Author: Mark Walters
Source: articleage.com
The future of the hybrid battery car is so bright you have to
wear shades. Some would say the interest in the plug in hybrid
is down right electrifying.
The hybrid battery car got a huge boost when President Bush
featured it in a speech on his energy policy. It's part of the
plan to replace over three-quarters of Mideast oil imports by
the, hydrogen car, year 2025.
The location the President chose to give the speech is also
significant. He spoke at Johnson Controls, a Milwaukee auto
parts company that is making lithium-ion battery cells for the
next generation of the hybrid battery car.
The race, hydrogen car, for hybrid technologies continues, hydrogen car, as the U.S. Energy
Department pushes for hydrogen fuel cells to replace gasoline, hydrogen car, in
cars. The department has targeted the year 2024 as a time when
those, hydrogen car, fuel cells will be widely used in hybrid, hydrogen car, vehicles of all
kinds.
There are really two forces driving the development of hybrid
technologies. Number one is the uncertain Mideast sources, hydrogen car, of
fossil fuels. The other is the cost per barrel of oil. As the
cost of oil increases the race for information, hydrogen car, on hybrid cars
becomes even more important.
Because hydrogen fuel is very expensive to transport some
predict that the hybrid battery and ethanol technologies will
precede any hybrid fuel based on hydrogen.
Government support, hydrogen car, means that plug in hybrid cars are on the
horizon. These vehicles would get a battery charge from an
ordinary electric outlet. Lithium-ion batteries will make this
possible. These batteries will be large versions of the
lithium-ion battery you use in your cell phone. You could be
driving a plug-in hybrid by the year 2010.
The energy density of lithium-ion is typically, hydrogen car, twice that of the
standard nickel-cadmium battery. There is even a growing
potential for higher energy densities with these power source.
Lithium-ion is a low maintenance battery, an advantage that most
other battery types can't match. Self-discharge is less than
half compared to nickel-cadmium, making lithium-ion well suited
for modern fuel gauge applications. They pose no threat to the
environment for lithium-ion cells cause little harm when
discarded.
Like most hybrid technologies, this one has its draw backs.
Chief, hydrogen car, among them is that the lithium-ion batteries are fragile
and require a protection circuit to maintain safe operation. All
short comings are expected to be overcome as research and
development continue.
To be successful hybrid fuel technologies must include, hydrogen car, petroleum
alternatives. Right now ethanol would lessen the need for oil if
mixed with gasoline. Here in the U.S we already make nearly 4
billion gallons of ethanol from corn. The irony, hydrogen car, is that a great
deal of energy is needed to manufacture ethanol and that energy
often comes from fossil fuel and natural gas.
Ethanol is an alcohol-based alternative fuel that is produced by
fermenting and distilling starch crops that have been converted
into simple sugars. Feed stocks for this fuel include corn,
barley, and wheat.
Ethanol has a better chance of surviving as an important hybrid
fuel when it is made from "cellulosic biomass" such as trees and
grasses. These produce a hybrid fuel, hydrogen car, called bioethanol. Ethanol
is used to increase octane and improve the emissions quality of
gasoline.
Ethanol is blended with gasoline to create E85, a blend of 85%
ethanol and 15% gasoline. E85 and blends with even higher
concentrations of ethanol qualify as alternative fuels under the
Energy Policy Act. Vehicles that run on E85 are called flexible
fuel vehicles (FFVs) and can currently be purchased from several
vehicle manufacturers.
There will be one surviving hybrid fuel in the future. What is
your guess on which it will be? Or are there some surprise
hybrid technologies in our future?
