[edshuck]

There was a thing on pbs the other evening. Made me think of Penny and the power company.

Alternative fuel is the buzz word. So, there is Alan Alda, TV and Movie personality in the US, riding round in all manner of vehicle. But at one point he is in Iceland.

They have a hydrogen fuel station sitting next to a gas station. The hydrogen station gets its power from thermal sources and provides hydrogen to the autos.

Experimental but it must drive Cheney and Shrub nuts (short trip).

[trogg]

Wasn't there a battery powered car introduced in California by GM a couple of years ago?
From memory it was leased from GM and you used their recharging stations etc but now they cant be bothered extending the network and are not renewing the leases when they expire (so the cars get returned to GM).

[Penny]

Originally Posted by edshuck

There was a thing on pbs the other evening. Made me think of Penny and the power company.

Awww you been thinking bout me!

Its all an interesting idea. I remember when we were hiring a DJ for some event this guy was right into developing hydrogen engines, he believed that if enough people did it in their backyards etc there will one day be an alternative to petrol etc engines.

However there have been a few developments in the past, but they never get anywhere, 1 of two things seem to happen, the design etc gets brought by a large petrol company, and we never hear about it again. OR the inventor seems to die in a strange accident!

[trogg]

Originally Posted by penny

there have been a few developments in the past, but they never get anywhere, 1 of two things seem to happen, the design etc gets brought by a large petrol company, and we never hear about it again. OR the inventor seems to die in a strange accident!

You mean people like Archie Blue and the kid from a Wanganui High School.

Archie Blue was living in Christchurch NZ when he developed his method of electrolysing water into hydrogen and oxygen which he recieved a US patent for (#4,124,463 issued Nov 7, 1978) before moving to the tax haven of one of the Channel Islands. Rumor has it he retired a very rich man and he made no developments on his invention. Some more info with a simple diagram is available here.

More disturbuing is the assult on the kid from a Wanganui High School about a dozen years ago. I can't find anything on the net to confirm my memory but as I recall he had made a science project that showed a simple way to convert water to a usable fuel and while walking home one afternoon/evening he received a beating. After the beating he did not continue developing the project. Maybe it was a "warning" ?

With the current escalation of petrol prices (and rumours of a bad batch of fuel in NZ causing engine 'pinking' etc) I have to wonder if it is time to start looking at having a play in the garage.

After all, why not just cut out the 'middle man' and refuel your car from the garden hose (or even better a rain water tank) and save money and the environment?

[Penny]

Yes Trogg similar stories to those! I have read some stories in a book called supressed inventions and other theories, its quite an interesting book. I am not saying I nessecarily believe them all, but I had read a couple of other stories in other things that were similar about inventions that then go no further or someone dying etc.

I am not sure how much to believe in this book as they also have a fairly large story on how NASA never made it to the moon and it was all staged, which is another discussion all in itself!

but it does seem there has been some work done of other more environmentally friendly ways of powering cars etc however for whatever reason the inventions are never developed as other inventions are.

[edshuck]

The Telly thing was a full hour and they had battery powered and fuel cell cars. The one in Iceland was fuel cell.

About the patent. There are several that have been bought by the car companies and placed on the shelf. Prevention.

This thing in Iceland though was absolutely ? clean. Well, maybe. When cars came along, there were no more horse turds. But can you imagine all the animal waste.

Labor would have a blast. Just a threat of a work stopage.

[edshuck]

Battery powered cars

Yes there is an introduction. Not enough to make a difference but I keep hoping.

Fuel Cell Cars are another thing. The city of San Francisco took posession of two for trials. I do not see a URL link just now.

Public Busses are being upgraded to be more efficient. What this means is open to interpretation. Usually in this town it is an indication that they want to make fewer trips to dump money in their friends bank accounts.

But we have a guy running the transit system that seems honest. I think he may be.