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Can Podcars be Driven by Solar Energy?The Podcar City, Uppsala, Sweden
Ron Swenson October 2, 2007
www.solarquest.com/workshops
Our Generation’s Challenges
The 21st century’s twin challenges are:
• Global Warming (known and manifest)
• Peak Oil (little known but imminent).
Global Warming
Fires in Congo & Angola
Peak Oil
Two Ways to Respond…
• Germany, Japan, Sweden – Solar Energy– Hybrid Vehicles– Quit use of oil by 2020
• USA – Attack Iraq– Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR oil)– 25 x ‘25 … the rape of Soil and Ancient Water
cloaked with environmental rhetoric
Which way will prevail?
• “The American way of life is not negotiable.” [G H W Bush, 1992]– Check with the people of New Orleans for
more details ….
• Can we change course in time to avoid catastrophe?
Swenson’s Law
To avoid deprivation resulting from the exhaustion of non-renewable resources, humanity must employ conservation and renewable resource substitutes sufficient to match depletion.
www.OilCrisis.com/Swenson
Beating oil addiction with fraud
• New Generation Vehicle (Clinton)
• Hydrogen Highway (Schwarzenegger)
• Cellulosic Ethanol (G W Bush)
PathologicaPathologica
l l
Disconnect Disconnect
Clean Coal?
So what about Corn Cars & Bean Buses?
Net Production of Biomass in the USA
www.oilcrisis.com/Patzek
Compare PV to Biofuels
So what about Hydrogen?
Am I missing something?!
Energy Return on Energy Invested < ½
What do the “experts” say?
“Active solar power ... works, though not nearly as well as fossil fuel…
“Alternative energy sources ... are … implausible … without the subsidy of oil. The only remaining alternative is nuclear energy.”
James Howard Kunstler
www.HubbertPeak.com/nuclear
Global Solar Energy Balance
Solar Energy Input (TeraWatts)
178,000
Reflected to Space Immediately 53,000
Absorbed and Then Reflected as Heat 82,000
Used to Evaporate Water (Weather) 40,000
Captured by Plant Photosynthesis 100
Total Energy Used by Human Society 13
Total Energy Used by US Society 2.5
Total Human Food Energy 0.6
www.hubbertPeak.com/debate/oilcalcs.htm
Total Area Required for a Photovoltaic Power Plant to Produce the Total U.S. Annual Electrical Demand
Nevada
P109-G1055201
Total Area Required for a PV Power Plant to Produce the Total US Electrical Demand
www.ecotopia.com/Apollo2
Internal Combustion …
• Take 26.5 Quads of oil
• Turn 21.2 into smoke
• Use 5.3 to run things
… How incredibly wasteful!?
So what are we going to do?
Basky
The All-New DonCar!
www.OilCrisis.com/Transport
Sustainable Transportation
• Not cars
• Not airplanes
• Walking, Horses, Bikes, Sailboats … and Podcars
Freeway at Capacity
Vehicles Removed
PRT Passengers
PRT System
So what about EVs or Electric Rail?
Parasitic Mass
Transportation Energy for 100 PeopleBattery Electric PRT
Vehicles 100 20
Total weight (tons) 200 5
Battery weight (tons) 25 1
Recycle batteries ? % 99%
Embodied energy ratio 50 1
Battery losses 15% <1%
Rolling Resistance (at 60 mph) 5000 watt 500 watt
Aerodynamic Drag (at 60 mph) 7000 watt (cd=0.2) 750 watt (cd=0.1)
Parasitic energy Consumption 275 6
Energy use (watt-hr/mile) ~150 ~50 (skytran)
Safety ≈ two 747s/week die Very safe
Quality of life 1 hr per day lost Quality time in transit
A Little Personal History…
Tonatiuh
www.Ecotopia.com/Tonatiuh
Solar on Rail
www.SolarEvolution.com/SkyTran
SkyTran Solar
Solar SkyTran, with aesthetics emphasis and added power at stations
Solar on Rail
www.SolarEvolution.com/PRT
SolarEvolution
ElectroRoof
Similar Solar Systems Exist
30 mph, operating speed
x 2 sec (vehicle interval)
= 88 ft between vehicles
= 60 vehicles/mi, separated by interval specified
x 2 kw @ operating speed
= 120 kw needed in a mile stretch
10 hrs at peak operation equivalent
÷ 4 hrs of peak sun equivalent (Coast = 4, Desert = 6)
= 2.5 solar factor
120 x 2.5 = 300 kW/mile
x $6.00 /watt
$1,800,000 /mi
16 watts / sq ft, SunPower, most efficient on market
3.5 ft wide solar panel to meet requirement
Calculate Solar size, cost per Mile
25 mpg, average fleet mileage
27,000 passengers per day to match
2.0 people/vehicle
13,500 vehicles/day
x $2.50 /gallon fuel price
= $33,750 Cost to travel fleet mileage daily
$ 12,318,750 Annual cost to travel fleet mileage
$ 45,000,000 Cost of solar to cover fleet mileage
= 3.7 years payback for solar system to offset gasoline
Compare Solar to Gasoline at $2.50/gallon
www.SolarEvolution.com/PRT
Traffic Nearly Matches Solar Generation
Thermodynamics of PV
• EROI: 5 years
• Life: 50 years
120,000 TW of solar energy received by the Earth
www.ecotopia.com/Apollo2
Miles of PRT/Miles of Solar
www.jpods.com/HomeSolar.html
URBAN Miles of Road % converted Lane-Miles of PRT
Interstate 13,491 600% 80,946
Other Freeways and Expressways 9,175 200% 18,350
Other Principal Arterial (115-130ft) 53,447 200% 106,894
Minor Arterial (80-106 ft) 89,911 200% 179,822
Collector (60-90 ft) 88,604 120% 106,325
Local Road (little thru traffic) 598,514 100% 598,514
URBAN SUBTOTAL 853,142 1,090,851
RURAL
Interstate 33,067 200% 66,134
Other Principal Arterial 98,952 100% 98,952
Minor Arterial (80-106 ft) 137,751 50% 68,876
Major Collector (60-90 ft) 433,754 10% 43,375
Minor Collector (limited thru traffic) 272,360 0 0
Local Road (no thru trafffic) 2,102,977 0 0
RURAL SUBTOTAL 3,078,870 9% 277,337
TOTAL miles 3,932,012 35% 1,368,188
Exajoules of Solar PRT
Expected Network to replace highly repetitive travel
1,368,188 miles of PRT5,280 feet per mile
0.0000000000000000010 Exajoules/joule 10^18 joules/Exajoule
3600 joules/watt-hour5 hrs of effective sunshine
365 days
Displacement System Energy Per Year from 75% solar automation
watts/square foot Exajoules Width of Collectors
10
2.8 6.0 ft wide
5.7
12.0 ft wide
16
4.5 6.0 ft wide
6.0
8.0 ft wide
www.Solarevolution.com