This was for me a stunning news… the french company Motor Development International (MDI) is about to start the mass production of a car which is only driven by compressed air! They claim the car can drive for 100 km with a single air tank, and producing zero emissions!
I have to admit, we often hear about ground-breaking innovations and most of the time the product is far from being ready to sell, but in this case it seems that MDI is taking it seriously. One of the investing companies is the Indian car manufacturer Tata. Production should start in September 2008 in France, and a US company is about to license the concept to produce similar cars in the US in 2010. Possible uses for the air car are taxis as well as hybrid cars.
But what makes me really think is that it is obviously possible to create a car which runs with air! I mean if this is possible, then I guess that there must be many other alternative solutions available for problems which we are facing nowadays (not only environmental problems). I think the only show stopper for these alternatives must then be companies and lobbying organizations which have the power to decide over markets… I cannot explain it in a different way for myself.
So, did you get my point? Throw 100 million dollars of research money at them and they will build a car which drives on air forever… without filling any tank or whatever.
Links for more infos:
News article (in german)
Air Car Factories
The problem with all cars, including gas powerered ones, hybrids and this air powered one, is that they must obey the laws of thermodynamics.
If your car runs on compressed air, the energy liberated when the air is uncompressed makes the car go forward. Quite simple. The only problem is that you need as much energy to compress the air as it will liberate when it is uncompressed. This said, this car consumes as much energy as its gas equivalent.
Same thing with hybrids, they work on electricity, but the electricity is generated in the car by a gasoline engine.
If you want to take a chunk of metal and put it on wheels and make it go forward, you need energy, regardless of its source.
If you have an electric car in a country which produces electricity with coal power plants, you might as well drive a gasoline engine.
In my opinion, the only true way to reduce a car’s emissions, pollution and overall footprint, is to use it less. The real solution lies in intelligent urbanism (the opposite of what we’re doing in north america) where the density of population is high enough to justify small business on the street corner. This model does not work in the standard suburban divisions that we find outside the city because there isn’t enough people to justify a business owner opening shop anywhere. The result is that businesses are too far to walk to and we hop in the car to go get anything at the depanneur or grocery store. We use our cars more, we walk less. We pollute more and exercise less. Quite the evolved society we are. It isn’t a coincidence that health problems are on the rise.
Anyways, all I wanted to say is that unless you find a natural source of compressed air, you need to compress that air, and that takes as much energy as a regular car uses up.
That’s something the car companies won’t tell you. For a couple of years, they’ll try to convince us that their new cars are cleaner, but ultimately, the only true clean car is one that stays put.
I understand your point, I think it is called the conservation-of-energy principle. And I agree that not taking the car would be the best for the environment, but still, mobility in general is very important for society too: for example to get to know and understand other cultures by visiting them etc.
But I still believe that a vehicle driving with air and using electricity to compress the air is better than driving with gasoline. Or taking the train using electricity is better than taking the car. But of course as long as electricity is not generated by burning coal… or not generated by atomic power plants (thinking of the Chernobyl disaster and atomic waste)… but maybe there is no 100% clean solution…. oh wait a second, what about anti-gravitational technology? 😉
They have made a machine that compresses air, that is powered by compressed air. All they need to do is put it in the car, and thus ends the need to power up at home. You’d never have to stop to fill up, it’s free, and dosn’t even use any fossil fuel directly or indirectly.