which is the best...which will be here the soonest...and is anyone then putting money on it?
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Hydrogen versus hybrids...what say you
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Environmentally hydrogen is best, but it will be a while before the technology is is viable and refilling issues are addressed. Hydrogen emmisions are ... water. How much better can it get? I wonder... Will we be getting droplets of water on the windshield from these emissions? Kind of like when someone uses their washers on the highway? Oh yeah, hybrids are already here so I don't know what you mean by which will be here soonest.
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The big issue with hydrogen is similar to that of methanol: it takes a lot of energy to produce. For methanol, the cost of land, fertilizer, harvesting, and processing are pretty big. Hydrogen is usually produced by dissociating water, which requires a lot of electriciry, which has to come from somewhere. Then there's the issue of storage, and getting it into the car, without losing a lot of it. Also, long-term exposure to hydrogen makes some metals (steel?) brittle. On top of that, there is the fear that hydrogen gas may be desrtuctive to the ozone layer, and a lot of hydrogen gas is likely to escape into the atmosphere if it comes into widespread use.Hybrid technology is a nice idea, but since consumers are still not willing to buy lower-performance cars, a lot of the increased efficiency is being applied to increasing performance rather than increasing economy.
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My local news just did an investigation on hybrids...and they really don't seem to save that much more gas than orginally thought.
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Mainly because the increased efficiency is being traded for better performance.
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Then there is the type of energy used to disociate the hydrogen. More funding is being allocated to the big three; coal, Nuclear, and oil, to creat this hydrogen, than to solar and wind technologies. So unless there is a shift, hydrogen will also be ecologically destructive insofar as it is created by polluting industries.Each has issues yet to be resolved, but either is also better than being held slave to OPEC and oil speculators. Or is that a given.Huge tax breaks for those buying the hybrids, to change the habits of Americans...it is a must. Has to start somewhere. Need to rethink the whole automotive/transportation concept...ground up...start all over.
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Huge tax breaks for those buying the hybrids, to change the habits of Americans...it is a must.They ought to give tax breaks based on the fuel savings, rather than singling out hybrid technology. If hybrid technology is used to increase economy (rather than aceleration), then it should get a tax break.
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Perhaps a worhty idea, but I would push for both types. There is the need to change the overall mentality of Americans, but sadly, most change in littles, taking tentative steps towards any goal. Getting more hybrids on the road would aid in that. I view them (hybrids) merely as a stop gap...a transitional vehicle on the way to something else. Just what that something else will be, is anyones guess, although hydrogen seems the winner. I am suprized, although I should not be, that the automibile has changed little since its inception. Oh, it has changed dramaticlaly in body type/style, but hte propulsion system has remained stagnantly almost unchanged save for some ninor modifications over the years. Complacency...
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Americans are very slow to change and adopt new technology. Metric systerm? Dollar coin? Forget about it. If the government had any sense, they would withdraw the paper dollar, and people would start using the coin...but we can't seem to do what Europe and Canada have done.
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[Missing sentence from above due to network problem...]I don't imagine it will be any easier to convince people to drive more fuel-efficient cars...unless gas gets really expensive.
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Unless gas gets really expensive? You mean it isn't now?? Yeah, I know... In Newfoundland, gas is about four dollars a gallon, and in England it is about seven.
Of course paper money has no inherant value, only that it is backed by a government, but coin is also devalued relative to its face value, to cut costs. What then, to hijack my OWN THREAD!!!AGHHHH!...is the reason to eliminate paper money? I get to learn something new
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Whatever you may think of the monetary system, paper mpney is a waste of resources. It's not rugged, so it need to be replaced often, and the paper and inks require a lot of processing. Paper money also carries a lot of bacteria.Standard gasoline automobiles are also a waste of resources.
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1 & 2 dollar coins are a direct result of the textile industry's lobby. They are a killer of pants pockets.I think we could put some more research into battery technologies to increase efficiency, size and weight. After all, the potential acceleration of electric motors will smoke a piston engine (except without the smoke)so performance isn't the issue. You can also play the sound of a real engine over your stereo if you really miss it.Of course, green ways to charge the batteries (or produce hydrogen for that matter) are also prioreties.Either way, we despritely need to be weened from the oil-tit.
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btw, it seems we can't put this question to googlefight, it broke!
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"Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani, the larger-than-life Saudi oil minister during the 1970's: 'The Stone Age didn't end for lack of stone, and the oil age will end long before the world runs out of oil.'"
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Petrol all the way!
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Even at $20 a gallon? Your car will become a museum relic, if it's not just scrapped.
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Enjoy your lust for petrol to your hearts content, Average Joe. I know the direction from which you speak. Times will change, and so will you. You will have little choice. So embrace petrol to the utmost while you still can. If you go so fast that you run into your future self, you might think of slowing down.
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I can relate to the love of the gas engine and I might even be concidered a member of the Scorched Earth Society but I can see the writing on the wall.