Should we ban the internal combustion engine?
- Thread starter atlkvb
- Start date
We can go back to sail boats & horse & buggy ....that was green as green can get ...cut & split fire wood & use the old barter system, rap our sandwiches for lunch in a rag ...little house on the prairie type stuff
horses - no good, way too much breathing CO2
firewood - have you lost your mind??!
Newsflash - This New Green Deal will help prevent polar vortexes, so I'm all for it.
We won't be able to stay warm in any method or go anywhere, but at least the weather won't be -50.
We won't be able to stay warm in any method or go anywhere, but at least the weather won't be -50.
Too much smoke generated by the burning of this much wood. Would need to increase number of available horses by a factor of thousands which would lead to their own forms of massive pollution . Just goes to show that many of these 'modern day' liberal Democrats have no concept of what they blabber about. Not practical. Not reasonable. Not workable. AND they KNOW it. Their speech is strictly geared to the far left wing and their idiocy. I hope they continue on this path with no realistic goals to better the American. They will lose by such a margin everywhere but maybe crazy California and Socialist NY.Have at it idiots.
If only someone had invented something we could use, maybe like an electric car?
I'm not saying that I think we are ready to ban the IC engine. I'm just saying that the idea that we are moving toward the horse and buggy model isn't based in fact. The number of hybrids on the road has grown significantly over the last decade. I know those still rely on an IC engine as well, but it reduces the impact. I see more than a few full electric cars on the roads around here as well. That trend isn't going to slow down either.
Need not preach in my direction--I am driving my second Prius, and a hybrid Hylander. Have had the latter 6 years and purchased the first Prius several years before that. One daughter had the first Prius in the area and is on her second. As you point out, these are HYBRID, meaning battery along with IC.Getting +50 mpg for Prius but still requires fossil fuels! Full electric might work as a commuter vehicle over rather short individual trips. but cannot imaging taking one from here to Morgantown.
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That is the problem with the full electrics right now, as is price in my opinion. The price will come around eventually. Rapid charging stations will become more common as the numbers of full electrics increase too. As it stands, I'm willing to let the market drive (no pun intended) this for now.
This is the reason I’d like to see the government more involved though.....tax breaks, seed money, not controlling but encouraging the market forces
Hybrids are very practical and promising. Problem with them is they are extremely difficult to work on. Service Techs need years and years of continuous training to learn how to service them properly. But as a practical alternative to full electric, or gasoline powered...they are the best we have as state-of-the-art right now.
Any discussion of alternatives to either fossil fuels or alternative renewable energy has to center on cost. Electricity still must be generated, and the cheapest most efficient way to do that right now is with oil or coal and in some cases natural gas. Fact is we're not ready to replace fossil fuels or the IC engine. Trucks, heavy equipment, boats, planes, and trains that rely on diesel or jet fuel (kerosene) are the backbone and lifeblood of our economy.
We simply have no cheaper or efficient, or abundant ready made supply of energy to top them, let alone replace them.
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In most things, i am staunchly in favor of less government, but government involvement in the car pollution issue, combined with market forces, has apparently done some good. I saw in an article this weekend that the 2019 Chevrolet Suburban is more fuel efficient than the 1989 Ford Taurus.
Until I can make it to Florida from North Carolina on one stop at the GA/SC border, not interested.
Knee jerk reaction much?
Yes, the combustion engine will be history at some point, but we're decades from that. My truck has 390HP and gets miserable gas mileage, so we're not in much of a hurry yet.
Green energy improvements will come eventually. Decades.
I might add, that's not my tribe.
Why don't you peruse a copy of Scientific American sometime, you would be surprised at what is coming down the pike. The U.S. Navy pretty much leading the way. Or just wait for coal to comeback and call any alternative power initiative a liberal plot, I'm sure the engineers don't care.
Last I checked my friend a decade was only 10 years. You said we are decades (plural) from eliminating the IC engine. Green initiative says we need to dump them in 10 years. My question is what is the replacement?
CAFE standards have certainly improved fuel efficiency...however safety has been compromised as smaller cars are lighter with less materials especially for side or frontal impacts with larger vehicles. Cast iron engine blocks and cyliner heads which hold up better under heat have been replaced with aluminum which is lighter, but much more susceptible to wear and warping or permanent damage in severe collisions.
Electronic emission control equipment has also improved performance but complicated maintenance as repairs are more expensive and problems more difficult to diagnose.
True, but we still have to solve the problem of generating power cheaply. Fossil fuels have no competitors right now on either costs or availability for electrical power generation.
The internal combustion engine is outdated.....wonder why we haven't found a more feasible, and economic, way to generate power in vehicles and make it affordable for all and ease the toxins being release? Perhaps because the oil executives and their lobbyists keep preventing this technology from being release or made affordable, with help from politicians of course (both Democrat and Republican)........[winking]
We sent men to the moon. Can land a space craft on Mars. Can make a giant HD camera, put it in space, and take pictures millions of miles away with clear resolution.........but we are still using engines that burn diesel or gasoline.......[laughing]
We sent men to the moon. Can land a space craft on Mars. Can make a giant HD camera, put it in space, and take pictures millions of miles away with clear resolution.........but we are still using engines that burn diesel or gasoline.......[laughing]
We burn oil that is used to make gasoline in order to generate electricity so we can power all of the other stuff you mentioned. I happen to agree the IC engine is on the way to being outdated, but electricity isn't. My point is until we find a better, cheaper, faster way to generate electrical power for all of our electric vehicles, devices, and homes, we're stuck using fossil fuels for the foreseeable future.
Maybe we'll figure out a way to generate electricity cheaply enough using the almost unlimited power of the sun? Or we may go "Star Trek" and find Di-lithium crystals on the moon, but so far we haven't figured out how to do that (power generation) cheaper than using oil, coal, or natural gas. The good stuff from good 'ol Terra Firma ... the land directly under our feet! [winking]
And my point is that we would have already found or discovered that if not for the oil executives and their lobbyists........
They don't have that much power my friend. If a faster, cheaper, better way to generate electricity is found, they'd simply go out of business, or invest in the new technology if they want to continue making money.
They may control oil reserves and the market supply for that commodity MWV, but they don't control innovation, ingenuity, discovery, or entrepreneurship. As large and dominant as Sears Roebuck and Co was at one time they couldn't innovate or develop their merchandising to fast enough to compete with Wal-Mart and now Amazon as "one stop" shopping super centers.
Wal-Mart and Amazon are now redefining how mass retailing is done and Sears is bankrupt going out-of-business. I believe in technology. It's the promise that will take humans beyond our solar system and out into the deepest corners of our Galaxy to find out what else is out there we have yet to learn? Oil company executives can't stop that inquiry, that discovery. It is from those efforts that we will move beyond the IC engine, and develop the limitless power supplies we will need for interstellar or intergalactic travel.
Oil company executives may end up investing in some of those new technologies, but they can't prevent them from being discovered or developed.
In 10 years electric will partially or wholly replace most IC. Some things are still not practical.
I would say the issue is not the engine or the ability to generate electricity, its being able to store it. Batteries are holding it back more than anything. Until they can store electricity, fossil fuels will dominate the market. Musk was given100's of millions to reinvent the battery and he did make it better, but the technology is the same just 30% better than it was 15 years ago.
I drive a Hybrid. Superior to all electric. Much longer driving range. Recharges while u drive! They're all the rage.
2018 FUSION ENERGI
Starting at $31,120 1
EPA-Est. MPG City/Hwy: 104/91 2
As Shown, 2018 Fusion Energi Titanium $34,200 MSRP; EPA-Est. MPG City/Hwy/Comb 43/41/42 (MPGe 104/91/97) 2.0L I4 engine, CVT. Actual mileage will vary.
The Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid combines a high-voltage battery and electric motor with a gasoline engine. For efficiency, you can operate in all-electric mode up to an EPA-estimated range of 21 miles.*
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Once you go to the shop you will wonder where you can find a good bankruptcy lawyer.
Take it from me folks...the biggest obstacle to electric's widespread use is the fear expressed in post #14, and the technology issue expressed in post #31. Until those two issues are resolved with a faster, better, cheaper option than either hybrids or IC engines, all electric will remain a novelty instead of a replacement for gasoline powered vehicles. As I said, hybrid has become a viable alternative, but obviously still uses fossil fuels.
We get more requests/interests in hybrid technology than electric only or even all gasoline. Prices on hybrids usually drive consumers into gasoline powered vehicles, as it drives this whole issue. Ironically, price doesn't determine the decision of all electric buyers since most of them have already made up their minds or have fallen in love with the idea of an all electric vehicle no matter what it costs or how inconvenient it is operationally.
We get more requests/interests in hybrid technology than electric only or even all gasoline. Prices on hybrids usually drive consumers into gasoline powered vehicles, as it drives this whole issue. Ironically, price doesn't determine the decision of all electric buyers since most of them have already made up their minds or have fallen in love with the idea of an all electric vehicle no matter what it costs or how inconvenient it is operationally.
It will take awhile but EVs are coming IMO. The EV stuff you're seeing now isn't going to go away, rather it's going to keep coming. The only question is at what rate. To quote Henry Rollins, "Everything is coming, all you have to do is wait."
Range anxiety is a thing but good new EVs are now over 300 miles on a charge and even lesser ones are around 150-200 miles. For most people that's good 90% of the time. And it's only going to get better. To quote The Beatles, "It's getting better all the time." I'm quoting people left and right over here.
I read that Tesla is coming out with an electric pick up truck this year or next. It will be interesting to see how that goes over.
Range anxiety is a thing but good new EVs are now over 300 miles on a charge and even lesser ones are around 150-200 miles. For most people that's good 90% of the time. And it's only going to get better. To quote The Beatles, "It's getting better all the time." I'm quoting people left and right over here.
I read that Tesla is coming out with an electric pick up truck this year or next. It will be interesting to see how that goes over.