Hydrogen fuel is not yet perfected for cars, but ethanol (made from corn) is already being used in some places. The latest news about hydrogen is that it has been successfully used to power a small drone airplane of the type now being used by US forces in the Middle East. The latest news about ethanol is that you may someday be able to DRINK the contents of your gas tank?but why would you want to?
read more
The news show 60 Minutes recently aired a report on vast oil fields that have been discovered in Canadian shale. We recently posted a story about huge oil reserves in Venezuela.Now it turns out the largest oil reserve in the world may be right here in the United States. Some scientists say that oil is not even a fossil fuel, but is being created continuously. Do we have an oil shortage in the world?or don’t we?
read more
We know we have a gas crisis?one that leads to not only to global warming from auto emissions, but also to war. Some researchers think that corn can save us?and save faltering Midwestern farms at the same time. But there are a few problems to be solved along the way, and one of these has to do with water.
Producing a gallon of ethanol gas from corn uses 95% less oil than producing a gallon of gas from fossil fuels and burning it gives off fewer greenhouse gas emissions. It sounds like the perfect solution, but when officials in the state of Illinois were told that an ethanol plant would be built nearby, they calculated that it would use about 2 million gallons of water per day, draining the underground aquifer that feeds the cities of Champaign and Urbana.
read more
Designers assure us that the highways of tomorrow will be filled with lighter, cleaner and more fuel-efficient automobiles made in from recycled plastics (from things like soda bottles), wood pulp and cellulose.
Researchers at General Motors are pinning their hopes on a substance called carbon fiber, an extremely strong thin fiber made by heating synthetic fibers, such as rayon, until charred (there?s no word about whether it can be recycled from existing materials).
read more