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Thursday, April 05, 2007

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Tuesday, October 31, 2006

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Monday, October 30, 2006

A Different Kind of Hybrid

MIT researchers at the startup company Ethanol Boosting Systems, LLC, claim to have come up with a gasoline/ethanol hybrid engine that approaches the efficiency of today's gasoline/electric hybrids.

From an article at Power Online ("A VertMarkets Marketplace for Industry Professionals"), the design is based on boosting engine output through a combination of a turbo and ethanol injection.  By using ethanol rather than gasoline, the effective octane rating increases to more than 130 which greatly reduces the chances of engine knock.  This allows for a much higher compression ratio; for compared to a conventional engine, in EBS' design more than twice the amount of air and fuel can be combusted, producing a proportional increase in power over a conventional design with the same engine volume.

The additional efficiency appears to be gained purely from smaller engine sizes, with less weight.  However it is achieved, EBS estimates efficiency gains over a regular turbo-charged engine to be in the range of 25-30%.

While a classic gasoline/electric hybrid also uses the electric motor to boost performance when needed, there doesn't seem to be any reason why these two technologies couldn't be combined to form a gasoline/ethanol/electric hybrid.  Make it a plug-in on top of that, and we'll have a gasoline/ethanol/coal & nuclear (providing the electricity) hybrid car...  I envision a car that operates like an electric car at speeds upto 35 mph, uses the ethanol injection to accelerate to highway speeds, then continues to cruise on gasoline.  Then, when braking, it recouperates some of the lost energy through regenerative braking.

Of course my vision is not likely to come to fruition: this all comes at a cost - about $3000-4000 above that of a conventional design (gas/electric hybrid premium of ~$3000, plus gas/ethanol premium of $500-1000).  Gas would have to come back to well over $3/gallon and stay there to make that worthwhile in the US. In Europe however, it seems like it ought to be an attractive option.

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Saturday, September 30, 2006

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Friday, September 09, 2005

10 Talking Points for Plug-In Hybrids

The California Cars Initiative provide 10 Talking Points for Plug-In Hybrids. The second point is key:

Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) simply add a second cleaner, cheaper, and domestic energy source for your car: electricity.

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Tuesday, August 09, 2005

More on hybrid/electric cars

From the GREEN CAR JOURNAL ONLINE:

Paul MacCready Speaks Out ...on efficiencies, energy, and why we need electric cars

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Monday, July 25, 2005

On Ethanol's Energy Balance

There's been some talk in the media lately about the Plug-In Hybrids' 500 miles per gallon (imported) gasoline fuel efficiency; based on these cars' 100 mpg capacity and the fact that they could theoretically run on 80% biofuel and 20% (imported) gas.

But more coverage was recently given to David Pimentel and Tad Patzek and their report that stated

"it takes at least 29% more energy to convert maize and other biomass feed stocks into ethanol than the amount of fuel produced by the process."

Now, of course, the study has been solidly refuted, and these refutations have also been widely covered in the media, though mostly in the mid-west.

So - one biased study claims a -29% energy balance, another equally biased study claims a +167% energy balance. They call this science? With as much as $1/gallon in tax incentives for ethanol producers, it's hard to know who to believe.

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Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Outcome Grim at Oil War Game

The problem: Outcome Grim at Oil War Game
A (partial) solution: Plug-In Hybrids

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Monday, June 20, 2005

As Toyota Goes ...

Thomas Friedman endorses hybrids: As Toyota Goes ... - New York Times

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Monday, May 09, 2005

AC Propulsion -- Plug-In HEV with Vehicle to Grid Power Flow

AC Propulsion converted a Jetta to a serial hybrid, with plug-in and vehicle-to-grid power flow capabilities. Interesting stuff: Business Information: AC Propulsion -- Plug-In HEV with Vehicle to Grid Power Flow

They also have a 3.6 sec 0-60 all-electric sports car with a 300 mile range. Why do we need hydrogen-based fuel cell vehicles?

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Tuesday, April 05, 2005

More on Plug-In Hybrids

EV World: The World of Electric, Plug-in Hybrid, Fuel Cell and Alternative Fuel Vehicles

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Monday, April 04, 2005

Air/Electric Hybrid

For a completely different type of hybrid: Pneumatic Hybrid Electric Vehicle.
Wonder what the energy losses are in "filling the tank" (pumping ambient air to 300 bar)?

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Plug-In Hybrids

Why should a hybrid vehicle not be able to be plugged-in at night to recharge the batteries?

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Thursday, August 14, 2003

Cloning Yields Human-Rabbit Hybrid Embryo (washingtonpost.com)

The Washington Post (and others) reports that Chinese scientists have recently created 'hybrid embryos" - the term used to describe an embryo with DNA from mixed species - containing human and rabbit DNA. This has obviously raised all sorts of ethical questions. I'm not sure where I stand on this issue - on one hand there's no doubt this could open the door to fruitful stem-cell research which could lead to cures for all sorts of congenital diseases; on the other hand it seems inevitable that someone will try - and succeed - in carrying a human hybrid fetus to term. Maybe some X-Men reading is required.

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