Hindu 5000
I think it’s great that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is having a 5000-mile (8000 km) car rally from India to Indonesia, but I worry about the additional burning of precious fossil fuels. Western SUV usage, air travel, and traditions like the Indy 500 are already contributing to the problem, bit by bit. Of course, the U.S. can’t expect other countries to conserve until we set a good example ourselves.
timesofindia
One small, good example is the recently opened light rail line in Minneapolis, which I enjoyed taking downtown and to the Mall of America. The crowds at the mall were so big that they offered buses, but almost everybody still wanted to take the train. It makes me excited about the prospect of more lines and about PRT (Personal Rapid Transit), which is a network of elevated, automated, taxicabs.
lightrailtransit
personalrapidtransit
P.S. The title above may be of questionable political correctness, but I just couldn’t resist the clever play on words!
posted by Tom Cleland @ 12/09/2004 09:02:00 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
As I write this, 9 am 12/9, Minnesota Public Radio is having a good program on energy options, the problems with hydrogen fuel cells, etc.
OK, I'll cut you some slack on the PC-ness of the Hindu 500 pun. But based on this entry, I can only say that the hydrogen based cars are a hard cell.
I maintain that it would be awesome, like an amusment park, and that everyone would want to have their convention here. The only question mark is to see if the switching mechanism really works.
Tom,
Indy cars burn pure methanol. Look it up.
Nice Blog by the way.
Thanks, Paul. Ted, I think there would still be a role for rail, for longer distance trips. I enjoyed taking the new light rail line here.
Methanol would be an alternative to fossil fuels, but still gives off carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global climate change. Also, I understand that it is wood based, and if it’s anything like ethanol, it takes almost as much energy just to create the fuel itself.
12/28/2004
Coincidentally, some of these same nations were struck by the recent tsunami. Condolences to those affected by this tragedy.
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