The DW has a nice article about German scientists who are finding ways to use heat to cool things:
The principle of solar cooling, the so-called ammoniac-water absorption technique, has been known since 1810.
In Gladbeck, this idea has been extrapolated to the idea of using warmth from other processes such as the heat of baking ovens.
I vaguely remember a doctor once telling me that air-conditioning is the greatest invention of all time because it allows for so many health-related benefits. I suppose non-energy based cooling would be an even better invention, although it appears a couple hundred years have already passed since first discovery.
Exciting news. The Audi A4 3.0 TDI is supposed to be released in the US later this year. Consider this review from 2007:
Executive diesel models have probably progressed further than any other type of car within the last few years. Whereas once being issued with a diesel from your company meant a valid claim for constructive dismissal, things are very different now. Its difficult to understate the importance of the BMW 330d in making paying serious money for a diesel seem an entirely rational course of action and the Audi A4 3.0 TDI Quattro follows in its wheeltracks, offering a range of Quattro four-wheel drive saloon and Avant estate models at prices starting at £27,800.
Nowadays, anybody turning their nose up at this particular oil-burner probably thinks that Skodas are naff and that Rolls Royces are the finest cars in the world. In other words the automotive world may just have passed them by. The A4 3.0 TDI offers all the characteristics that make todays premium diesels such an impressive package.
The automotive world is changing and diesel is the technology to watch. It provides the closest thing to highly resilient and distributed fuel sources. All wheel drive, 40mpg, 0-60 in 6 seconds…awesome.
TDI considered here can produce enough torque to pull a house down, more indeed than a Ferrari 360 Modena.
The diesels produce torque in a way that turns the power model upside down. My VW is a better tow vehicle than most trucks and SUVs, and a better highway performer than most sports cars.
The ZER Customs site provides some interesting detail from an Audi press release:
According to calculations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the United States could save 1.4 million barrels of crude oil every day if just one third of all passenger cars and light-duty commercial vehicles were equipped with up-to-date diesel engines.
Interesting review by the BBC of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Reactions went awry, apparently, when some engineers tried to test a hypothesis on a production system. The system quickly heated out of control during the test, and was unable to recover.
Operational errors:
The reactor began to overheat and its water coolant started to turn to steam.
At this point it is thought that all but six control rods had been removed from the reactor core – the minimum safe operating number was considered to be 30.
Design errors:
Because the reactor was not housed in a reinforced concrete shell, as is standard practice in most countries, the building sustained severe damage and large amounts of radioactive debris escaped into the atmosphere.
They are still working on building a containment system, twenty years later, and now need £600m to replace the present system that is failing. Wonder what the cost of the containment shell, and/or a proper development and test environment, would have been prior to the accident.
The SBVs are here! While the giant American manufacturers been sleeping at the wheel, market demand for fuel-efficient vehicles has continued to rise and create opportunities. Here are a couple awesome examples of what could be ahead, should the market be allowed to mature:
The XR-3 is designed as a “plug-in hybrid.” This makes it possible to drive on battery power alone on trips of about 40 miles. In other words, on short trips you never have to turn on the diesel engine. And when both the diesel and the battery-electric systems are used together, and the car is driven conservatively, fuel economy increases to over 200-mpg. Fuel economy is about 125-mpg on diesel power alone.
Diesel Hybrid Baby! (DHB) Scheduled for release this month, I just wonder where the bike rack and grocery bags will go…
Perhaps the 6000ZK, a Chinese electric vehicle imitation of the Smart Car, is a more practical option. It’s only $10K new and “100% legal”!
This all makes me very hopeful that we’re finally escaping the clutches of centrally planned automobiles. I am, perhaps naively, looking forward to local production of vehicles. Now that giant supply chain control (e.g. iron and steel) is unnecessary to produce cars in America, can someone in your neighborhood design and produce one for you? Or maybe I should be asking whether someone in your neighborhood will have the hack to override the silly speed regulation imposed by the NHTSA. Remember when mopeds were restricted to 25mph? Note the fine print on the 600ZK:
Max. Speed: 25 mph (Reduced from 40 per NHTSA guidelines)
Yeah, whatever. Real speed apparently introduces quite a bit of cost. Would you sign a waver and accept the risk of going 40 mph in that thing? Did Enron back President Bush? Of course you would.
The Comet, an unrestricted vehicle expected this fall, will set you back $33K. Does it really cost $23K to get security right and enable full speed?
Purpose-built as a luxury electric commuter vehicle, the Carbon-Fiber body, leather interior, premium electronics, navigation, and entertainment system, all testify that no expense was spared in the creation of this top-end vehicle.
Fully equiped with air conditioning, heat, and heads-up displays, the myth that an electric car is in some way a sacrifice is forever shattered. Superb handling, blinding acceleration, the experience is like no other.
Spark Comet
Funny, that doesn’t look like an SUV-sized cargo hauler. What sort of sacrifice measure is solely based on luxury? Show me the security stuff and ditch the rest. I can buy a commodity GPS , roll down the window and put on some seat covers, thanks. Still, under $35K for a small-batch high MPG (SBHM) luxury sports car sounds pretty good.
I expect these things to be coming out of the high schools of America, but the last time I checked all the “monster” and “chop” shops were still producing pathetic gas guzzlers. I guess the Internet took a while to leave the venue of nerds and reach the cool crowds, so maybe we just have ten years to wait now before vehicular efficiency is hot and common.
Enough mid-life crisis sports-car stuff, imagine taking a cross-country camping trip, or doing a coastal surfing trip, in the zero-emission Transporter…this could be the rebirth of the active “VW bus” lifestyle:
For some reason the government allows the Transporter to keep its top speed : 45 mph. Cheap and functional. Let’s go surfing, dude!
Now we just need better batteries…
a blog about the poetry of information security, since 1995
