New propulsion sytems for ships

There does seem to be a great deal of research at present into lithium-based secondary cells. They are, at present and for the near future, apparently the best choice for small, lightweight, high power density applications (such as computers, portable electronics, etc. and are finding their way into power tools).

The cost remains the big hurdle to using them for anything big- a solar car's 5 kWh lithium pack, for instance, can run into the five figures. The cost is coming down, but low prices for lithium batteries will be dependent on there not being an excessive demand for them- lithium is somewhat more rare, at least in accessible forms, than we may like to think. At present this is not an issue, but if we were to start putting lithium batteries in mass-produced cars we would likely run into a shortage of the raw lithium itself.

Pericles sums up the current state of marine battery tech nicely:

By the time a new crop of traction batteries expires (although I do think you should be able to get more than 5-7 years out of a set in typical pleasure craft use, even electrically powered craft), a number of the more powerful types currently being studied (sodium nickel chloride, silver-zinc, "super iron", etc) may be cheap enough to drop in as replacements- and extend the craft's pure-electric range substantially.

 

Electric Dragster via Batteries

ELECTRIC-POWERED DRAGSTER SETS NEW WORLD SPEED RECORD

Altairnano Batteries Power Electric Vehicle to National Hot Rod Association World Speed Record for Electric Dragsters: Quarter Mile in 8.10 Seconds at 153.6 mph

Tucson, AZ -- December 17, 2007 -- Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. a leading manufacturer of safe, high-performance lithium-titanate battery pack products and energy storage products announced today that Dennis "Kilowatt" Berube has set the National Hot Rod Association's (NHRA) Super Pro class world speed record for electric dragsters driving an electric vehicle powered by Altairnano battery packs.

Powered by Altairnano's lithium-titanate battery packs, Berube's electric dragster, named the Current Eliminator V, accelerated to a speed of 153.6 mph at the Speedworld Motorplex drag strip on Saturday, December 15, covering a quarter-mile in 8.10 seconds, setting a new electric dragster world speed record. Dennis Berube started his first day at the track with the Altairnano battery pack and with limited time, on a single day, ran times of 10.04, 8.84, 8.40, 8.23 and finally a 8.10 second run - Very significant improvement with three of these times breaking his old record of 8.801 seconds.

"We are truly thrilled for Dennis," said Dr. Alan Gotcher, President and CEO of Altair Nanotechnologies, "Not only is it a great milestone for Dennis, but it is a great milestone for the alternative energy transportation industry," Dr. Gotcher continued, "People think of electric vehicles as golf carts, but as Dennis's new world record shows, electric vehicles are extremely powerful and capable of impressive speeds."

 

More on electric drag racing...................for breakthroughs.

FYI:
Electric Dragin' in San Diego Jan 2008
http://www.austinev.org/evtradinpos...tegory&fromfrommethod=showhtmllist&clearoff=1

Homepage
http://members.cox.net/electric_dragin/img1.html

List of cars:
http://members.cox.net/electric_dragin/img3.html


Expected to be the star of the show:
SSI worlds fastest extreme street electric car
http://www.ssi-racing.com/index.asp

 

it's helpful to me, thank you to all of you.

 

Now here is something that may show some promise. http://technology.newscientist.com/...urns-radiation-directly-into-electricity.html

Unfortunately they currently say it is over a decade out. I don't get it, did we put a man on the moon in less than a decade then get lazy? All these new technologies that come out year after year that could put an end to our fuel problem and here we are still waiting for it.

 

Jason,

Thanks for the interesting article.


10 years is not that long for development from lab research to commercial product in a new technology breakthrough. This one has issues with shielding, weight, and safety, to name just a few. Of course, the 10 year announcement could be a ploy to hide their real timetable; it's not uncommon for companies to hide their real schedule from competitors until they are ready to release a product.

The concept is pretty cool, and if a way were found to use bits of radioactive waste as the source, then we'd have a practical use for the stuff. Horrendously expensive and dangerous to handle now, breaking the stuff into millions of pieces for commercial power sources, and larger "pieces" for a new form of electrical power generation plant would provide an alternative source of energy while solving many of the existing problems related to fission waste storage and "disposal".

If this works out as hoped, safe nuclear powered small boats are a possibility (how's that for an outside the box thought? )

Neat stuff!

 

Interesting, indeed.
Thanks Jason.

 

California law firm sues over ethanol damage

"The California law firm of Kabateck Brown Kellner LLP filed a class action lawsuit this week against several major oil companies that sell ethanol-blended fuel, charging that the fuel causes serious damage to marine engines and fuel tanks, The Log Newspaper reported in a recent story on its Web site."

More at: http://www.boating-industry.com/output.cfm?id=1571671

Cheers.

 

Are they suing because those companies don't produce an alternative or only because they produce E blends?

 

I feel like I'm in an alternate universe, to be defending oil companies, but then I remember I'm defending them against class action lawyers, and things feel normal again.

This is one result of government getting involved in things it doesn't know enough about, and forcing businesses to do things they either would not do or would not do so rapidly. The federal government forced oil refiners to blend 4 billion gallons of ethanol in gasoline in 2006, and all gasoline sold in California was required to be ethanol blended. In addition, of course, the federal government paid subsidies to major agricultural corporations as well as to oil refiners.

With ethanol blending mandated by law, the proper defendant, if any, should be the state and federal governments.

Class action lawsuits, however, are too often a scam in which individuals are told by the lawyers that their best interests are served by joining together in one huge lawsuit, and that they won't have to pay a penny, so they have nothing to risk. They are told their good buddies the lawyers will sue those damn oil companies for hundreds of millions, and everyone who signs up will share in the proceeds. There will be just the one law firm working for them, risking all, who will be paid nothing if they lose, and just one firm's share of the proceeds plus expenses if they win. What they are not shown is a detailed breakdown of the numbers. 20,000 plaintiffs (a not unusual number, and the individual never knows how big the class becomes) suing for $20,000 each because of damage and repairs = $400 million. Sounds like a huge sum, and it is. If they win, however, the lawyers get their contingency fee (typically 30%) and all their expenses paid first. That is $120 million plus a few million in expenses; say $10 million in this example, although they can get up to $20 million or more. The 20,000 plaintiffs will be lucky to see $13,500. each, after 5 - 8 years (the loser will appeal, of course). A more common result is a settlement in which the defendants essentially pay off the lawyers to go away. A typical settlement would have the oil companies agree to pay 25% of the original total. In this case the lawyers get $30 million plus, say, only $2 million in expenses. The plaintiffs get $3400 each. Good deal for the plaintiffs? Maybe. They could sue and settle individually for more, perhaps. Good deal for the class action lawyers? You bet. I know the word scam is strong, but the main purpose and result of too many class action lawsuits is the huge fee the lawyers can collect, rather than seeking full recompense for those who suffered a loss.

 

The question is: Have been boaters clearly and duly advised about the pernicious effects of ethanol on GRP fuel tanks? Around here, in these forums, ethanol has been thoroughly discussed, but I do not remember somebody rising a voice about the potential damage to tanks.....

See: http://www.latimes.com:80/business/la-fi-boat15apr15,0,2271802.story

Cheers.

 

Test run of the new wave powered boat “Mermaid II”
http://www.travelfreak.org/2007/05/30/test-run-of-the-new-wave-powered-boat-mermaid-ii/

 

This issue has been featured in Professional BoatBuilder magazines #102 & #107, with related letters to the editor in issues #103 & #109. They can be read online at http://www.proboat.com/digital_issues.html

 

Hello Guillermo & Stephen.

Thanks for those timely reminders about ethanol in petrol (gas). Politicians do not care about you and me, only their paychecks. There's not much we can do for now, but watch these spaces. Retribution is at hand.

http://wattsupwiththat.wordpress.com/

All we need to do is wait.

http://ncwatch.typepad.com/dalton_minimum_returns/files/Solar_Arch_NY_Mar2_08.pdf

We are the last of the comfortable generation.

Pericles

 

Yes we are. Thanks for sharing.

For the spanish-speaking friends: the same thing in spanish
http://www.mitosyfraudes.org/Calen7/Solar23.html

Cheers.