THE GREEN PATH TO BETTER CARS
A recent article in the Santa Barbara Independent titled The Future of Biofuels Takes Root in S.B. has once again fueled my interest in fuel. And given the fact that the Dale Franciscos of the world don't have any love for promoting alternative transportation, it seems to me that our vehicles simply can't go with the status quo.
But saying you need better cars is one thing; getting there is another. Perform a few searches with The Google, and you'll see that there are certainly no lack of great ideas out there. From hydrogen to jatropha plants, it seems that everyone is feverishly trying to make a better auto. My recent conversations with friends on this subject, however, have had much less to do with technology and everything to do with politics. Case in point: I'd like to summarize a recent debate I had with Big Table, inspired by his interest in compressed air as a fuel source. In a nutshell, here's what we discussed ...
The Average Man - The excellent documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? has turned me into a cynic. The sad plight of the 1970's EV1 has convinced me that removing our dependence of foreign oil will never be about the technology. Because the best ideas in the world will be squashed by the millions of dollars that big oil and big automobile companies with pump into the hands of government officials in order to make sure things stay the same for a long, long time. Or at least, things will change at a snail's pace. It is for this reason alone, that my hope sits almost exclusively with the plug-in hybrid. In my opinion, this is the "gateway drug" our society will need to move from where we are today to where we need to be tomorrow. Not only do these cars get great mileage, but if you really want to be green, you will have the ability to charge your car when not in use. And if we're really lucky, there's even talk of being able to use your idle car to feed energy back into the grid. The important thing for me, though, is that a plug-in hybrid still lets the oil companies and car companies use their dirty oil. And thus, they will play along and slowly adapt to change.
Big Table - He thinks I'm living in the past, and I need to get over it. The 1970's was a lifetime ago, and the world is much different now. High gas prices, global warming concerns, terrorism, informed youths ... all these things are the reason that technology will win out over politics. The oil companies and auto companies are dinosaurs, and the asteroid is coming fast. These industries are so set in there ways and beholden to stock holders and such that they will be incapable of adapting. Thus, the young, fresh start-ups creating cars that run on things like compressed air will be the small mammals that survive the blast. We will have cars that run on alternative fuels, but they won't come from the likes of GM and Ford.
As much as I like to be right about things, I'd love to lose this one.
Labels: ethanol, plug-in hybrid
posted by Trekking Left @ 4:42 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Well said t.l.!
Thus, the young, fresh start-ups creating cars that run on things like compressed air will be the small mammals that survive the blast. We will have cars that run on alternative fuels, but they won't come from the likes of GM and Ford.
My thoughts exactly! Hey, on the hybrid thing, this is how it will go. When gas gets scarce innovative firebrands will buy up hybrids, double the battery and motor HP, and make swamp buggys out of 'em! I do not fear an oil crisis, let it come. We need to shake things up a bit. As you say the leaders will not be the status quo. When the greens get to be an economic force to be reckoned with we can buy our own politicians and tax those bastidges right out of business. Good stuff.
A $300k bad-assed EV, built by a small company. I believe the future, if there is to be a decent future, is in the small and mid-caps, the mega-corps will die when globalization goes.
Hey Buzz - Thanks for your always insightful comments. To be fair to my friend, Big Table, it seems you are really agreeing more with him than me. I was falling more on the cynical side of things ... feeling that big oil will crush the start-ups as they did with the EV1.
But, again, I'm happy to be wrong :)
Hello again t.l.,
You're not necessarily wrong, I was just in a decent mood yesterday for some odd reason. We're doomed in so many ways. Stick to your (cynical) guns. :)
Clarification from Big Table: My argument is not about politics or technology, but about economics and change. Big oil and big auto could kill the electric car in the 70s because they had the economic power: large supplies of cheap oil, large demand for gas guzzling cars. Supply and demand have changed. The pending peak oil apocalypse indicates dwindling supply and ever-increasing prices, while consumers, especially in Europe and Asia, seek alternatives to high-priced gasoline power.
I'm not saying that hybrids won't have--are not having--their time. I'm certainly not saying that big oil and big auto won't do--aren't currently doing--everything their big money makes possible to maintain their source of profit at the expense of the planet. What I am saying is that change doesn't happen according to some global political or technological plan that does or does not allow big auto and big oil to continue ruining the planet. Rather, I'm saying that change will happen in a capitalist society--if that capitalist society doesn't implode, and peak oil may cause such an implosion--not because of politics or technology but through the economic viability of consumer products. Change will happen--is happening--when non-carbon cars can out-compete carbon-dependent cars.
You seem to be making some kind of political argument, and certainly government policy plays a role through laws and taxes and subsidies that affect the economy. But I don't see why you would advocate a government policy that "still lets the oil companies and car companies use their dirty oil." Government policy may end up there, but your green politics shouldn't be starting with such a compromise. Instead, you should be pushing for green and greener alternatives.
Patrick - You said 'But I don't see why you would advocate a government policy that "still lets the oil companies and car companies use their dirty oil." ... Instead, you should be pushing for green and greener alternatives.'
I totally agree that we should push for the best green technologies around, and I'm definitely not advocating the lesser hybrid, per se. I'm just saying that history and reality might dictate that the only way to get where you eventually want to go is to let the oil companies and car companies have a dog in the fight. In other words, if you come out of left field with a car that is completely outside of their ability to mass produce, they will simply lobby the government to get it "killed." For example, the reason all the batteries in electric cars stink is because the oil companies bought up all the good patents.
I would point out that we are driving the same basic car today that they had 30 years ago. Sure, it has fancy DVD players or whatever, but under the hood, it's the same car (getting pretty much the same number of miles per gallon). If the car industry worked like, say, the computer industry, then I think your argument about capitalism would work. But the rules of capitalism don't seem to apply to these guys ... and they play dirty.
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