Originally Posted by
fosters
No kidding, I'm not sure what he's referring to. Of course we have the technology to make cars that do what he (Aerospacepilot) says, but he doesn't ever mention the cost. The Telsa sports car will go what, 200 miles on a charge, but even then it costs over $100k. That's just "slightly" out of the realm of the majority of people buying cars. I can go get a late model 40 mpg Saturn for $3k on craiglist in my area, $97k (difference in cost) buys a LOT of gas, even at $7/gal. Over 550,000 miles worth of gas in fact. No to mention the opportunity cost of financing the $100k. For me and my driving habits that's about 180 years worth of gasoline. No way would I spend even $20k on a hybrid at this point. I'd rather go diesel and burn biodiesel. A small diesel in a small car will get 60-80 mpg highway. Then make synthetic diesel out of algae or coal and presto, problem solved with no major infrastructure changes.
The prices I have read on the VOLT said they were trying hard to get it under 30 grand. And the first generation of Tesla cars were engineered for the rich so they could get enough money to come out with a mass market car. Even with an electric or plug-in hybrid you don't need a major infrastructure change. The proponents of these types of cars are touting the energy independence of these cars - meaning the power can come from a little gas burning generator on the car, a solar panel, a nuclear plant somewhere, a windmill somewhere or a coal burning plant. If you believe the efficiency numbers they publish, it is much more efficient to burn gas in an on-board generator to generate electricity than burning gas in an internal combustion engine. I don't know if the technology is there yet or the price of gas is high enough yet - maybe someday.
Also this was posted earlier on alternate jet-fuel options:
http://www.vnunet.com/business-green...s-launch-algae
Lets hope they figure out a way to mass produce this stuff for cheap in the near future. The sun will burn for a long time.