July 14, 2008
Prius, the Sun God
“Wait… so you’re saying that since my car sits out in the sun all day long, I should be able to do something with that knowledge? Are you high?”
Go, Toyota. I will give my Highlander Hybrid an extra pat on the back tonight.
July 12, 2008
Take the Train
There is a story at the GOOD Magazine site about a cross-country Amtrak ride. The article is part travelogue and part historical yarn. Inside, the author makes the case for a revitalized light and high-speed rail system as part of the attack on the high costs of fuel.
“Per passenger mile, an Amtrak train uses about half the energy of an airplane, and can carry twice the number of people. It’s also the passenger-carrying equivalent of 16 lanes of highway.”
The Japanese Shinkansen trains that The Greatness and I took on our two trips there were incredible - speedy and relaxing. Meanwhile, I live in Atlanta, a major U.S. city that can’t even build a decent subway system, for any number of reasons, many political in nature. Hopefully, the current energy costs will help to bring down some of the barriers to better public transportation.
(via MetaFilter)
Thermal Depolymerization
Buried deep within the comments of an article on Slashdot, there was a link to the wiki article for Thermal Deploymerization. Basically, it’s the process of turning biomass and plastic waste into a light crude oil by simulating the circumstances which caused oil to be created in the real world, using heat and pressure.
There’s an actual plant up and running right now that does this. Other companies are looking into it.
And some people are considering even more radical ways to use waste materials as a source for obtaining energy and fuel.
There’s not going to a magic bullet solution to our energy problems. It’s all the smaller efforts combined that are going to eventually allow us independence from foreign oil.