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Comment by Eric Koch on November 28, 2008 at 7:25am

Maglev is a smarter way to say good-bye to oil



22 October 2008



Our economy, standard of living, and national security in the U.S. depend on efficient, effective, and affordable autos, trucks, airplanes, and trains. But rapidly escalating oil prices and America's increasing dependence on expensive oil imports from hostile and politically unstable countries threatens all three. The situation, bad as it is now, will get much worse in the coming years as world oil production declines.



The major mode of transport in the 21st century will be electric autos and trucks, and maglev (Magnetic Levitation). Oil-fueled autos and trucks will become as obsolete as coal-fired trains are today.



Why will this happen?



World oil reserves are running out while demand keeps rising.
There are no practical alternative fuels to oil. Biofuels can meet only a tiny fraction of U.S. transport needs and they drive up food prices. Hydrogen fuel requires impossible amounts of energy to produce it, and has insurmountable safety and security problems. Synfuels from coal and oil shale will greatly increase carbon dioxide emissions, speeding up global warming.
Oil-fueled transport is a major cause of global warming, due to the carbon dioxide emissions from its tailpipes. As the developing world adopts the American lifestyle, global warming will rapidly accelerate, with incredible damage to the environment and human society.
Even though modern maglev was invented by two American scientists - Drs. James Powell and Gordon Danby in the 1960's - the U.S. is behind the curve in the development of electric transport. The federal government started a maglev research program, but dropped it in 1973. However, other countries took up the slack and now lead the world in operating first generation maglev systems.



Japan's first-generation Superconducting Maglev system, which is based on the 1960's inventions of Powell and Danby, has carried over 50,000 passengers and holds the world ground speed record of 361 mph. Japan plans to build a 300 mph maglev line between Tokyo and Osaka that will carry over 100,000 passengers daily. Germany has also developed a first-generation maglev that uses conventional electromagnets rather than superconducting magnets. The maglev train in Shanghai, China, was built by Germany.



-James Jordan, DC Examiner Staff Writer
President of the Interstate Maglev Project



[Source: http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/Maglev_is_a_smarter_way_to_say_good-bye_to_oil.html]

Comment by Eric Koch on November 27, 2008 at 7:27am

Nicely put....

Comment by Oscar on November 25, 2008 at 5:23pm

People have to learn that: No matter how hungry you think you are. When you find a fruit under the tree, you should look at the other side before you eat it.

Comment by Eric Koch on November 24, 2008 at 7:49am

don't meen to change the subject.....just stoping by to tack this poster up.

The bridge to the future seem to be collapsing under the weight of minds chained to boat anchors resembling automobiles (of any kind) A gallon of gas is the equivalent of 500 human hours of labor, so the future may see some changes. Even the lowest-paid worker might baulk at wages of a penny an hour -- when gas is $5 a gallon. http://www.lifeafte rtheoilcrash. net/Research. html#anchor_ 71

we have "discharged" the plethora of condensed solar energy called oil ,that took millions of years to create under very energy intensive pressures and heat...in the span of a few hundred years( give it up ).....reconfiguring our systems to operate on available ambient is going to require copious amounts of energy from every available resource,and a commitment to frugality(after being given a warning, non human powered"recreational" vehicle operators may be shot on sight )...if your legs work, use them...there are simple machines widely distributed that will allow you to increase your mechanical advantage for transportation purposes (they are called bicycles).....

Reqauntifying energy to a common unit:our current agricultural machine puts food on the plate at an efficiency of ten calories in/ one calorie out..

http://push.pickensplan.com/group/suburbanconvertionproject

Comment by Oscar on November 23, 2008 at 8:12pm

I was just trying to remember the last time gasoline was $1.79. Maybe 2000? When Hugo Chavez was selling Venezuallan oil for $8. bbl. It ran many independent oil and NG drillers out of business. That is why we import such a high percentage of oil. It is starting to smell familiar.

Comment by Eric Koch on November 22, 2008 at 11:08am

We need to install enough Big Wind to displace Grid Coal...

Comment by Oscar on November 22, 2008 at 8:57am

Eric I would be interested in expanding on the green NG for reconfiguration subject. What is a good starting point for this thread to create ideas that may be inspirational for the doers in the PP.

Comment by Eric Koch on November 22, 2008 at 8:40am

Oscar is right about the need to continue sequestering NG from the byproducts of our current failing mechanisms of existence...but we need to use this "green" NG for reconfiguration ( a systemic change that will require frugality and copious amounts of carefully thought out energy usage). it's as simple as that.

so now i'd like to thank Oscar for the inspirational rigmarole that triggered this informative inelaboration....i am an artist.. more ,i think sometimes,than any thing else.....and can appreciate dissonance...chin up Oscar.

Comment by Eric Koch on November 21, 2008 at 9:09pm

I'm getting sick of running around and cleaning up your dropings oscar.

Lester R. Brown. an award winning environmental analyst, is founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute, a nonprofit inter disiplinary research organization,founded in May 2001,and based in Washington D.C. Author of : Plan B (rescuing a planet under stress and a civilization in trouble ) coppyright 2003

Comment by Oscar 1 hour ago
No I don't think that much work went into that paper as I have read portions of that paper without the substituted words. Otherwise it would have been verbatim.

Comment by Eric Koch 6 hours ago
Really, the important concept to grasp here is leaveing NG in the power pie and useing the Wind to Displace Coal....

Please, try to be flexible...Alot of work went into that paper,i'm shure of it.

Comment by Eric Koch 6 hours ago

Actually Oscar,

If the green electricity is generated by natural gas that is a sequestered byproduct.....See:)...It's all in the way ya tilt your head...give it a try, and lighten up abit....k

Comment by Steve on November 21, 2008 at 2:10pm

Yeah, agreed. But what really gets me upset is that it costs the same to make a NG internal combustion engine or flex fuel internal combustion engine as it does to make the millions of cars that won't burn either. Just make them, automakers! They will get bought! Millions of people would by a vehicle and a PHILL, or whatever that home fueling device is. Anyone with natural gas heat would be a candidate. How many of us are there in Wisconsin who could use one. I sure could! To GM's credit they are slowly getting flef fuel cars out there, but SLOWLY is the key. They FINALLY, for 2009 got a 4 cyl flex fuel in the HHR. And in this state, etahanol is everywhere. If I were the big three, I'd have one CNG sedan and one CNG SUV on the market by 2010, but they wont.

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