• Moving freight is five times more efficient using a train rather than a tractor trailer.
• Four miles of new railroad line can be built for the price of one mile of road.
• Electrically powered trains can use domestic fuel sources. A century ago, York had an extensive electric trolley/inter-urban system. York's street railway is a dream of tomorrow. (greenmesh 8/06)

Innovative minds looking for new revenue streams killed the railroads.

Consider all the jobs, wealth and competition that was created by our car centered, personal transport society. Cars, dealerships, parts, the insurance industry. Thousands of truck drivers, shipping companies and owner operators traversing the roads using diesel and services. All of this a major feed for the oil industry.

And it all worked as long as oil was cheap.

The once cheap oil that brought us a uniquely American car centered transportation culture is now strangling our economy and future success competing in a world market.

Pennsylvania is fortunate to have many short-line rail corridors still intact like the one along the Heritage Rail Trail and the Stewartstown Railroad waiting for innovative minds and clean technology to move large volumes of freight and people more efficiently.

Posted in All posts from the start Diesel Electric MPG Oil Machine/politics Public Transportation video

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Joshua Tomel, Program Director Long Island Electric Auto Association comments to my post,
New dawn for electric Chevy S-10 (June 24, 2008)

Paul,
Yes I know about that. The reporter neglected to mention that my true feelings about even getting this truck came about from seeing the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car?". That quote that you put up was in the part about how I thought (about) Jimmy Carter's call to change and how we fundamentally got around went unheard and unloved.

The S-10 is have charging problems since early July. I need to find a decent EE to fix it. Since the article appeared we now have a local Electric Auto Association, lieaa.org. Anyone is welcome to come, and we meet at the Automotive Technology wing of Lupton Hall on the campus of SUNY Farmingdale on the 1st Wednesday of every month.

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I supposed the clinical thing to do would be to calculate cost vs. environmental impact and come up with a nice squeaky green conclusion, but recently my conclusions seem to be made more out a belief that our open ("free" doesn't really apply) market for energy needs to be placed in check by the only force that can bring change.

Calculated, individual consumer choices multiplied by millions of people.

My friend Matt has a company car with paid gas for personal use. He said to me today, "I don't care if the gas is free - I just want to use my motorcycle because it doesn't use (uses half) gas." In 2004, he purchased (which he can't sell now) a Chevy Suburban that gets 15 mpg and never considered the price of gas.

My neighbor Chuck's new full-sized pickup is now collecting dirt around the wheels for sometimes two weeks at a time. He drives a 115 mpg scooter to work.

My retired neighbor on a fixed budget told me today, "I am going to hold on to my economic stimulus check so i can pay for fuel oil this Winter" A tax money give-a-way to spark the economy, funneled into the oil machine that is squeezing the economy in the first place.

We are entering the uncharted free market waters. Huge global energy monopolies that use raw materials that are irresistible to investors and tied to everything as a reason to make it more expensive. We can't regulate it, tax it or force it to do anything. The concept of oil just got too big in business and in our hearts.

The only force that can save the world from suicidal greed; the consumer stands alone with a choice to become super hero or victim.

I like the electric lawn mower more than the gas, simply because it does not use gas. It's two gallons of gasoline that went unsold this Summer.

Posted in All posts from the start Electric History Oil Machine/politics Tax incentives

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Dragging a cord around isn't really an issue with some planning. The maximum length needs to be the maximum distance from your outlet.

The trick is always working your way away from your power source. I tried mowing forward and backwards, but rotary blades just don't cut very well backwards and feet can get cut off on grades.

Up and back working away from the cord; always turning away from the cord. The electric mower is very quiet with no exhaust or gasoline to breath. I don't add any fluids and has virtually no maintenance.

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The Lawn-boy's 2-cycle engine is a mostly marvelously simple, low maintenance machine. You get a power stroke every other stroke instead of one in every every stroke for a four-stroke engine. Dump a small can of 2-cycle oil in the gas and you never have to worry about oil changes. They even put stabilizer in the mix so that winterization is automatic for the forgetful. However, by nature of burning oil in the gas creates more pollution than a 4 stoke engine and the 2-cycle has been phased out of the lawn mower market in the US. Shame on me... but it was free!

My first experience with an electric lawn mower was when I was a kid. A neighbor lady in a house dress had this orange Black & Decker. I stood mesmerized waiting for her to mow over the cord, just waiting for the explosive lawn show. It never happened.

Posted in All posts from the start Electric Innovation

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I have debated the benefit of using an electric lawn mower over a gas powered mower for some time. I never spend more than about $10 for a lawn mower, as people usually throw them out and they still work with some cheap repair. My current mower is a free Lawn-boy. A friend put a new piston and rings in it after his brother-in-law ran it with straight gasoline which seized it.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), traditional gas-powered lawn mowers are a public nuisance to say the least. Using one of them for an hour generates as many volatile organic compounds--dangerous airborne pollutants known to exacerbate human respiratory and cardiovascular problems--as driving a typical car for 350 miles. The EPA estimates that, with some 54 million Americans mowing their lawns on a weekly basis, gas lawn mower emissions account for as much as five percent of the nation's total air pollution. Beyond that, homeowners spill some 17 million gallons of gasoline every year just refueling their lawn mowers. scientific american

About a month ago, I bought an electric lawn mower. I have used it for about a month in tandem with my gas powered mower to cut four different lawns. One lawn has no access to electric power. Follow along with this series as I share my observations.

Part II - 2-stokes, wires and batteries.

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Volkswagen AG. has started testing a new electricity-powered car engine and expects to launch the first cars fitted with it by 2010, chief executive Martin Winterkorn said.

VW said the technology allows cars to run on purely electricity powered engine for a distance of up to 50 kilometers (31 miles). hemscott.com

"While the e-motor on a typical hybrid model just supplements the combustion engine, the exact opposite is true on Twin Drive," Winterkorn said during the car's unveiling in Berlin. "Here the diesel or gasoline engine supplements the e-motor." Start-stop technology will save power and regenerative braking will help generate it. wired.com

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Roughly the size of a Toyota (TM) Prius, the Ox can travel between 125 and 155 miles before needing a recharge, and zips from zero to 60 miles per hour in about 8.5 seconds. Its lithium-ion batteries can be charged to 80% capacity in less than an hour, and slender solar panels integrated into the roof power the onboard electronics. Inside, the hatchback includes a bevy of high-tech gizmos such as GPS navigation, a mobile Internet connection, and a key fob that lets drivers customize the car's all-digital dashboard. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the company's current vehicles cost less than $25,000 businessweek.com

What is also interesting about the car, to be available here in 2009, is the company's ultra-lean manufacturing system that can build cars with a fraction of production costs of large car companies, allowing more regional production facilities that could cut transport costs.

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Toyota has developed a new fuel cell hybrid, powered by hydrogen, that can travel more than twice the distance of its predecessor model without filling up, the automaker said today.

The improved model's maximum cruising range is 516 miles compared with 205 miles. Fuel efficiency in the FCHV-adv was improved 25 percent. The new fuel cell vehicle can also start and run in temperatures as low as minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit. Cold temperatures are a big technological hurdle for fuel cells.

The vehicle will be available for leasing in Japan later this year. Rival Honda Motor Co.'s revamped fuel cell vehicle for leasing in California is rolling off a Japanese factory floor later this month.
(AP)

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GM announced plans Tuesday to roll out a second-generation version of the GM Hybrid system with a more powerful lithium-ion battery. The announcement comes just weeks after GM vice chairman Robert Luft called global warming a "total crock of s***."

The new system, powered by a Hitachi-supplied advanced lithium-ion battery, is expected to be nearly three times more powerful than the system it replaces. Overall fuel economy improvements for cars and trucks using the system are expected to rise up to 20%, depending on engine and vehicle application. informationweek.com

Posted in All posts from the start Electric Hybrid

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