and the Arabian Peninsula could actually generate a ton of domestic energy using wind and I totally support this.
As for dreams, well, only elections are powered by those. - kelmaster1, on 01/02/2009, -0/+3the news tells people what to believe and expect.
- kelmaster1, on 01/02/2009, -0/+2Cuteness and energy efficiency is a 1:1 ratio.
- inactive, on 01/02/2009, -0/+2Yes. But that is a very big problem. And no one really has any idea how to solve it.
- DarkShroud, on 01/03/2009, -0/+2As long as there are alternatives the price will remain low. Now if only my country (USA) would get a move on with Nuclear power and higher Solar credits.
- kelmaster1, on 01/02/2009, -0/+2alternative energy has somewhat good intentions but really results in energy companies owning large amounts of land.
- DarkShroud, on 01/03/2009, -0/+2Batteries hold well for most of the population. The final model of the EV1 from 1994 could do 100 miles on a singal charge. They don't actually take that long to charge either. You just have to have at least a 20amp outlet in your gargage. These are not expensive at all.
The best part about EVs is they get power from the grid. So as what power the grid changes, hopefully for the better, the cars do not need to be changed. So they're cheaper in the longer run and more environmentally friendly since no additional porduction/waste is needed for them. - kelmaster1, on 01/02/2009, -0/+2coal is cheap, but hydroelectric and nuclear are cheaper.
- DarkShroud, on 01/03/2009, -0/+2@140, That was what GM quoted they could afford without the bailout, it's not final. Meaning they can add bigger/more batteries. That being said 40 miles will get most people to work/school/location and back on one charge before it switches to gas. I'll buy a Volt, we have to remember that its only the beginning with this type of vehicle.
FYI, GM sold their share, 60%, of the EV1 battery patent to Chevron Texco. So I think it's clear why these batteries are not being used in the Volt. - grumpyrain, on 01/01/2009, -1/+3Actually ethanol is reasonably promising once you move beyond the brain-dead vote buying policy of extracting it from food crops. It can be easily produced using various grasses, sugar cane, and waste products from other farming.
As a fuel, it has a significantly lower energy density but on the positive side a very good RON. Remember the Model T Ford was originally designed to run on Ethanol but was modified to run gasoline instead. - getoffmybridge, on 05/05/2009, -0/+2Good work!
- inactive, on 01/03/2009, -0/+2@DarkShroud
A hundred miles on a charge? The Chevy VOLT is supposed to get 40 miles to a charge, and that's how many decades later. And I've read that the 40 mile figure is an extreme exaggeration. That 25 miles per charge is more realistic.
Either way, what the hell good is a car that can only go 25-40 miles before being sidelined for hours to recharge? - abrasion, on 01/01/2009, -0/+2bonds: it worked, I'm like a hero, I've saved the day from the morons, surprisingly I wasn't buried for it.
- inactive, on 01/03/2009, -0/+2Oh puh-lease. The goddamn Volt is already a tiny car said to be priced at $40,000. Even if they double the amount of batteries what happens?
1- there will be no room for passengers.
2- the price will go up a couple more thousand
3- so now it will go 50 miles without a charge? BFD. What the hell good is a car that only goes 50 miles without being sidelined?
Regarding EV1 batteries, if there were patents wouldn't they have expired by now? And if they were so much better, China would be pirating them for their own use. - inactive, on 01/02/2009, -0/+2Research may do it. But it may not. I don't think that right now anyone has any clue how to put 15 gallons worth of energy into batteries that would fit into a car. And be fast enough to recharge and cheap enough to use.
Until then, we need oil. -
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