phillips49

An Alternative to America’s Gasoline Crisis

The basic problem of alternatives to gasoline is infrastructure. The mobil fleet is based on liquid fuel and the entire infrastructure system supports liquid fuel.

CNG is a high pressure gas. Infrastructure does not exist to make it a practicle alternative even in the medium term. There are not stations on every block. It is also dangerous. Aside from being highly flammable, it is stored under high pressure and is subject to catastrophic failure and leakage.

The same problem exists with hydrogen. Cleaner but more flammable.

Electrical is also an infrastructure problem. Imagine what would happen to the grid when everybody got home at 5:30 and plugged in their car. A big fuse is going to blow someplace. And then there is the matter of battery disposal. They are hazardous. There would be alot of them. They don't last the life of a car. And there not convenient receptacles along the way for recharge. Not that you would want to wait 4 hours to get back home again.

Bio fuel, as we are finding out, is subject to weather. You cannot depend on its availability.

Our best shot is to use what we have, oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, wind, solar and conserve. That and a national effort to develop an economically available 100 mpg car.