I hear there making these...
Posted on 02/20/2006 2:41:33 PM PST by Angus MacGregor
Bush: U.S. on Verge of Energy Breakthrough
Feb 20, 4:44 PM (ET)
By DEB RIECHMANN
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Saying the nation is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that would "startle" most Americans, President Bush on Monday outlined his energy proposals to help wean the country off foreign oil.
Less than half the crude oil used by refineries is produced in the United States, while 60 percent comes from foreign nations, Bush said during the first stop on a two-day trip to talk about energy.
Some of these foreign suppliers have "unstable" governments that have fundamental differences with America, he said.
"It creates a national security issue and we're held hostage for energy by foreign nations that may not like us," Bush said.
Bush is focusing on energy at a time when Americans are paying high power bills to heat their homes this winter and have only recently seen a decrease in gasoline prices.
One of Bush's proposals would expand research into smaller, longer-lasting batteries for electric-gas hybrid cars, including plug-ins. He highlighted that initiative with a visit Monday to the battery center at Milwaukee-based auto-parts supplier Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI)
During his trip, Bush is also focusing on a proposal to increase investment in development of clean electric power sources, and proposals to speed the development of biofuels such as "cellulosic" ethanol made from wood chips or sawgrass.
Energy conservation groups and environmentalists say they're pleased that the president, a former oil man in Texas, is stressing alternative sources of energy, but they contend his proposals don't go far enough. They say the administration must consider greater fuel-efficiency standards for cars, and some economists believe it's best to increase the gas tax to force consumers to change their driving habits.
During his visit to Johnson Controls' new hybrid battery laboratory, Bush checked out two Ford Escapes - one with a nickel-metal-hybrid battery, the kind that powers most hybrid-electric vehicles, and one with a lithium-ion battery, which Johnson Controls believes are the wave of the future. The lithium-ion battery was about half the size of the older-model battery. In 2004, Johnson Controls received a government contract to develop the lithium-ion batteries.
While Bush is highlighting his budget proposals to help wean America from foreign oil, the lab he visited is meeting a $28 million shortfall by cutting its staff by 32 people, including eight researchers.
"Our nation is on the threshold of new energy technology that I think will startle the American people," Bush said. "We're on the edge of some amazing breakthroughs - breakthroughs all aimed at enhancing our national security and our economic security and the quality of life of the folks who live here in the United States."
Later Monday, Bush was visiting the United Solar Ovonics Plant, which makes solar panels, in Auburn Hills, Mich., outside Detroit. The company also works on hydrogen fuel cells to power autos.
"Roof makers will one day be able to make a solar roof that protects you from the elements and at the same time, powers your house," Bush said. "The vision is this - that technology will become so efficient that you'll become a little power generator in your home, and if you don't use the energy you generate you'll be able to feed it back into the electricity grid."
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., questioned Bush's energy policies Monday, saying the administration also supports subsidies for luxury SUVs.
"This single tax subsidy dwarfs anything being done for hybrid batteries," Markey said in a news release.
On Tuesday, Bush plans to visit the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., to talk about speeding the development of biofuels.
As a complement to Bush's travels, six Cabinet officials are crisscrossing the nation this week, appearing at more than two dozen energy events in more than a dozen states.
I sure hope so! It has been a long time coming!
Saying the nation is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that would "startle" most Americans...
I want my flying car.
Back in 2001, some Cabinet Secretary said the US Economy was about to enter a Golden Era
Just like the border has been clamped down on and secured.
Just like Americans have been given the freedom to control their own retirement instead of being forced to support the Social Security Ponzi Scheme.
Sounds like an excuse to use the Credit Card of Future Generations to spend MORE MORE MORE.
They said that about the Segway scooter... LOL!
"Our nation is on the threshold of new energy technology that I think will startle the American people,"
Hmm. I hope he hasn't been reading any cold fusion articles!
I guess I don't startle that easily. The repeatable "cold fusion" recently announced is interesting, but has no energy ramifications for the time being.
I figured that someone would finally harness Reid's, Kennedy's, Gore's, Dean's and Hill's hot gas for a new form of energy. Then global warming would be in the past.
I hear there making these...
Why? We get their bankroll just as their income stream is about to take a big hit. We can buy the ports back from them when they come begging later. At a good discount, of course.
You weren't startled by the Segway Scooter?
I'm interested in bio-fuels myself, and I'm really curious about the bio-mass to diesel process...
I think the thing that most bio-fuel critics miss is that most
of the material for potential bio-fuel is ALREADY being harvested - it just goes to waste. To be able to convert unused, already harvested materials into fuel would certainly be sound, as long as the process did not take more fuel than it created.
Runs off the trash in your house.
http://www.tomvalentine.com/html/karrick2.html
http://www.rexresearch.com/karrick/karric~1.htm
There is a special place in hell for those of you who repeatedly post this picture of Ted Kennedy. Odd how I never see this one over at DU.
We are drilling straight thru the earth and going to suck Saudi oil out from under them.
pass it around
"Saying the nation is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that would "startle" most Americans..."
I was on a thread a few weeks ago, where there was speculation that all the recent international interest in returning to the moon could be being spurred by a breakthrough or near breakthrough with fusion. The moon is rich in He3.
Did they find fully charged ZPMs??? Or a Naquida source and plans for Naquida generators?????
Now, a transporter beam, like in Star Trek... THAT would be startling... the discovery of jump gates to distant galaxies... THAT would be startling...
but as it is, the only thing that is truly startling is just how slowly we have progressed (just look back at movies from the 60's, like 2001, and how far advanced they thought we'd be by now). We had a quick spurt of startling changes in the first half of the 20th century, and ever since then, it has basically been nothing more than improving on technologies that we already had.
"Runs off the trash in your house."
My old neighbors could've used something like that, lol.
Good idea.
Maybe Bush was talking about this.
The blogosphere was buzzing last week over a posting at NewTechSpy.com, which claimed that Ford Motor Co. is planning to come out with a hybrid version of its top selling F-150 pickup truck that would get the same mileage as the much smaller Toyota Prius.
The secret sauce? Ford's hybrid would be based on a made-in-the-U.S.A. hydraulic propulsion system, rather than the high-tech batteries associated with most hybrid-electric imports. The website claims that Ford will introduce the product in August 2008, though no sources were cited.
Could this home-grown hybrid technology be America's way of pulling ahead in an auto-efficiency race long dominated by the Japanese?
Call it wild speculation, but the F-150 rumour — while perhaps exaggerated — isn't entirely without substance.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed a year ago that its transportation lab in Ann Arbor, Mich., has patented a hybrid-hydraulic technology and is working with the U.S. Army, United Parcel Service, auto parts giant Eaton Corp. and — you guessed it — Ford, in an effort to bring the new design to the U.S. marketplace.
In fact, the agency has already modified a Ford Expedition SUV with the technology, and came to the conclusion it could improve the fuel economy by 55 per cent or more while adding less than $1,000 to the cost of the vehicle. "A consumer would recoup the higher vehicle cost in less than 3 years through fuel savings and less brake wear," the agency says on its website.
This assumes volume production of at least 100,000 vehicles a year and 70-cent-per-litre gas. Depending on how much a person drives, and given that gas prices have already shot past $1 over the past year, the payback on the premium could be less than 12 months.
What this suggests is that the technology has the potential to outperform the hybrid-electric approach when it comes to efficiency gains and cost. "The numbers look very attractive," says Chris Grundler, director of the EPA's transportation lab. "We'll see where it goes."
A typical hybrid-electric vehicle combines a smaller-than-normal gasoline engine with a battery-powered electric motor that is recharged while driving and braking. The vehicle switches between gas mode and electric mode, or runs both at the same time, depending on driving requirements.
An in-car computer system manages this complex interplay between electric and gas mode, and the end result is improved mileage and reduced emissions. A Honda Civic Hybrid, for example, is roughly 50 per cent more fuel-efficient than a non-hybrid version, resulting in a proportionate reduction in fossil-fuel emissions.
But hybrid-electric systems are expensive, adding about $3,000 to the price of a compact car like the Civic. The cost tends to grow as the size of the vehicle increases, and after eight years or more the battery system must be replaced — a costly exercise that many hybrid owners tend to overlook.
"If you talk privately with the automakers, they're facing very big cost challenges with the battery-electric hybrids, and a lot of that comes from the battery," says Grundler.
In a hybrid-hydraulic system envisioned by the EPA, a small gas or diesel engine operates at a constant level and pumps hydraulic fluid into high-pressure cylinders. Pressure is then released to provide acceleration. Energy from braking is also captured in hydraulic form, adding more efficiency to the design.
"The components are also cheaper and the system is less complicated (than a hybrid-electric)," says Grundler. "That translates into reliability and cost benefits."
He says hydraulic systems provide torque and acceleration that battery-based hybrids can't. But he concedes the technology is ideal for larger vehicles — SUVs, pickups trucks, delivery and fleet vehicles — because elements of the design benefit from a larger chassis.
That's precisely why it's not so outlandish that Ford might consider the technology for its popular F-150 pickup, a monster of a vehicle that's likely to experience the type of stop-and-go driving that make hybrids ideal. Grundler says that day may come, but he doesn't think Ford is ready to take that plunge.
"I think their hydraulic work has been put on hold as they launch their Escape battery-electric hybrid," he says. "To make a commitment to a new kind of technology is a big decision for an automaker. Will it be clean diesel, electric hybrids, hydraulic hybrids, or renewable fuel vehicles? It's not like U.S. companies have a lot of R&D dollars lying around for a broad portfolio. They've got to make one or two bets."
Still, the EPA director is optimistic about the potential for his agency's hydraulic technology. Later this year UPS will put a hydraulic hybrid delivery vehicle into service. Eaton also plans to use the technology in a test fleet of garbage trucks.
If tests are successful, Grundler predicts the technology will emerge in the broader delivery-vehicle sector within the next two to three years, and eventually flow down to small trucks and SUVs. "The industry just needs to see a business case."
And if you're asking why America's environmental watchdog holds patents — more than 50, in fact — in new automotive technologies, Grundler offers a simple explanation.
"Over the years we've developed insights into how technology can become cleaner and more efficient. It would be irresponsible to keep that insight, that knowledge, that intellectual property bottled up in some laboratory in Michigan."
Makes one wonder what other promising solutions to the world's ills sit pickled in government labs.
?
Either someone has a working high temperature superconductor or someone's got a working fusion reactor going. I wonder what it could be?
Americans are accustomed to being startled by new tech. In fact they expect it regularly, which is why there is disquiet over the continued absence of the promised flying cars.
Flubber.
where is the repeatable cold fusion story?
No, segway said that about segway, not the government.
Saying the nation is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that would "startle" most Americans...
It means that all the preexisting technology that can free us from oil, that was smothered, stolen and hidden by 'big oil' will now be let out of the bag.
(adjusting tin foil hat)
"Will it be clean diesel, electric hybrids, hydraulic hybrids, or renewable fuel vehicles?"
So many people want to treat the above as if they are mutually exclusive. They're not. Biodiesel does qualify as clean diesel, and diesel engines can certainly power hybrid electric or hydraulic powertrains. They may, in fact, be better suited to that application than gasoline engines are.
I agree with your sentiment, Seque was WAY WAY overhyped.
But since it was introduced, I've seen it used by folks with mobility problems. In fact, Saturday I was at Trump's Taj Mah Hadji in Atlantic City and this women who had a normal torso and the legs of a 5 year old was tooling around on her seque in the Casino. It solves that problem neatly and specifically. So while it isn't the people mover of the future, it is the problem mover of today. lets not toss out the baby with the bathwater.
Obligatory Barf Alert?
Jimmy Bush!
Break out the cardigans.
More of the same old, same old. Let's push for "alternatives" and demonize what works. The free market is totally dead in this country, as myopic people continue to worship big fat socialist government.
If you do an FR search for "fusion" you will see threads on "tabletop" fusion and "desktop" fusion.
I was hoping for a picture of Mr Fusion.
What's the cone for, amplification?
You say pessimist, I say realist, at least when it comes to Bush + Republican Senate + Republican House of Representatives. It must really suck to not have a grasp on the reality that is the "party of limited government".
I realize that the imploding bubble fusion is anything but cold.
Watch out! COEXERJ145 will label you a pessimist (see post 21 and post 5).
"If it will make you quit whining"
Classic Jaguar lovers must cringe whenever they see that ... it's a bad copy of an XKE Coupe, distorted and shrunken down to lawnmower size. Of course, if it actually flies and is stable, some might be able to overlook the painful proportions.
Also, Popular Mechanics just revisited the flying car, in last month's issue I believe.
Bump
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