Posted by Max Dunn
Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:47:47 GMT | no comments
RAV4-EV owners have a very high level of satisfaction with their electric cars. In particular, they pleased that their RAV4-EV NiMH batteries are still going strong past 100,000 miles and are only showing signs of slowing down when they start approaching 150,000 miles. As Avi Shai reported on the RAV4-EV mailing list:
Mine is at 146,037 miles. It sure is showing signs of advanced age.
The maximum SOC I see, after full charging, is around 92%. The volt meter movement is almost directly coupled to the accelerator paddle. Even moderate acceleration causes the needle to deep precipitously close to the yellow range. Going uphill is a risky business and I try to stay in the right lane and go slow (60-65 mph) otherwise I get a visit from the turtle.
The car still fatefully does the job it was intended to, and it takes me through my 90+ miles daily commute with no problem (charging at both ends).
So even though Avi’s batteries are definitely worn down, they still get him to work and back, which is a commute of over 90 miles. And this is on battery technology that is over 10 years old. With real-world experience like this, who can still say that battery technology isn’t ready yet to support electric vehicles?
Posted in Electric Vehicles
Posted by Max Dunn
Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:38:48 GMT | 4 comments
How much would it cost to build a solar nation? Here are some interesting numbers:
The IEA estimates that it will take a worldwide investment of $5.4 trillion dollars in oil exploration and development in order to meet the demand for oil in 2030, if oil usage continues to grow at its current rate. Since the U.S. uses about 25% of the worlds oil, our cost would be about $1.35 trillion.
Scientific American estimates that if we provide less than a third of this amount as a subsidy – $420 billion – then we can build a solar collection, storage and distribution system that would provide 69% of America’s electricity and 35% of it’s total energy by 2050.
So, can anyone say that building a solar nation is too expensive?
Posted in Global Warming, Peak Oil
Posted by Max Dunn
Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:08:48 GMT | no comments
Today I went to an interesting Energy Seminar at Stanford. The speaker was Scott Elrod who works for Parc and studied Applied Physics at Stanford. He was talking about a product they are working on called the SolFocus which is a concentrating solar collector and their hope is to get this down to $1/watt. Here are the notes from the talk:
Read more...
Posted in Peak Oil
Posted by Max Dunn
Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:36:00 GMT | no comments
Last night, NOVA broadcast an interesting and informative show about cars of the future. It includes segments on ethanol, biofuels, hydrogen, plug-in bybrids and electric cars. You can watch it online at:
NOVA – Car of the Future
Posted in Electric Vehicles
Posted by Max Dunn
Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:05:49 GMT | no comments
China has overtaken the U.S. as the world’s biggest contributor to CO2 emissions, and a new study shows it growing much faster than expected.
Previously, experts put growth at 2.5% to 5% per year, but the real rate may be 11%, according to a new study. If this is the case, then between 2000 and 2010, the increase in China’s CO2 emissions will be more than 5 times greater than all the reductions that were expected under the Kyoto Protocol.
(From BusinessWeek, March 24, 2008)
Posted in Global Warming
Posted by Max Dunn
Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:33:12 GMT | 1 comment
A new $3.2 million hydrogen fueling station opened in Sacramento last week that has 80kW of solar PV panels are used to produce the hydrogen, so it won’t use any outside energy. Let’s take a look at how efficient this is:
SOLAR OUTPUT:
- 80 kW * 5hrs = 400 kWh per day
WITH FUEL CELL CARS:
- 400 kWh / 65 kWh per kG (Stuart Energy) = ~6 kG per day (AT 5000 PSI)
- 6 kG * 45 miles per kG = 270 miles per day
- 100,000 miles per year
WITH ELECTRIC CARS :
- 400 KWH * 3 miles per kWh (RAV4 EV) = 1200 EV miles per day
- 438,000 miles per year
Considering the solar array probably cost probably cost around $10/watt, or $800,000 out of $3,200,000, the hydrogen “refueling station” cost approximately $2,400,000.
If that money had been used to build $2,400,000 of solar installation plus $800,000 of EV chargers – about 240 kW of solar and 160 EV charger stations – enough for well over a million miles per year (80 cars worth) instead of just a hundred thousand hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle miles (8 cars worth). So the hydrogen fueling station is only 10% as efficient as building solar recharging stations for battery electric vehicles.
(From RAV4-EV Digest, Vol 58, Issue 12, comment by William Korthof of EESolar)
Posted in Electric Vehicles
Posted by Max Dunn
Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:58:34 GMT | 6 comments
With gas prices spiking up, it is interesting to look at the breakdown of the cost of a gallon of gasoline.
A barrel of oil holds 42 gallons. So if oil is at $100 per barrel, a gallon would cost about $2.40. Refining the oil adds another $0.35 and taxes about $0.65 (in California). Add another $0.10 for distribution, marketing and profits, and you have a gallon of gas costing $3.50.
Using these same numbers, if oil goes to $200/barrel, a gallon of gas will cost almost $6!
Posted in Peak Oil
Posted by Max Dunn
Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:26:58 GMT | no comments
The other day, I was talking to my friend Bill Keller about the best way to hire people. He mentioned that it was important to have a defined company culture and to hire people that fit in with that culture. I thought this was a good idea. We also agreed that the normal process of interviewing people across a desk was almost worthless and only proved whether people had interviewing skills, but not whether they had the necessary job skills.
Another thing we agreed on was that most people will only hire people that are not as good as they are. Generally this is a self confidence issue because people worry that the person they hire could take over their job.
I certainly have fallen into this, in particular in a job a had right before I graduated from college. I had to hire a programmer to continue my work while I went home to fulfill a summer obligation. I was very conscious to hire someone that was good, but not too good so that I would have a job when I got back!
So if this is how most people behave, what happens when you allow a large group of people to decide who to hire? You end up with someone that is less capable than everyone making the decision!
So while it is good to involve other people in the hiring process and get their feedback, the worst thing to do when hiring someone is to do it based on the consensus of a group.
Posted in Random Thoughts
Posted by Max Dunn
Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:30:28 GMT | no comments
The Surfline report said this morning about 38th Street:
Pretty much flat this morning
and about Pleasure Point
Maybe you could get up on a longboard but its pretty desperate.
Well Mark and I went anyways and were rewarded with a fantastic day of surf. For the first 40 minutes, we were the only two out at 38th Street. Then a few other people came, but it never got crowded. The waves weren’t big, lots of 2 and 3 foot waves, but they had nice shape and Mark and I caught a ton of waves and had a great time practicing walking on the board. The water was still a little cold, but the sun was out and the weather was nice and warm. I am not sure if Surfline meant this as an April’s Fool joke, but the bad report sure kept away the crowds and made it a fantastabulous day for us!
Posted in Random Thoughts
Posted by Max Dunn
Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:48:20 GMT | 1 comment
It is amazing how distorted a story can be when you hear only rumors about it. For instance, it was my impression that the recent trouble in Tibet was caused by the Chinese cracking down on the Tibetans, and this was also the impression of several people I talked to. But then I read “Trashing the Beijing Road” in the March 22nd, 2008 edition of The Economist and got quite a different picture.
It turns out that it wasn’t the Chinese security forces that started the trouble – the Tibetans started rioting after hearing rumors that the police beat a couple of Buddhist monks. The Tibetans smashed into non-Tibetans shops, pulling merchandise from the stores and lighting it on fire. Many Han Chinese were quick to flee, otherwise the death toll might have been much higher than the 13 people the government reported were killed by rioters, mostly in fires. Shops owned by Tibetans were marked with traditional white scarves – almost every other one was wrecked. During the night, fire trucks were sent in, backed by armored personnel carriers with riot police, to put out the biggest fires. But the police did not immediately move into the alleys where rioting continued for a second day.
Overall, the efforts of the security forces appeared relatively measured. Rather than going in with guns blazing, which was the tactic used in the last outbreak of anti-Chinese unrest in Lhasa in 1989, they chose to let the rioters vent their anger, then gradually go in several days later. The government’s decision not to declare martial law showed its concern about the Olympics, since the Olympic flame is due to arrive in Lhasa on June 20th.
While the rioting was started by the Tibetans, the Chinese government is not completely blameless. The surge of spending in Tibet and the region’s high growth rate has been seen as benefitting mostly the Han Chinese. Tibetans also resent the hardline tactics of Tibet’s party chief – a Han – who is seen as harassing the Tibetans and stepping up the official criticism of the Dalai Lama. Nonetheless, whether or not it was true the the monks were beaten, it was the Tibetans that started the riots and the security forces that showed restraint.
So here is an example where the real facts of a story were quite different from the initial impression. We should all keep this in mind when hearing rumors and wait for the full story before making any judgments.
Posted in Random Thoughts