First Name | Ian |
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Last Name | Cree |
Email Address | ianccree@hotmail.com |
Affiliation | |
Subject | Global warming/air pollution |
Comment | AIR RESOURCES BOARD Ethanol hybrid usage is marginally better than oil, and threatens world food supply. The alternative: No greenhouse gases electric cars are still largely being ignored. Why? Electric cars have been manufactured for many years, but have not caught on, almost certainly because early models were not very powerful and not very efficient. Yet there was little research being done on them and global warming was only grudgingly being accepted by a few. The all powerful oil lobby and a highly blinkered president chose to ignore, or rather blanketed the reality with a combined fog and smoke screen to protect their obscene profits. Now all that has changed, - not the smoke screen, but electric cars. Tesla has demonstrated the superiority of electric cars over gas and diesel vehicles, not only in eliminating greenhouse gases and air pollution, but in efficiency and safety: Their highly efficient batteries can hold their charge for up to 250 miles before requiring recharging. They can be recharged via an ordinary electric outlet in 3 1/4 hours, and they can accelerate to 60 m.p.h. in about 4 minutes. They are equipped with controls which ensure that all 4 wheels individually hug the road and have exceptional stability even on ice. They have roll bars designed to protect their passengers. Of course, there is zero danger of fuel leaks, fire and explosion on impact - therefore no danger of being incinerated! What is the disadvantage?: Cost. The Tesla costs about $92,000. This, however, is offset by the cost of electric power - estimated at 1 cent per mile. ($100 per 10,000 miles). Therefore, if a new car is not purchased for 15 years, and the car is driven at a rate of 10,000 miles per year, the cost of electricity used in that period would be: $1500. Gasoline at $3 per gallon in a vehicle using a gallon per 13 miles would be $34,615. [Data from Tesla advertisement, calculations are mine] Subtracting $1500 would leave a difference of $33,115. Taking this from the sale price would leave an effective cost of $58,885. (Greater usage would expand the difference and further reduce the effective cost). Since the Tesla is an original model, and it is likely that other companies will get into the act, inevitably reducing the cost, and further research is also likely to increase efficiency, the effective cost would probably equal that of current automobiles or even less, in the near future. This would eliminate the need to use corn or other biologicals for vehicular power. While wind and solar farms can be expanded exponentially, there is little mention of tidal power. Research into this resource seems to be lacking at this time. With the enormous power of tides on the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards, there should be enough non-polluting power for generations to come! It is time for the Sleeping Giant to awake! While I have discussed the question of global warming and environmental pollution in economic terms, there other benefits over and above climate change in terms of human health, fresh air, and economic savings which would amount to many billions of dollars in terms of reduced need for medication, medical care, hospital care, hours of work lost due to respiratory problems, and perhaps reduced human and vehicular damage from accidents. I would value your thoughts on the above - (Not as an electronic automated reply). Sincerely, Ian Campbell Cree, MB(Hons.), MS, FRCS(Eng. & C.), FACS, LRCP |
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Date and Time Comment Was Submitted | 2007-05-22 14:52:43 |
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