. . . way down this blog I modestly pointed out that some things are so predictable you can't pretend you're clever for predicting them. So here's another.
OUTSIDE OF WEASEL WORDS the Copenhagen Climate Change Championship Conference will achieve precisely nothing beyond bland resolutions to "do something pretty damned quick about climate change and/or global warming" or whatever the latest "scare the pants off 'em is." And before you all started nodding wisely and agreeing with this prediction . . think about this . . . how many folk do you know who are prepared to change their lifestyles (like stopping flying, giving up the Chelsea Tractor in favour of a pushbike, gagging Jeremy Clarkson and his demented Top Gear Petrolheads blah blah) in the interests of a future more than 48 hours away?
Oh and by-the-way . . will someone please explain to me using real live numbers exactly how "hybrid" cars save CO2, emissions/energy/oil/pollution or anything else? (And PERLEEEASE don't say "Well, the charge on the battery comes from wind energy." Wind turbines are a massively inefficient way of generating electricity, and a massive con perpetrated on the Government and the (largely) technically illiterate public by the turbine builders. Almost any other method of generating "green" energy is better than capturing our balmy breezes.
And a further by-the-way . . . there are MUCH BETTER ways of saving energy/petrol or whatever it is you think petrol/battery hybrids do. Better ways would use some form of regenerative transmission. Basically, these systems "brake" the vehicle by storing its kinetic energy in a potential energy reservoir. For instance . . couple the vehicle to an on-board flywheel which "spins up" as the vehicle slows down etc. (Question . . . spot the downsides!) Or . . connect the vehicle to an on-board pressure cylinder. When the vehicle slows, its energy is stored in the hydraulic fluid. When the lights go green, this energy is released back into the drive train. This system can EASILY produce burning rubber levels of acceleration WITHOUT ANY HELP FROM THE ENGINE. Prototypes of this system were developed thirty years ago in Glasgow University Department of Mechanical Engineering. The performance of the protoype vehicle was gobsmacking! But the idea never caught on. I suspect because of obvious vested interests, and because the engineering involved was not "exotic" It was done with standard "off-the-shelf" hydraulic components. How do admen glamourise a vehicle that's built out of fork-lift truck bits and bobs, and doesn't "vrrooommm" as you get away from the lights? Car enthusiasts do not like silence.
At present, all exisiting types of road vehicle "brake" by converting their kinetic energy {largely) into heat in the brakepads, discs or drums. Amazing! You heat things up to get your SUV going! You heat things up to stop the bloody thing . . . and forget-ye-not . . . the car engine is a HEAT ENGINE and cannot be better than about 35% efficient (Laws of Thermodynamics), but the pad/disc/atmosphere system is a HEAT EXCHANGER and so it efficiently wastes 100% of the vehicles kinetic energy when you use the brakes. Get on yer bikes , , the fuel is a lot cheaper!
And a further by-the-way . . . there are MUCH BETTER ways of saving energy/petrol or whatever it is you think petrol/battery hybrids do. Better ways would use some form of regenerative transmission. Basically, these systems "brake" the vehicle by storing its kinetic energy in a potential energy reservoir. For instance . . couple the vehicle to an on-board flywheel which "spins up" as the vehicle slows down etc. (Question . . . spot the downsides!) Or . . connect the vehicle to an on-board pressure cylinder. When the vehicle slows, its energy is stored in the hydraulic fluid. When the lights go green, this energy is released back into the drive train. This system can EASILY produce burning rubber levels of acceleration WITHOUT ANY HELP FROM THE ENGINE. Prototypes of this system were developed thirty years ago in Glasgow University Department of Mechanical Engineering. The performance of the protoype vehicle was gobsmacking! But the idea never caught on. I suspect because of obvious vested interests, and because the engineering involved was not "exotic" It was done with standard "off-the-shelf" hydraulic components. How do admen glamourise a vehicle that's built out of fork-lift truck bits and bobs, and doesn't "vrrooommm" as you get away from the lights? Car enthusiasts do not like silence.
At present, all exisiting types of road vehicle "brake" by converting their kinetic energy {largely) into heat in the brakepads, discs or drums. Amazing! You heat things up to get your SUV going! You heat things up to stop the bloody thing . . . and forget-ye-not . . . the car engine is a HEAT ENGINE and cannot be better than about 35% efficient (Laws of Thermodynamics), but the pad/disc/atmosphere system is a HEAT EXCHANGER and so it efficiently wastes 100% of the vehicles kinetic energy when you use the brakes. Get on yer bikes , , the fuel is a lot cheaper!
Hey Richard. I'm back blogging after taking 3 weeks hiatus to study poker and work on the game theory and psychology.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to let you know that I put your link on my page and hopefully that will drive more traffic to your site. You're a genius when it comes to stocks and trading that it's always interesting going to your site. Plus I feel that investing correlates to poker, taking risks, intelligent investing with the hands you choose, seeing the trends in the way your opponent plays, graphing the profit and loss of each hand. It's a thin correlation at best but an interesting one.