Results from this week’s J.D. Power and Associates’ second annual Alternative Powertrain Study show that the number of customers considering buying a hybrid has declined over the past year, partly due to a realization of the actual mileage that hybrid cars are likely to achieve. Of the 4,000 participants surveyed, 50 percent said they were considering a hybrid compared with 57 percent in 2006. J.D. Power also attributes the drop in hybrid interest to an increase in the number of clean diesel vehicles; the study found that the number of new car buyers considering a diesel had nearly doubled over the past year.
| Why don’t they start manufacturing diesel hybrids? Duh! |
| From Crave. |
#29 – iGW,
That’s not they. That’s me. The ICTA report does not mention Iraq and is from 1998.
I believe the war to be about nothing but oil. In 1973, Heny Kissinger recommended that the U.S. acquire an interest in the middle east. The purpose was not only to assure our supply, but as a tool for world domination. It would give us a way to pressure other countries into our way of thinking by tightening the spigot.
This is a position that has been supported by every single presidential administration since then. W just managed to do something about it. Here’s one article on the subject, though it doesn’t look like the one I had been thinking about.
http://tinyurl.com/6e5kt
#31 – Actually a while back I did find some debunking material on that report, but my poor record keeping prevents me from finding it again. Even simple arithmetic can prove the supplements are not 12.00 a barrel. That whole debate is moot anyway. We can’t get off oil until AFTER a new power source is found. If we try to do it before, the sacrifices are unnacceptable to the civilized.
The hydrogen boost idea is a great idea. Anything that helps us toward the goal of at least one privately owned vehicle per adult American is a good thing. The privately owned vehicle that can be driven anywhere at any time is the core of what makes America the greatest nation that has ever existed.
#33 – iGW,
Eureka, I have found it. Wind, Solar, Tidal, etc. They all work. Electricity can and has powered commercially viable vehicles. Done.
#16, Bubba
Very good link. I was pretty skeptical before I followed up on your idea. Mostly because of energy loss. This does look very doable though.
One thing not covered, other then a mention, was the heat from the reactor. My High School chemistry reminds me that there would be considerable heat released from the initial reaction.
#34, Mr. Fusion, in the winter in colder states (it even gets cold in TX), maybe that heat could be a good thing — I want a heater in my vehicle. Since it’s water powered, at least one could circulate the fuel (and some recovered exhaust?) through a conventional radiator to get rid of excess heat. Can you imagine the entire trucking industry in N. America running on water and recycled aluminum? How slick would that be? Fill ‘er up, it rained today!
If the tech is already sufficient for chain saws and lawnmowers, how about a portable generator — there are many times in the field when battery power for transportable telescopes just won’t cut it. “Hey, Bubba, go recycle your kidneys in the generator, we’re running low on fuel!” 🙂
#33 – Yeah, but I seem to recall you being a proponent of public transit. Get rid of that and we’re getting somewhere. More roads and houses with 5-6 car garages, Ahh now we’re making progress. 😉
#36 – W – I mean iGW,
What joy do you get from making such obviously ridiculous comments? They certainly do nothing to increase the credibility of other statements you make.
#35 – BubbaRay,
Fill ‘er up, it rained today!
One point made in the scientific presentation … it works even with salt water!! So, no need to waste fresh water. You can take a shower with water heated by the chemical reaction and then not waste more fresh water by filling your tank with sea water. Freakin’ cool if you ask me.
#37 – What’s ridiculous? I’m totally serious. What’s wrong with a husband and wife, no kids, who each have a commuter car and also have a truck for when they need to be useful. Maybe also a motocycle or two and a boat. They live 40 miles from where they work , etc. etc,
I seriously believe that mindset that goes with city living is one of the things that is destroying this country. You have to have cities, but no one should live there and no one should ever have to schedule or coordinate with someone else when they want to drive somewhere. At least one privately owned vehicle per adult and everyone spread out. The only hinderance is power.
#38 – iGW,
You have to have cities, but no one should live there
Do you even read what you write? You need me to tell you what’s silly about this?
Do you also need me to tell you that the planet has limited resources? Perhaps your ideas, other than self-contradictory crap like the quote above, would be OK if there were 6,000 or even 6,000,000 people on the planet. But, we’ve got 6,600,000,000 at last count I heard. At this level your ideas are indeed silly. We have neither unlimited power nor unlimited resources.
We are past peak oil; we are past peak grain; we are past peak fisheries output. We are not yet at peak human population. Wake up!
If the only way to survive is to huddle together, then better to go extinct. Your VHEMT group better get busy.
#40 – iGW,
We are. I’ve done my part. Want to borrow the scissors? Snip Snip.
Sorry, I’m anxiously waiting for us to all fry from Global Warming (TM) . I think it’ll be great entertainment.