Alternative Energy Sources

[Osmose]

*sigh* There, happy?  

Originally posted by Osmose

quote:

Originally posted by SonicChaos7 Here's how a wind powered car will work, just so everyone is on the same page. What wind car manufacturers would do is they would create some sort of turbine or something of that nature to catch the wind, spin and create energy for your vehicle. It's the same concept as the solar energy car, you drive out in the sun, an energy cell in you car is stored and is used when there is no sun. The only fault with solar powered cars is that if you have to drive all night and your car's energy is depleted, you're stuck until morning. Wind power, however, is useful at all times. So, that should explain how it would work.

I don't know what kind of tornado state you live in, but there isn't enough wind in Florida to power a wind car, I can tell you that right now. Hence why the wind power turbines and stuff are in states with lots of wind, like.... I dunno, states with lots of wind!

[carmen]

well, the energy crisis can not be solved with one thing. We need an alt energy sources thats easy to refine/ use, and recycle. It's a tough thing. And would take some real know how

[SonicChaos7]

Well, of course your car would have to have energy stored the second you buy it. Otherwise, you're not getting out of the dealership lot. However, when you drive, you will catch wind. If you've ridden in a car or bus with the windows rolled down, you'll feel a lot of pressure against you. It's wind pressure. No matter how slight it may be, you'll still get wind. It'll be enough to power a car.

It'd be neat if we could just use food items as a fuel source. XD Just dump in some apple cores, banana peels, peanut shells and other stuff and you've got a fuel source! XD

[Kijuki_Magazaki]

Originally posted by Osmose
*sigh* There, happy?  

yes actually thx Osmose, seriously.

The idea of which Sonic speaks, I am not too down with that, but hey it is an idea. I've heard that there is actually cars that are not even powered by gas nor electricity anymore, but they don't build them, for some kind of secret purpose.

[SonicChaos7]

Well, it would get environmentalists to shut up.

[Osmose]

Originally posted by Kijuki_Magazaki

quote:

Originally posted by Osmose *sigh* There, happy?

yes actually thx Osmose, seriously.

The idea of which Sonic speaks, I am not too down with that, but hey it is an idea. I've heard that there is actually cars that are not even powered by gas nor electricity anymore, but they don't build them, for some kind of secret purpose.

I believe you mean hydrogen cars. And they haven't stopped making them, they're just working on how to mass introduce them to the market. I've only seen them get real publicity twice - when they were first shown as a prototype, and then when the finished "skateboard" design was released.

Basically, they take all of the workings of the car and compress it into a 12 inch tall "skateboard", atop which any design you want, ANY at all, can be put on top. You can literally be driving a minivan one day, and a convertable the next if you change them out.

And Sonic, consider that the "wind" created when you drive(it's not really wind, because it's your movement against the air, not the air's movement against you)  isn't nearly enough to power an engine.

[Moosetroop11]

What you need is boats with solar panels on top and turbines underneath. As the boat moves is gets energy from the turbine and extra energy from the solar panels. You could also have some wind turbines on there too...

[SonicChaos7]

A water fueled car would also be nice. However, water evaporates fast, so it could be a problem.

[Red Giant]

Originally posted by SonicChaos7
It'd be neat if we could just use food items as a fuel source. XD Just dump in some apple cores, banana peels, peanut shells and other stuff and you've got a fuel source! XD

Those exist, man. There's a car that runs on vegetable oil. I think it was too inefficient to be practical, though.

[WarxePB]

Or, like in that Simpsons episode, an alcohol-powered car.

Actually, that wouldn't be a bad idea. Alcohol is pretty easy to obtain, and cheap to do so. I'm not sure how it would do as a fuel, though.

[Osmose]

You can't just make *anything* into a fuel! It's not like you can take water and just invent a water powered engine! *sigh*

You have to be realistic. Gasoline is used in engines for it's highly combustable properties. For those who don't know how engines work, here's a quick summary:

When you first turn the car on, the starter jump starts the engine by getting it staarted, turning the crankshaft (main turning thing, pistons are attached to it) and the camshaft(uses specially placed round parts to push in the intake and outake valves to let air in and out) until they start moving on their own from the combustion.

Now the craknshaft has the pistons attached to it, and the pistions are inside the combustion chamber. The camshaft turns at the right time to allow air from the air box in to the combustion chamber. The Piston moves down, sucking air in as it moves down. Then the intake valve shuts, and the piston moves back up, compressing the air. Then, about a drop or two of gas is shot into the chamber, and at the same time the sparkplug puts out a little spark that ignites the combonation of compressed air and gas to produce an explosion that pushes the piston back.

This is repeated in all the cylinders, hence why a V8 engine would have more power than a V4. The constant explosions are timed at different intervals so that the crankshaft is constantly turning from the force of the explosions. This rotation moves the camshaft(through a timing chain), and also is the rotation that is transferred through the transmission into the front wheels(in four wheel drive), through the drive shaft to the back axel, and into the back wheels.

I don't think we can adapt water to work in an engine like that. But please, explain to me if you have an idea for water that WILL work.

[AsakuraHao2004]

I dont really understand engines and all that, but couldnt you use water and heat it up to steam, and let the steam propel the... things. I mean, just the steam alone, without using the gas and creating a spark.

OR use antimatter. It solves everything.

[SonicChaos7]

Umm... anti-matter destroys matter. There would be no purpose unless your soul intent was to kill everyone, which seems to be your motive anyway.

[AsakuraHao2004]

Well, if you could contain an antimatter blast, and direct it one direction, like in the back of a car, it would propel the car to insanely high speed. Kind of like how jet engines contain the gasses that are released on a jet and propel the jet.

[MSlash67]

I have the solution to motor vehicle fuel alternatives! It's Corn Alcohol also known as MoonShine. It's perfect.