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Let's talk some physics for a moment. The first law of dynamics, simply put, states that energy can neither be created, nor destroyed. Only altered. So, in the case of cars, we are taking energy that is stored in oil, and releasing it. Where did that energy come from? The sun. Think of it as fosselized sunlight. It's sunlight that hit the earth millions and millions of years ago. It was not destroyed, only altered, by plants. Specifically, marine plants. Which died before they could alter it, themselves, in the form of growth, or reproduction, or whatever they were using it for. Once they died, they sank to the bottom of the ocean, and got covered in dirt. Preserved. You see, usually, when a plant dies, it rots, and decomposes, and eventually becomes very energy rich soil. It is altered. But in this case, it was trapped under higher pressure, and mud. For millions of years. It rotted, and became, over that span of time, the oil we now know and love. When we burn it, we release that stored energy, and it gets used, generally for motion of some form or another.
Now, you take an object, any object. To move said object, it requires energy. If I were to move that object, with, say, my hand, it would require the same amount of energy actually being applied to the object, than, if, say, someone ELSE moved the object, or, if, say, the wind moved said object. Because, the object had not changed weight, or shape, or texture, from one method of movement to another.
Why all of this? To explain something really quite simple. No matter what we use, be it electricity, oil, natural gas, hydrogen, or wind...a car requires the same amount of energy being applied to it, in order to achieve the same amount of motion. The question is, from where can we derive the most energy, and, of the options, which is the most efficient, and these days, more importantly, which is less harmful to our environment. Where does electricity come from? Why, mostly, from fossil fuels, just like oil. Only, coal does not have NEAR the energy potential that oil has. It has less stored energy. In essence, then, it is less efficient. We can also generate electricity from the wind, and from water, by working in reverse...which is to say, by turning MOTION into electricity, instead of the other way around. But we can only ever generation as much energy this way as those forces can generate motion. In other words, not nearly enough to power all the worlds automobiles, as we currently stand.
In my mind, trying to make a car that runs on electricity is a step backwards. We already had them in the early 1900s, and ditched them, for the very same reasons they are not too popular now. Think about what electricity is, and what it takes to transport it. What happens when you try to power, say, a drill, with a 5 foot plug, from a wall socket? It runs fine, to tax to the grid at all. Now, whip out a 500 foot extension cord, and try to do the same. Not gonna work out so well for you. This is the inherent problem with it, as an energy source. Oil, on the other hand, does not release it's store of energy without a catalyst, typically, heat. Ideal.
But what of that other elusive source? Hydrogen?
Now, you take an object, any object. To move said object, it requires energy. If I were to move that object, with, say, my hand, it would require the same amount of energy actually being applied to the object, than, if, say, someone ELSE moved the object, or, if, say, the wind moved said object. Because, the object had not changed weight, or shape, or texture, from one method of movement to another.
Why all of this? To explain something really quite simple. No matter what we use, be it electricity, oil, natural gas, hydrogen, or wind...a car requires the same amount of energy being applied to it, in order to achieve the same amount of motion. The question is, from where can we derive the most energy, and, of the options, which is the most efficient, and these days, more importantly, which is less harmful to our environment. Where does electricity come from? Why, mostly, from fossil fuels, just like oil. Only, coal does not have NEAR the energy potential that oil has. It has less stored energy. In essence, then, it is less efficient. We can also generate electricity from the wind, and from water, by working in reverse...which is to say, by turning MOTION into electricity, instead of the other way around. But we can only ever generation as much energy this way as those forces can generate motion. In other words, not nearly enough to power all the worlds automobiles, as we currently stand.
In my mind, trying to make a car that runs on electricity is a step backwards. We already had them in the early 1900s, and ditched them, for the very same reasons they are not too popular now. Think about what electricity is, and what it takes to transport it. What happens when you try to power, say, a drill, with a 5 foot plug, from a wall socket? It runs fine, to tax to the grid at all. Now, whip out a 500 foot extension cord, and try to do the same. Not gonna work out so well for you. This is the inherent problem with it, as an energy source. Oil, on the other hand, does not release it's store of energy without a catalyst, typically, heat. Ideal.
But what of that other elusive source? Hydrogen?