ENERGIES... week of November 18, 2001
ALTERNATIVE INTERNAL COMBUSTION. Frustrated with the painfully slow
development and commercialization of electric and fuel cell vehicles,
sometimes you just want to throw a pen across the desk, vocalize a mild
profanity and give in to what may be the truth - maybe we just need a
vastly redesigned internal combustion engine (ICE) to replace the
century old design under the hood of our cars. After all, people - the
markets - are comfortable with the old beast, the fueling infrastructure
is in place, and those motors of plastic, steel, aluminum, and cast iron
certainly are inexpensive, at least by comparison.
There are a few ICE replacement designs companies are working on
that probably should be closely examined.
Mayflower Corporation, a U.K. company with international operations
and more than 6000 employees, is working on the e-3 Variable Motion
Engine. Not dissimilar to the piston engine as we know it (it could be
manufactured with similar production processes), the engine has a pivot
lever arm between the piston and the crankshaft that changes the
conventional circular motion to one more elliptical or D shaped. What
does this mean? The e-3 has the potential to offer the same kind of
performance and flexibility as the engines now available, but with at
least 40 percent better fuel economy with subsequent emissions
reductions, according to Mayflower.
Mayflower is a fairly well known company in automotive circles and
is involved in everything from bus, truck and car coach design and
building to the manufacturing of parts for them. Visit the e-3 at
http://www.mayflower-e3.com/ .
Looking for help with further development is the Archer-TRICE (True
Rotating Internal Combustion Engine) engine design - also in the U.K.
TRICE is a melding of the best qualities of the gas turbine, the
venerable ICE and the Wankel rotary engine (The Wankel is best known for
its success in the Mazda RX-7 sports car.) This engine design supposedly
makes better use of waste heat, which in a conventional ICE dissipates
without doing any respectable work, like moving a vehicle forward. Take
some time to study TRICE at http://www.archerengine.dabsol.co.uk.
Out of Canada is the Quasiturbine. It also incorporates the better
qualities of the ICE, gas turbine and the Wankel. But according to the
company it is more efficient and burns cleaner. Take some time to check
out this engine too at http://www.quasiturbine.com/ .
CLEAN, EFFICIENT RENTAL CARS. For about the same money as a
MacDonald's (tm) number 3 meal, (medium size) one can now drive a
Hyundai Accent for 120 miles or so. This editor did just that with his
rental car over the Thanksgiving holiday. Even ignoring low gas prices,
it's still a treat to drive a good distance on so little money.
Apparently customers of Budget EV Rentals feel the same. The company
with its rental fleet of electric, hybrid and natural gas cars,
(depending on location) has just celebrated the 5 million mile mark
logged by 35,000 customers since 1998. The joint effort of EV Rental
Cars and Budget Rent a Car claims its fleet has saved more than 130,000
gallons of gasoline that would have been used by conventional cars. The
company has also been successful at placing used environmental vehicles
from its fleet into new appreciative homes.
Going to visit grandmom for the next round of holidays? Check to see
if Budget EV Rental is operating near your destination,
http://www.evrental.com/ .
WORLD WIND WATCH. Waters off Britain's west coast - from the
Hebrides to Cornwall - could be dotted over the next decade or so with a
large number of megawatt-class wind turbines. At water's edge along this
coast wind driven waves, too, may be used to generate electricity. And
onshore wind farms will take advantage of ocean breezes to make power.
Many, many different power generating devices will need to be connected
to one thing - the national grid.
Not to see the coastal area spoiled with high tension lines, the
U.K. government is taking the first steps to investigate the possibility
that all of the new power plants would connect to the grid via undersea
cable.
At a GBP one million per mile ($1.46 million) the installed price
tag for hundreds of miles could be more than GBP 500 million ($730
million). Fortunately, customers pay for the power they use as well as
the cost of distribution, so over time the undersea extension cord would
pay for itself - at least in part. PB Power, an energy consulting
company, is doing the initial feasibility study for the proposed
project. Visit them at http://www.PBpower.net/ .
NEW! NEW! NEW! ... NewsLinks...
-- Proton Energy Systems to Receive $1.5 Million From the Connecticut
Clean Energy Fund to Support UNIGEN(R) Fuel Cell Development
http://www.protonenergy.com (click Company Info, News, Press Releases)
(11/19/01)
-- Prototype Carbon Fund Releases EcoSecurities Market Intelligence
Report on Emerging Greenhouse Gas Policies http://www.ecosecurities.com
(11/19/01)
-- Suncor Energy Announces Joint Venture with Major European Renewables
Company http://www.suncor.com (click News Room, News Releases)
(11/19/01)
-- AEP Plans Strategic Growth in Renewable Generation; Recently
Completed Wind Farm One of Nation's Largest http://www.aep.com (click
News, News Releases, Fourth Quarter 2001) (11/20/01)
-- EcoSecurities Particpates in Major Green Certificate Transaction
http://www.ecosecurities.com (11/22/01)
And at the Green Energy News website....
-- Energy and Environmental Funding Opportunities
Send ENERGIES to a friend or colleague. Visit Green Energy News on the
Web at http://www.nrglink.com/ . For free ENERGIES subscription contact
[EMAIL PROTECTED] . Copyright Green Energy News Inc. 11/24/01 vol.6
no.34
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