Alternative fuel open-wheel race car
Posted: 06 May 2009, 05:20
A cocoa powered open wheel race car. Interesting article.
http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-ge ... ate.Racer/
http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-ge ... ate.Racer/
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Re: Alternative fuel open-wheel race car
Posted: 18 May 2009, 13:07
ehh... looks a bit too much like greenwash
Re: Alternative fuel open-wheel race car
Posted: 18 May 2009, 13:40
Here's a little footage of the car in motion :
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xua9RAjjWO4&feature[/youtube]
Unfortunately, this footage only shows the car driving around a carpark, so it's only at low speed & it doesn't seem to sound too healthy!
Still, I'd like to see how it performs when opened up on a track.
I first heard about this project around a month ago, as there was a piece on BBC News 24 about it. Unfortunately, the news report was so dumbed down as to be useless for the technically minded (a classic example of greenwashing) and it was impossible to get a decent idea of the projected performance.
Unfortunately, holding out biofuel (in it's current incarnation) as a quick environmental fix actually raises more issues than it solves : we simply don't have enough viable land to transfer enough of it over to fuel crops without drastically increasing the price of food. Expansion of the fuel crop industry into undeveloped land in the third world has also raised additional environmental issues, such as the destruction of certain habitats causing alarm about the reduction in regional biodiversity.
The next generation of biofuels could prove to be more feasible : biodiesil derived from Algae can be produced at a much higher energy density per hectare than traditional fuel crops & can be produced using facilities built on old "brownfield" industrial sites. Not only would this help the development of green motoring, but it allow us to move towards fuel independence, regenerate derelict industrial sites and stimulate the economy through infrastructure development all in one fell swoop.
Algae is the future & I look forwards to seeing the first race car built to run on the green goo
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xua9RAjjWO4&feature[/youtube]
Unfortunately, this footage only shows the car driving around a carpark, so it's only at low speed & it doesn't seem to sound too healthy!
Still, I'd like to see how it performs when opened up on a track.
I first heard about this project around a month ago, as there was a piece on BBC News 24 about it. Unfortunately, the news report was so dumbed down as to be useless for the technically minded (a classic example of greenwashing) and it was impossible to get a decent idea of the projected performance.
Unfortunately, holding out biofuel (in it's current incarnation) as a quick environmental fix actually raises more issues than it solves : we simply don't have enough viable land to transfer enough of it over to fuel crops without drastically increasing the price of food. Expansion of the fuel crop industry into undeveloped land in the third world has also raised additional environmental issues, such as the destruction of certain habitats causing alarm about the reduction in regional biodiversity.
The next generation of biofuels could prove to be more feasible : biodiesil derived from Algae can be produced at a much higher energy density per hectare than traditional fuel crops & can be produced using facilities built on old "brownfield" industrial sites. Not only would this help the development of green motoring, but it allow us to move towards fuel independence, regenerate derelict industrial sites and stimulate the economy through infrastructure development all in one fell swoop.
Algae is the future & I look forwards to seeing the first race car built to run on the green goo
Re: Alternative fuel open-wheel race car
Posted: 18 May 2009, 14:01
God I hate terms like this, so people can instantly disregard something that is not propaganda like you insist.woohoo wrote:ehh... looks a bit too much like greenwash
Could this not be as simple as someone experimenting with alternate fuels?
Maybe this is more simple, someone trying something new and pushing boundaries that you simply fluff off as 'greenwash'?
It's terms like greenwash, cut and run, stay the course, that make people sheep.