Comments on: The Many Forms Of A Hybrid http://www.sciscoop.com/2005-4-22-112830-366.html Scooping up science news and dropping it on your desk Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:03:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: apsmith http://www.sciscoop.com/2005-4-22-112830-366.html/comment-page-1#comment-3732 apsmith Tue, 26 Apr 2005 13:14:41 +0000 http://localhost/~arielschwartz/wordpress/sciscoop/?p=956#comment-3732 Coal is pretty much by all measures the worst of our current major energy sources, so increasing it's use isn't good. Plug-in hybrids do provide a proof in principle that replacing oil itself isn't the issue; anything that makes electricity can in principle substitute for oil. It's an argument against those who strongly advocate for hydrogen or bio-fuels (or the "we're all doomed" crowd) because we're running out of oil; electricity itself can probably work as a transportation fuel just fine. Coal is pretty much by all measures the worst of our current major energy sources, so increasing it’s use isn’t good. Plug-in hybrids do provide a proof in principle that replacing oil itself isn’t the issue; anything that makes electricity can in principle substitute for oil. It’s an argument against those who strongly advocate for hydrogen or bio-fuels (or the “we’re all doomed” crowd) because we’re running out of oil; electricity itself can probably work as a transportation fuel just fine.

]]> By: grqb http://www.sciscoop.com/2005-4-22-112830-366.html/comment-page-1#comment-3214 grqb Mon, 25 Apr 2005 06:34:46 +0000 http://localhost/~arielschwartz/wordpress/sciscoop/?p=956#comment-3214 The NY Times article was saying that those who modified their Prius cars into plug-in cars got between 60-100 mpg fuel efficiency. The Prius now gets I think about 60 mpg max, so plug-ins obviously have potential. One thing the article was also saying though is that over 60% of the electricity generated is from coal power, and coal power pollutes more (for the same amount of energy output) than combusting gasoline does, so, plug-ins may actually increase emissions. The NY Times article was saying that those who modified their Prius cars into plug-in cars got between 60-100 mpg fuel efficiency. The Prius now gets I think about 60 mpg max, so plug-ins obviously have potential. One thing the article was also saying though is that over 60% of the electricity generated is from coal power, and coal power pollutes more (for the same amount of energy output) than combusting gasoline does, so, plug-ins may actually increase emissions.

]]> By: apsmith http://www.sciscoop.com/2005-4-22-112830-366.html/comment-page-1#comment-2512 apsmith Sat, 23 Apr 2005 08:19:46 +0000 http://localhost/~arielschwartz/wordpress/sciscoop/?p=956#comment-2512 (Note, having recently purchased a Prius, which I'm very happy with, I may be a little biased :)) <p> One thing that's intrigued me is that back when steam ships were first being developed, the steam wasn't terribly reliable - I guess boilers often had problems, wouldn't last an entire journey, etc. Or wind was free, diesel fuel expensive, so why not save money by using sails too? So many early steamships were actually "hybrids" - they had sails too! See for example <a href="http://www.pbs.org/lostliners/ocean.html">this history</a>. <p> This history suggests that the complication of current hybrids will soon be replaced by the simplicity of the battery/electric system; the only thing holding that back is perhaps a factor of 3 or so in battery mass/energy storage performance; a bit of R&D may be all we need. (Note, having recently purchased a Prius, which I’m very happy with, I may be a little biased :))

One thing that’s intrigued me is that back when steam ships were first being developed, the steam wasn’t terribly reliable – I guess boilers often had problems, wouldn’t last an entire journey, etc. Or wind was free, diesel fuel expensive, so why not save money by using sails too? So many early steamships were actually “hybrids” – they had sails too! See for example this history.

This history suggests that the complication of current hybrids will soon be replaced by the simplicity of the battery/electric system; the only thing holding that back is perhaps a factor of 3 or so in battery mass/energy storage performance; a bit of R&D may be all we need.

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