So, biodiesel, it’s awesome, it sequesters CO2, it’s only triflingly less energy dense than petro diesel, it’s renewable, it’ll employ farmers and revitalize rural economies, it’ll even do the laundry.
PEM Fuel cells, they use hydro-carbon energy sources far more efficiently to produce electrical energy, and produce far less nastiness along the way than traditional internal combustion engines.
Is there some reason that these two great tastes can’t taste great together? I realize that both of these are far from polished technologies at present, but is this a tree worth barking up? I have seen/heard nothing thus far about this particular possibility.
Particularly targeted at chemists, like
From a car loving and marketing point of view, I think it’s the way to go. The question I have is wether the technology is hinged on bio-consumables like ethanol fuel is. If that is the case then there may be larger ecological problems if it’s brought into the mass production phase.
The trick to making these technologies work in the open market is the advent of a bridging technology that can retro-fit current vehicles at a price ECONOMICAL to the private owner. As well what of the issues involving the distribution network.
Kinda like the old VHS vs Beta flap.
-DS
I’m not sure what you mean by “is hinged on bio-consumables” in this case, could you explain? Do you mean that it requires the consumption of non-renewable bio-resources, or that it requires the increased consumption of costly/dangerous bio-resources, or something else entirely?
As for the bridging technology factor, that’s one of the beauties of diesel/bio-diesel. The diesel distribution resources and engines are perfectly capable of distributing/running on bio-diesel (or so the bio-deiselists claim). Hydrogen cars (combustion or fuel cell) have a much larger hurdle to cross in that regard.
As the price of oil continues to rise, it becomes an issue of hunting & gathering (current petro strategy) v deliberate cultivation (bio-diesel/bio-mass strategies). In the long run, hunting and gathering simply cannot compete with deliberate cultivation.
I was under the impression that diesel engines were cheaper and/or more reliable, but that was only the vaguest of impressions. Still, if it’s a correct impression, it would make for an obvious first step in the transition.
If I remember correctly, your basic diesel is cheaper, more reliable, etc. It also produces different — not less, but different — pollutants than gasoline engines. Recent advances in turbochargers (required for rapid pickup), possible compression ratios for the pre-burned air/fuel mix, and other technologies that were easier to implement for diesel engines than for gasoline engines gave diesel a leg up in the mpg area.
That is changing, though, as development on gasoline engines continues. Some are improving the compression ratio of the air, though I think more are focusing on optimizing the air flow through the engine — for example, a V-6 or V-8 where, instead of running on all cylinders with very low (and inefficient) air flow when cruising at, say, 50 mph, half the cylinders shut down so that the other half run at improved efficiency. (Which has the atypical effect of *increasing* fuel efficiency when you go faster — at the switch-over point, anyway.)
Hybrid systems are, of course, another alternative, one that I like very much (I have a Prius).
I can’t comment at all on the bio-whatever possibilities, though; I haven’t looked at that, most of what I know about this stuff has just accumulated over time, and from wondering about why, if diesels are more fuel-efficient than gasoline engines, someone hasn’t made a hybrid diesel car. Still don’t know on that one.
I do have to agree with you that hydrogen-powered cars will have a big infrastructure problem in terms of fuel distribution. Probably the best bet there is distribution centered around the truck fleets of companies like FedEx and UPS (who could buy new fuel technologies in enough numbers to bring the price down — and are actively researching the possibilities in different areas), as well as cities, and trying to hit some kind of critical mass… it could take a long time, though.
bio-diesel is basically some modified cooking oil*. My understanding is that the process requires alot of cooking oil, some methanol, and some lye, and that some people make it at home or on the farm, with high quality results. Note that methanol and lye can both be pretty scary substances to handle.
bio-mass, I believe, means “I dunno what this shit is, but I bet it burns, and if it burns, we can use that energy”. Obviously, that would have problems, but I know alot less about biomass, so take that with a rather large grain of salt.
Now, as for hydrogen, I think the biggest problem for that is carrying around enough of it to be useful. Storing enough hydrogen gas to go a reasonable distance without risk of deadly explosion requires a heavy containment tank. There are a large number of ideas for handling that, but I think that makes for a nearly insurmountable barrier.
Hybrids have the battery construction and disposal factor. I don’t know much about it, but I know batteries are not environmentally friendly, and that they do have limited lifespans even with recharging. Of course, if we use carbon-fiber, magnetic bearing, flywheel batteries, that problem is solved…. =)
*=(could be of just about any variety, vegetable or animal, fresh, or used, though used requires a little more purification)
Thanks for the bio-X descriptions… does the grain of salt burn, too? ^_^ (Not usually, I know.)
Carbon nanotube hydrogen storage is one of the better possibilities for getting away from the massive pressure vessel problems… or at least, that’s what is funding a large part of the nanotube research going on that I know of. ~shrug~ Materials advances will rule the day… we’re to the point where mechanical design can proceed a heck of a lot faster than the materials developments do!
Hybrid batteries, yes, good point, though recycling efforts — particularly on the rare earths batteries — are picking up as virgin raw materials prices climb (still probably not environmentally friendly, though). Toyota is guaranteeing the batteries for 8 years on the Prius, which seems like a decent life… of course, people semi-regularly drive their cars for a lot longer than that. So I suppose this could even be a form of planned obsolescence… wouldn’t that be nasty….
The cynical side of me says:
It doesn’t matter how virtuous these alternative fuels are, the important fact is that they AREN’T what the current established interests are equipped to produce and distribute, so it’s easier for them to shoot them down using their varied and considerable resources than to prepare for a future that their leaders probably won’t live to see anyway.
Hoozah!
I don’t think we live in a society with a remotely ideal market. But, I do think that if a more economical alternative, with relatively few barriers to entry, comes along, that the market giants can only swat so long. They’re more likely to incorporate it into themselves.
Titans do fall, it just takes longer. =)
I remain kind of skeptical about the bio deisel thing, simply because our current fuel consumption methods are so polluting, with half-burned spew being lofted into the air. Yes, bio-deisel would come from plant or maybe animal matter which was fixed out of the air, but that’s also true for the oil. The difference is that the plant turnover should be on the order of years to decades, while the oil turnover is cached for millions of years.
Still, the problem with hydrocarbon-based pollution is not solely in the oxidization and atomization, but in the amount, incompleteness, byproducts, and other elements of the process as well. I see bio-diesel as a placebo, encouraging us to continue in these bad habits, suggesting that it will all be okay.
Granted, your fuel cell questions are right along these lines. Can you point me to more information on a PEM fuel cell? All I had heard about were the hydrogen variety.
A brief traipsing through google reminded me of just how little I know on the topic. Here’s some very interesting info on multiple types of fuel cell, and their pros and cons: http://www.benwiens.com/energy4.html
As for biodiesel emissions, it seems to be a big step to the better in a number of categories, and a small step to the worse in the NOx categories. Source: http://www.michigansoybean.org/new_page_18.htm