Alec Cameron said the following to MIKE ROSS on the subject of
Engine Design (29 Sep 97  17:06:30)
 AC> On (26 Sep 97) MIKE ROSS wrote to Alec Cameron...
 MR> Alec Cameron said the following to Roy J. Tellason on the subject of
 MR> Engine Design (24 Sep 97  18:50:10)
 MR> Don't forget hybrid technology. This increases the usage efficieny out
 MR> of every drop of gas by an IC engine a whole lot. Because it runs the IC
 MR> engine at constant speed at its most efficient RPM, driving an
 MR> electrical generator to charge a battery and/or flywheel, it can cut gas
 MR> consumption dramatically.
 AC> I like the hybrid idea, as it means that in city crawl, the engine can
 AC> be cut and the battery do its thing quite adequately without stinkin'
 AC> the air. And on the open road run the IC engine.   Downhill, or while
 AC> braking the polarities reverse so that the IC engine plus vehicle
 AC> momentum drive good energy into the battery.
 AC> I heard 1000 miles per tankful using a turbine
 MR> IC engine for a typical size U.S.A. car on a home power tv show 
cently.
 AC> This "hybrid" was known and theorised more than 40 years ago. Where
 AC> the hell are the working prototypes?
 AC>
 MR> Gas/electric stations could store energy by trickle charging large
 MR> underground flywheels. Then quickly charge a customer's car without
 MR> any heavy drain to the grid. Thus no need to upgrade the electric grid.
 AC> Wrong. There is a need, notably at the generating stations 'cos if you
 AC> consume increased energy at the load centres, then you gotta burn more
 AC> coal/ gas/ oil whatever in the generating stations. Grid capacity would
 AC> have to meet this increase but the "trickle" you speak of would
 AC> certainly hold down the required increase in line and substations'
 AC> capacities.
 AC> Hey! those flywheels. Any chance of Earth being knocked of its orbit
 AC> in the event of a major fault throwing an entire nation off line!? For
 AC> every action there is an equal and opposite Reaction [Isaac Newton-
 AC> another crazy Brit]
 AC> Incidentally, to "quickly" charge a customer's car needs at least 5
 AC> hours. I guess you mean "partly charge" ie thump in some charge during
 AC> a lunch break.
 AC> Cheers....ALEC
Okay, another tidbit I remember from that pbs homepower show is that the
flywheel used in the Rosen Motors hybrid turbine powertrain will spin on
for 6 weeks after the engine is shut off.
As for the grid upgrade, yes, I agree there would be an increased total
energy consumption. However what if instead of each car burning the fuel
inefficiently, the garage station does it for you in generating its own
power and spining its own giant flywheels underground.
When you're low on power you drive up to the station and get your own
flywheel spun back up to speed with some charge top off and away you go.
The concept of local energy generation isn't new either but it may
sometimes be more efficient than long distance generation and transport.
 Mike
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