The Dangers in Life.

When promoting electric vehicles I often run into people who defensively point out the problems with electric cars, and why they are not a solution. Something I've learned is that people are resistant to change; we all are. Change is threatening, it's unpredictable, it brings us the unfamiliar.

One problem that was once pointed out to me is that batteries are dangerous because they can explode or catch on fire. Do you remember the not too distant case of the notebook batteries that caught on fire and caused at least a couple of big companies not only bad publicity, but some financial damage as well because the batteries ended up being recalled? Well, that's the danger!

I wanted to point out that despite any challenges, dangers or difficulties, that nothing has stopped human beings from pursuing what they want. Think of it: how much more dangerous is it to carry at all times inside your car this fuel called gasoline, which is liquid and highly flammable? Because it's flammable, a flame or heat can cause an explosion. Because it's liquid (instead of gas) it does not evaporate in case of a leak, but rather stays right under the vehicle if it's not moving.

Yet we didn't let this danger stop us. We reinforced the gas tank and placed it in the back of the car as close to the ground as possible in order to protect the passengers. But the risk is still there. Technology has reduced the risk to a point that people don't even worry about an explosion anymore. But just throw a lit cigarette in your gas tank and you'll see that it will explode (no, don't do that).

Here's a recent video that captured an explosion at a gas station, thus reminding us that the risk still exists despite gasoline being the ubiquitous fuel at the moment.

Note: this video may be too graphic to some, so you've been warned!

The Dangers in Life.

When promoting electric vehicles I often run into people who defensively point out the problems with electric cars, and why they are not a solution. Something I've learned is that people are resistant to change; we all are. Change is threatening, it's unpredictable, it brings us the unfamiliar.

One problem that was once pointed out to me is that batteries are dangerous because they can explode or catch on fire. Do you remember the not too distant case of the notebook batteries that caught on fire and caused at least a couple of big companies not only bad publicity, but some financial damage as well because the batteries ended up being recalled? Well, that's the danger!

I wanted to point out that despite any challenges, dangers or difficulties, that nothing has stopped human beings from pursuing what they want. Think of it: how much more dangerous is it to carry at all times inside your car this fuel called gasoline, which is liquid and highly flammable? Because it's flammable, a flame or heat can cause an explosion. Because it's liquid (instead of gas) it does not evaporate in case of a leak, but rather stays right under the vehicle if it's not moving.

Yet we didn't let this danger stop us. We reinforced the gas tank and placed it in the back of the car as close to the ground as possible in order to protect the passengers. But the risk is still there. Technology has reduced the risk to a point that people don't even worry about an explosion anymore. But just throw a lit cigarette in your gas tank and you'll see that it will explode (no, don't do that).

Here's a recent video that captured an explosion at a gas station, thus reminding us that the risk still exists despite gasoline being the ubiquitous fuel at the moment.

Note: this video may be too graphic to some, so you've been warned!

The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute film that takes viewers on a provocative and eye-opening tour of the real costs of our consumer driven culture—from resource extraction to iPod incineration.

Annie Leonard, an activist who has spent the past 10 years traveling the globe fighting environmental threats, narrates the Story of Stuff, delivering a rapid-fire, often humorous and always engaging story about “all our stuff—where it comes from and where it goes when we throw it away.” Leonard examines the real costs of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal, and she isolates the moment in history where she says the trend of consumption mania began. The Story of Stuff examines how economic policies of the post-World War II era ushered in notions of “planned obsolescence” and “perceived obsolescence” —and how these notions are still driving much of the U.S. and global economies today.

Leonard’s inspiration for the film began as a personal musing over the question, “Where does all the stuff we buy come from, and where does it go when we throw it out?” She traveled the world in pursuit of the answer to this seemingly innocent question, and what she found along the way were some very guilty participants and their unfortunate victims.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute film that takes viewers on a provocative and eye-opening tour of the real costs of our consumer driven culture—from resource extraction to iPod incineration.

Annie Leonard, an activist who has spent the past 10 years traveling the globe fighting environmental threats, narrates the Story of Stuff, delivering a rapid-fire, often humorous and always engaging story about “all our stuff—where it comes from and where it goes when we throw it away.” Leonard examines the real costs of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal, and she isolates the moment in history where she says the trend of consumption mania began. The Story of Stuff examines how economic policies of the post-World War II era ushered in notions of “planned obsolescence” and “perceived obsolescence” —and how these notions are still driving much of the U.S. and global economies today.

Leonard’s inspiration for the film began as a personal musing over the question, “Where does all the stuff we buy come from, and where does it go when we throw it out?” She traveled the world in pursuit of the answer to this seemingly innocent question, and what she found along the way were some very guilty participants and their unfortunate victims.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

COMET-Spark-EV

http://www.spark-ev.com/comet.html#

COMET-Spark-EV EXCLUSIVE !
(Available late 2007/early 2008)

The COMET is a Spark-EV EXCLUSIVE - Coachwork designed by renowned automotive designer Gianpaolo Alvino of Italy, with drivetrain designed and built in America, this vehicle is manufactured by Spark-EV in the USA.

Purpose-built as a luxury electric commuter vehicle, the Carbon-Fiber body, leather interior, premium electronics, navigation, and entertainment system, all testify that no expense was spared in the creation of this top-end vehicle.

Fully equiped with air conditioning, heat, and heads-up displays, the myth that an electric car is in some way a sacrifice is forever shattered. Superb handling, blinding acceleration, the experience is like no other.

- 90+MPH, 200 Mile Range
- Carbon Fiber/Kevlar Monocoque Body
- Luxury Interior
- Made in the USA

Price: $32,950.00

COMET-Spark-EV

http://www.spark-ev.com/comet.html#

COMET-Spark-EV EXCLUSIVE !
(Available late 2007/early 2008)

The COMET is a Spark-EV EXCLUSIVE - Coachwork designed by renowned automotive designer Gianpaolo Alvino of Italy, with drivetrain designed and built in America, this vehicle is manufactured by Spark-EV in the USA.

Purpose-built as a luxury electric commuter vehicle, the Carbon-Fiber body, leather interior, premium electronics, navigation, and entertainment system, all testify that no expense was spared in the creation of this top-end vehicle.

Fully equiped with air conditioning, heat, and heads-up displays, the myth that an electric car is in some way a sacrifice is forever shattered. Superb handling, blinding acceleration, the experience is like no other.

- 90+MPH, 200 Mile Range
- Carbon Fiber/Kevlar Monocoque Body
- Luxury Interior
- Made in the USA

Price: $32,950.00

The Recycling Machine.

Posting a link and the content of a web site that talks about this revolutionary product called "the recycling machine".

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2007/innovator_2.html

INNOVATORS

Left: Frank Pringle [right] and Hawk Hogan [left] feed the Hawk recycler, which extracts oil and gas from waste like tires.

Green Tech
THE MICROWAVE MAGICIAN

Frank Pringle has found a way to squeeze oil and gas from just about anything

I’m not sure if I’m watching a magic trick, or an invention that will make the cigar-chomping 64-year-old next to me the richest man on the planet. Everything that goes into Frank Pringle’s recycling machine—a piece of tire, a rock, a plastic cup—turns to oil and natural gas seconds later. “I’ve been told the oil companies might try to assassinate me,” Pringle says without sarcasm.

The machine is a microwave emitter that extracts the petroleum and gas hidden inside everyday objects—or at least anything made with hydrocarbons, which, it turns out, is most of what’s around you. Every hour, the first commercial version will turn 10 tons of auto waste—tires, plastic, vinyl—into enough natural gas to produce 17 million BTUs of energy (it will use 956,000 of those BTUs to keep itself running).

Pringle created the machine about 10 years ago after he drove by a massive tire fire and thought about the energy being released. He went home and threw bits of a tire in a microwave emitter he’d been working with for another project. It turned to what looked like ash, but a few hours later, he returned and found a black puddle on the floor of the unheated workshop. Somehow, he’d struck oil.

Or rather, he had extracted it. Petroleum is composed of strings of hydrocarbon molecules. When microwaves hit the tire, they crack the molecular chains and break it into its component parts: carbon black (an ash-like raw material) and hydrocarbon gases, which can be burned or condensed into liquid fuel. Pringle figured that some gases from his microwaved tire had lingered, and the cold air in the shop had condensed them into diesel. If the process worked on tires, he thought, it should work on anything with hydrocarbons. The trick was in finding the optimum microwave frequency for each material—out of 10 million possibilities.

Pringle has spent 10 years and $1 million homing in on frequencies for hundreds of materials. In 2004 he teamed up with engineer pal Hawk Hogan to take the machine commercial.

Their first order is under construction in Rockford, Illinois. It’s a $5.1-million microwave machine the size of small bus called the Hawk, bound for an auto-recycler in Long Island, New York. More deals loom: The U.S. military may use Hawks in Iraq on waste such as water bottles and food containers. Oil companies are looking to the machines to gasify petroleum trapped in shale.

Back at the shop, Pringle is still zapping new materials. A sample labeled “bituminous coal” goes in and, 15 seconds later, Pringle ignites the resulting gas. “You see,” he says, “why they might want to kill me.” —RENA MARIE PACELLA

The Recycling Machine.

Posting a link and the content of a web site that talks about this revolutionary product called "the recycling machine".

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2007/innovator_2.html

INNOVATORS

Left: Frank Pringle [right] and Hawk Hogan [left] feed the Hawk recycler, which extracts oil and gas from waste like tires.

Green Tech
THE MICROWAVE MAGICIAN

Frank Pringle has found a way to squeeze oil and gas from just about anything

I’m not sure if I’m watching a magic trick, or an invention that will make the cigar-chomping 64-year-old next to me the richest man on the planet. Everything that goes into Frank Pringle’s recycling machine—a piece of tire, a rock, a plastic cup—turns to oil and natural gas seconds later. “I’ve been told the oil companies might try to assassinate me,” Pringle says without sarcasm.

The machine is a microwave emitter that extracts the petroleum and gas hidden inside everyday objects—or at least anything made with hydrocarbons, which, it turns out, is most of what’s around you. Every hour, the first commercial version will turn 10 tons of auto waste—tires, plastic, vinyl—into enough natural gas to produce 17 million BTUs of energy (it will use 956,000 of those BTUs to keep itself running).

Pringle created the machine about 10 years ago after he drove by a massive tire fire and thought about the energy being released. He went home and threw bits of a tire in a microwave emitter he’d been working with for another project. It turned to what looked like ash, but a few hours later, he returned and found a black puddle on the floor of the unheated workshop. Somehow, he’d struck oil.

Or rather, he had extracted it. Petroleum is composed of strings of hydrocarbon molecules. When microwaves hit the tire, they crack the molecular chains and break it into its component parts: carbon black (an ash-like raw material) and hydrocarbon gases, which can be burned or condensed into liquid fuel. Pringle figured that some gases from his microwaved tire had lingered, and the cold air in the shop had condensed them into diesel. If the process worked on tires, he thought, it should work on anything with hydrocarbons. The trick was in finding the optimum microwave frequency for each material—out of 10 million possibilities.

Pringle has spent 10 years and $1 million homing in on frequencies for hundreds of materials. In 2004 he teamed up with engineer pal Hawk Hogan to take the machine commercial.

Their first order is under construction in Rockford, Illinois. It’s a $5.1-million microwave machine the size of small bus called the Hawk, bound for an auto-recycler in Long Island, New York. More deals loom: The U.S. military may use Hawks in Iraq on waste such as water bottles and food containers. Oil companies are looking to the machines to gasify petroleum trapped in shale.

Back at the shop, Pringle is still zapping new materials. A sample labeled “bituminous coal” goes in and, 15 seconds later, Pringle ignites the resulting gas. “You see,” he says, “why they might want to kill me.” —RENA MARIE PACELLA