I was Right! ( Archived) (25)

Ship, you're thinking too regeonally. The demand from China and India has a way bigger impact on the price of a barrel of crude than our election. Bush met with king Fiesel in Saudi Arabia trying to get them to increase production or drop the price and it had no effect. The price of crude oil can't be controlled by any one man, company, country or government because it's a global market. Why should any oil producing country lower their prices or increase production to please one country when there are other countries who will buy their oil at the prevailing price. The days of our political meanderings having a dramatic effect around the world are probably over.

The internal conbustion engine (gas, diesel propane etc) are truly wonderful things for being able to transport people and cargo over long distances fast, safe and comfortably. They owe their success to being able to carry on board a fuel source which is comparatively small and light and contains a tremendous amount of energy. The electric car on the other hand suffers from having to use a fuel source which is heavy, bulky, and very expensive to make and replace. Namely batteries. Advances in battery technology has made them lighter by using lighter materials other than lead, safer by eliminating sulfuric acid, and more efficient by having them transfer power at higher amperage levels. The problem with batteries though is that they don't last more than a few years and are very expensive to replace.

There is another technology that has been very well sorted out since the 70's based on a concept which goes back 100's of years. Namely the Flywheel. Very few people outside of the technical world are familiar with flywheel power as a viable electrical storage system. I'm not talking about those little toy cars that you push and they seem to have a mind of their own or huge 1000 lb cast iron wheels you see on old farm tractors. The modern flywheel storage unit uses lightweight composite materials like carbon fiber and kevlar and spins at up to 80,000 rpm, is housed in a near perfect vacuum and uses magnetic bearings. Nothing touches anything else so nothing can wear out.

Flywheel electric storage can make the battery powered car obsolete even before it's widely accepted.
Do a google search using the terms "flywheel storage" and read til your eyeballs fall out. Here is just one article.



BTW, the New York City Transit Authority tested 2 flywheel equiped subway cars back in the early 70's with great success. They were used for months just like any other subway car and the passengers had no clue they were riding in a car which was being accelerated and braked by a flywheel instead of taking power from the 3rd rail and using brake shoes pushed against the wheels to stop.