to the engineers/inventors an idea

[seasalt101]

i' was thinkin yestrday about the so-calld oil crisis and our dependence on foreign oil, well i thought to my self about alternative fuels and then thought why do we need fuel to power our vehicles at all why can't someone come up with magnetic propulsion what i came up with magnets have a positive side and a negative side if you were to put smaller magnets in the asphalt say at stoplights and stop signs using the negative magnets to slow you and the positive side to pull you along with varying sizes of magnets and a brake in the vehicle for emergency and pulling into your own driveway (cars equipped with an electro magnet and a small electric motor) i'm figurin with the interstate back to back magnets one positive to pull you backed by a negative to push you along i realize this would take years to accomplish if it worked at all i hope i laid out enough for the jist of what i was thinkin any thoughts...tobin

 

[trippkid]

I saw a show on discovery or something like it, they have a transportation system like that, I think they are using it in England or Europe somewhere. It is a little car like thing, kind of looked like a little train car for 1 to maybe 4 people. It follows a magnetic rail type system. Good idea, I don't know how those with the power feel about things like this. All of this really should have been taken care of the first time we had an oil crisis, 70's. All of the "flexfuel" commercials make me sick. We could have been using alcohol way back when, and why couldn't you formulate high temp veg oil, or better yet virtually friction less(oil less) ceramics. It is all possible, but just not going to happen, they lose some of the power over us.

 

[seasalt101]

all you would need is some real steel in the front and back of the vehicle and you could drive whatever size vehicle your family needed...tobin

 

[f14peter]

Originally Posted by trippkid
All of this really should have been taken care of the first time we had an oil crisis, 70's. .
What surprises me is the astonishingly low improvement in fuel economies since that era.
Think about it, in the mid-1970s, one had a choice of dozens and dozens of cars that got 35mpg ... even now, a car that gets 35mpg is something to crow about.
True, more and more cars get good mileage, but with today's technology I'm really stunned there's hasn't been a quantam leap in mileage over 30 years and you would think that the average car should be getting 50mpg now without resorting to exotic technology.
Seems like most of the technology has been devoted to decreasing emissions (Not a bad thing of course) and increasing horsepower/torque. The average grocery-getter today can outrun a suppossed "sports-car" from 20-30 years ago. I have a 1984 Mustang SVO, which was considered one of the top performers of its day (Granted, not a stellar era for performance), but I bet a 2007 Toyota Camry would blow its doors off.
If Detroit and the rest of the automotive industry had devoted as much time, effort, and money into increasing economy instead of performance, the average car would be getting substantially better mileage.

 

[clown boy]

Let's face it... there are a TON more options than fossil fuels... now if only the government would figure that out...

 

[rbaldino]

Originally Posted by f14peter
I'm really stunned there's hasn't been a quantam leap in mileage over 30 years and you would think that the average car should be getting 50mpg now without resorting to exotic technology.
Because most cars these days weigh well in excess of two tons, and never mind the SUVs, because everyone wants a dozen airbags, power everything, DVD players and screens all over the vehicle and countless other things that have increased the weight of cars dramatically. Advances in fuel efficiency have really only been able to keep pace with the dramatic size and weight increase of modern cars.
As for a magnetic transportation system: sounds great; who's going to pay for it?
As for flexfuels and whatnot: there isn't enough farmland in the world to grow all the corn it would take to power all the cars and trucks in use today, in addition to all the other stuff we eat.

 

[trippkid]

All of that may be right, but the fact is we don't even need the gasoline or the oil. We have enough farmland and it sure would help out the farmers too. But like I said, when that happens, power is lost. We could make our own fuels out of renewable resources. Straight alcohol can be used, doesn't need to be formulated(mixed) into gasoline. Again, another ploy to fool the people and take your hard earned money. Burns cooler, no emissions, just not as efficient(have to use more for the same result). Too much greed will never allow any real advancement in this area,IMO. Like I said, it shouldn't even be an issue these days.
Seasalt, how much money do you think it would cost to convert the country to some type of magnetic system? Maybe if we did things to better humanity, rather than helping ourselves($), it would be more doable here. That is just my opinion on this, and I'm sure not many follow my beliefs on this, or much else for that matter.

 

[trippkid]

As for flexfuels and whatnot: there isn't enough farmland in the world to grow all the corn it would take to power all the cars and trucks in use today, in addition to all the other stuff we eat.
I think there is plenty of land for this.

 

[seasalt101]

Originally Posted by trippkid
All of that may be right, but the fact is we don't even need the gasoline or the oil. We have enough farmland and it sure would help out the farmers too. But like I said, when that happens, power is lost. We could make our own fuels out of renewable resources. Straight alcohol can be used, doesn't need to be formulated(mixed) into gasoline. Again, another ploy to fool the people and take your hard earned money. Burns cooler, no emissions, just not as efficient(have to use more for the same result). Too much greed will never allow any real advancement in this area,IMO. Like I said, it shouldn't even be an issue these days.
Seasalt, how much money do you think it would cost to convert the country to some type of magnetic system? Maybe if we did things to better humanity, rather than helping ourselves($), it would be more doable here. That is just my opinion on this, and I'm sure not many follow my beliefs on this, or much else for that matter.
it would definately be in the multi-billions but oil at 60.00 a barrel i would be willing to bet a 2 years supply of oil would cover it magnets are cheap and plentiful they could design a truck which would be kinda like a sewing machine to plant the magnets and repair the (stitch in one shot to decrease the time to implement the system) interstates first then major roads then surface streets we spend 80 billion a month in iraq i would say this could be done for 800 billion (just a guess) or 10 months worth of war that we are financing...tobin

 

[rbaldino]

Originally Posted by trippkid
I think there is plenty of land for this.
I guarantee you there isn't. Diverting corn crops from food to fuel production is already effecting food production and cost, and that's just to provide ethanol for E-85, which is only used by a small percentage of vehicles. If we had to grow enough corn to fuel every vehicle on earth with 100 percent ethanol, there wouldn't be enough land left to grow other crops, as well as provide grazing land for cattle.

 

[rbaldino]

Originally Posted by seasalt101
it would definately be in the multi-billions but oil at 60.00 a barrel i would be willing to bet a 2 years supply of oil would cover it magnets are cheap and plentiful they could design a truck which would be kinda like a sewing machine to plant the magnets and repair the (stitch in one shot to decrease the time to implement the system) interstates first then major roads then surface streets we spend 80 billion a month in iraq i would say this could be done for 800 billion (just a guess) or 10 months worth of war that we are financing...tobin
I would estimate trillions. And where would all these magnets come from? Could you imagine the environmental impact of mining all that iron? And never mind converting all the cars in use to run on this system. And I don't know where you're getting the "$80 billion a month" figure for Iraq.

 

[trippkid]

I am with you Tobin, even though it may sound differently, I don't know. Just think that, and I guess I'm a conspiracy theorist, the "powers that be" won't ever let it happen. From the sounds of this country's bridges,dams,levees, now might be a good time for the big change. I also think it would be change on how we go about our daily lives, and that would probably be the hardest to change.
Matt

 

[jennythebugg]

i asked tobin, so i'll see what you good folks think. how is it they can clone sheep but they can't 'make' oil like that?

 

[huskychasrs]

Originally Posted by trippkid
As for flexfuels and whatnot: there isn't enough farmland in the world to grow all the corn it would take to power all the cars and trucks in use today, in addition to all the other stuff we eat.
I think there is plenty of land for this.
Start closing golf courses and lets tear up graveyards.
Not serious just a throwback to an old George Carlin routine.

 

[trippkid]

Originally Posted by rbaldino
I guarantee you there isn't. Diverting corn crops from food to fuel production is already effecting food production and cost, and that's just to provide ethanol for E-85, which is only used by a small percentage of vehicles. If we had to grow enough corn to fuel every vehicle on earth with 100 percent ethanol, there wouldn't be enough land left to grow other crops, as well as provide grazing land for cattle.
There is still plenty of open space on the planet to grow one of the easiest crops. Just look around. Also, you may have to change the way you do things, as far as not wasting fuel(all aspects). Our beloved hobby would have to go too, possibly. And, people in this country are too fat anyhow, time for a true diet. Joking. I don't have all the answers, I do think it is possible though, people would have to sacrifice their convenient way of life, a lot easier said than done.
Matt

 

[trippkid]

Originally Posted by huskychasrs
I think there is plenty of land for this.
Start closing golf courses and lets tear up graveyards.
Not serious just a throwback to an old George Carlin routine.
You may not be serious, but we do waste a lot of usable space for unneeded things. You definitely need to think "outside the box" on this one.

 

[seasalt101]

the avg daily consumption of gasoline (not diesal) is 320500000 gallons a day (march 2005 numbers) take that number x .45 the avg tax on a gallon ofgas and apply to modernization of our roads which that is what it is supposed to be used for anyway and there is your funding (if my calculator had 1 more digit available i would give you the exact amount daily raised by gas taxes) remember this is daily...tobin

 

[trippkid]

On a side note, rbaldino, your avatar is really cool.
Yours too Tobin.
Matt

 

[1journeyman]

Also, the process of obtaining energy from corn, beets, etc. is very inefficient right now. The technology needs to be greatly improved.
And the comment was correct about farmland... we can't 100% replace oil with ethanol.

 

[seasalt101]

as a side note to agri-fuels they still pollute the air i am far from being green but just trying to think of other options that are out there and any will require a major investment also if you use corn for fuel the price will skyrocket it is already affecting the cost of milk it went up a dollar plus a month ago as feed cost more now it would effect the whole food industry jmo...tobin