Comments on: The Future Fuel For The Automobile Is The Sun. http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2007/11/12/the-future-fuel-for-the-automobile-is-the-sun/ Sustainability, Environment, Progressive Politics, Peak Oil, Being Green. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:55:55 -0500 hourly 1 By: Biofuels Could Do More Harm Than Good, Says Nature Conservancy. | The Good Human http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2007/11/12/the-future-fuel-for-the-automobile-is-the-sun/comment-page-1/#comment-14308 Biofuels Could Do More Harm Than Good, Says Nature Conservancy. | The Good Human Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:32:07 +0000 http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2007/11/12/the-future-fuel-for-the-automobile-is-the-sun/#comment-14308 [...] have written before that I don’t think that biofuels are the way of the future, and it seems that the Nature [...] [...] have written before that I don’t think that biofuels are the way of the future, and it seems that the Nature [...]

]]> By: Luke Tipping http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2007/11/12/the-future-fuel-for-the-automobile-is-the-sun/comment-page-1/#comment-7039 Luke Tipping Wed, 14 Nov 2007 16:23:40 +0000 http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2007/11/12/the-future-fuel-for-the-automobile-is-the-sun/#comment-7039 Great stuff. In the UK, Act On CO2, the government's Climate Change brand that I work on, we have developed a best on co2 car rankings, which educates consumers on fuel efficient cars close to point of purchase. Check it out here: http://www.dft.gov.uk/ActOnCO2/index.php?q=best_on_co2_rankings Great stuff.

In the UK, Act On CO2, the government’s Climate Change brand that I work on, we have developed a best on co2 car rankings, which educates consumers on fuel efficient cars close to point of purchase.

Check it out here:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/ActOnCO2.....2_rankings

]]> By: Paul Scott http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2007/11/12/the-future-fuel-for-the-automobile-is-the-sun/comment-page-1/#comment-7021 Paul Scott Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:58:29 +0000 http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2007/11/12/the-future-fuel-for-the-automobile-is-the-sun/#comment-7021 I take issue with the comments of Kent Beuchert regarding solar and wind. They are neither too expensive nor obnoxious. I've been driving a fully electric Toyota RAV4 EV for five years now. All of the power for my car and my house comes from 3 kW PV system on my house here in Santa Monica. I've driven over 52,000 miles in those five years and have ranged from Santa Barbara to San Diego and all over LA, Ventura and Orange counties. For the few times I needed to go farther than my EV would travel, I flew or switched cars with a friend who has a Prius. My solar system cost, out of pocket, about $15K. Because I'm offsetting gas at over $3.00 gallon, I calculated the payoff for my system at about 8 years. I'm 3 years away from this now. The solar PV systems of today are expected to last 40-50 years. I don't understand why someone would say that is too expensive. I consider it a terrific investment paying well over 15% return. As for the future of cars, it's clearly going to be battery electric vehicles with ranges from 75 miles for low cost "city cars" to 300 miles for those who feel the need for long distance driving. Phoenix Motorcars recently demonstrated fast charging of their battery packs in under ten minutes. Aerovironment of Monrovia, CA has been selling fast chargers for forklifts and other heavy duty EVs since 1998. This is not rocket science. Plug-in hybrids will serve the purpose of long distance driving for many. Like the proposed Chevy Volt, these cars will have an all EV range of about 30-40 miles with a range extender that will charge the battery and power the motor once the grid charged pack is exhausted. Since most Americans drive less than 40 miles per day, they would not use any liquid fuel unless they took a long drive. I haven't been to a gas station for five years now. It feels very good to not give the oil companies, and by extention, the Saudis, any of my money. Demand EVs from your local car dealer and you can do this, too. I take issue with the comments of Kent Beuchert regarding solar and wind. They are neither too expensive nor obnoxious. I’ve been driving a fully electric Toyota RAV4 EV for five years now. All of the power for my car and my house comes from 3 kW PV system on my house here in Santa Monica. I’ve driven over 52,000 miles in those five years and have ranged from Santa Barbara to San Diego and all over LA, Ventura and Orange counties. For the few times I needed to go farther than my EV would travel, I flew or switched cars with a friend who has a Prius.

My solar system cost, out of pocket, about $15K. Because I’m offsetting gas at over $3.00 gallon, I calculated the payoff for my system at about 8 years. I’m 3 years away from this now. The solar PV systems of today are expected to last 40-50 years. I don’t understand why someone would say that is too expensive. I consider it a terrific investment paying well over 15% return.

As for the future of cars, it’s clearly going to be battery electric vehicles with ranges from 75 miles for low cost “city cars” to 300 miles for those who feel the need for long distance driving. Phoenix Motorcars recently demonstrated fast charging of their battery packs in under ten minutes. Aerovironment of Monrovia, CA has been selling fast chargers for forklifts and other heavy duty EVs since 1998. This is not rocket science.

Plug-in hybrids will serve the purpose of long distance driving for many. Like the proposed Chevy Volt, these cars will have an all EV range of about 30-40 miles with a range extender that will charge the battery and power the motor once the grid charged pack is exhausted. Since most Americans drive less than 40 miles per day, they would not use any liquid fuel unless they took a long drive.

I haven’t been to a gas station for five years now. It feels very good to not give the oil companies, and by extention, the Saudis, any of my money. Demand EVs from your local car dealer and you can do this, too.

]]> By: David http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2007/11/12/the-future-fuel-for-the-automobile-is-the-sun/comment-page-1/#comment-7005 David Mon, 12 Nov 2007 21:13:34 +0000 http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2007/11/12/the-future-fuel-for-the-automobile-is-the-sun/#comment-7005 Kent - I didn't know solar and wind power were obnoxious, that's a strange thought. Nuclear is dangerous and anything we burn still emits pollution, so I do not see how switching to ethanol will really make a difference - it's exchanging one fuel for another instead of working on real solutions. And guinness, that is pretty cool! Wish we had them here... Kent – I didn’t know solar and wind power were obnoxious, that’s a strange thought. Nuclear is dangerous and anything we burn still emits pollution, so I do not see how switching to ethanol will really make a difference – it’s exchanging one fuel for another instead of working on real solutions.

And guinness, that is pretty cool! Wish we had them here…

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