Oil spill

[Redrobes]

A couple of other wikipedia entries worth looking at are compressed air powered cars. Tho they have a lower efficiency than internal combustion cars and its true that if the compressor to make the compressed air is run off of a coal fired power station then sure its not green but they can be run from solar and air is abundant and relatively easy to store compressed so there is no reason why a lot of people could not get tanks of compressed air slowly filling from solar even in low light countries. The engine is zero pollution, in fact its usually negatively polluting cos it filters the air going in and spits out very cold and cleaner air out the back.

Another list worth having a look at is energy densities and its quite a shocker so see where the carbon and non carbon based energy storage mediums fit in on the scale.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_car
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density

Algae is a superb storage of nitrogen and makes for good fertilizer and can be burnt. The main issues with that is growing it. It does great out in the sea but collecting it would then require a lot of energy. Maybe people will find a way tho. In a sense, algae is not so different from growing trees, chopping into firewood and burning them again. Id say thats better than oil tho much less convenient. Ultimately, both algae and trees are solar energy storage devices. I just wonder whether we can do better than that.

[ExMachina]

It's my understanding that those crazy Ruskies use contained nuclear detonations to stop spills like this one...might as well put our massive nuclear arsenal to work. I''m just glad it hasn't traveled up the Eastern Seaboard like they though it might, I wouldn't my beloved, picturesque shores here in Jersey to be ruined.

[Jaxilon]

Hey I think those cars that blow ice cold air out the back should be mandatory here in Arizona because it's too freakin HOT!!!

[tilt]

I think we should have antimatter cars then - in addition to being very energy dense - it would just be plain cool

[RobA]

Thew big issue is planning and infrastructure. If I could do 99% of what I need to do within walking distance than I wouldn't have a car.

Automobiles (and other forms of I/C transport) are symptoms of a greater issue.

Plus the world needs more monorails. Monorails are cool. Pneumatic subways are cooler (phoomp!). Too bad they never caught on.

-Rob A>

[Diamond]

The world definitely needs more monorails. To me, that seems an ideal solution for mass transit problems: the footprint is relatively small, for one thing - you don't have to lay down actual track, thus taking up valuable real estate. It's also much harder to commit suicide by jumping in front of a monorail train, so that would phase out one of the most annoying problems (from a commuter's perspective) of SF's CalTrain system.

[mathuwm]

Fusion power will be what finally cures us of our world wide addiction to fossil fuels.
I propose a world wide Manhattan project to develop this technology

If mankind was motivated enough we could overcome the remaining difficulties


Maybe the time is right to get the monkey off our back



A link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_machine

[tilt]

thats one cool machine