b3ta.com board
You are not logged in. Login or Signup
Home » Messageboard » XXX » Message 5448346 (Thread)

# Can anyone see a slight flaw in this plan?
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/4535408.stm

Hmm, let me see, where do cars get their energy from...
Oh yes, petrol.

So this bloke has devised an extremely ineffecient way of getting electricity from petrol.
Well done
*Slow clap*
(Londingham ., Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:13, archived)
# I think the key point is
that it generates electricity from petrol that someone else has paid for
(I helped save b3ta! NobbyNobody 21 years a b3tan, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:18, archived)
# Think you missed a bit out...
"that it generates electricity (for the government) from petrol that someone else has paid (the government) for"
(Londingham ., Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:21, archived)
# Oooh, yes.
That's nasty.
(I helped save b3ta! NobbyNobody 21 years a b3tan, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 3:20, archived)
# a better word would be
"recaputres" energy from petrol that has already been burned getting a car upto a certain speed and what is the purpose of a car if not, after getting up to a speed, to eventually slow down and stop to let the people it is carrying disembark? I for one have never gotten into a car which then doesn't slow down to a stop at some point, converting kinetic energy into thermal energy in it's brake pads.
(jaldo_dron a delicate balance, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 3:11, archived)
# It generates jobs.
(I helped save b3ta! cowcat Bituminous squeegee, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:21, archived)
# ^this
and the petrol generates energy twice
(I helped save b3ta! abandonnship, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:23, archived)
# Hows that?
(Londingham ., Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:23, archived)
# if they are positioned on bits of road
where cars would be slowing down anyway, wouldnt it get kinetic energy from the car that would otherwise be wasted on braking anyway?
(I helped save b3ta! mutated monty, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:27, archived)
# Well cars normally run along roads
and speed ramps that don't generate electricity. This is harnessing a little kinetic energy that normally would have just vanished into oblivion.

The cars will run on the road anyway, if they generate elctricity or not.

I see no harm in it.
(I helped save b3ta! Black Moon Not cracked, I'm all up to be., Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:29, archived)
# ^Both of these; IF they only replace ordinary speed bumps
I can forsee these things being installed everywhere, in addition to current bumps, increasing everyone's fuel consumption/emissions etc 'in the interests of the environment'
(Londingham ., Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:32, archived)
# Would be nice if they could integrate it
in to the hydraulic ones proposed ages ago- they disappeared in to the ground if you're under the speed limit.
(I helped save b3ta! Kamikaze Stoat £4.09, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:36, archived)
# there is something intrinsically cheeky about it
when you consider the road tax and other tolls they want to start charging road users.

we should just drink the petrol ourselves and ride bicycles instead
(I helped save b3ta! mutated monty, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:37, archived)
# I just paid £505 out
to keep my car on the road. I'm gonna use the damn thing.

Yes, even if I go next door.
(I helped save b3ta! Black Moon Not cracked, I'm all up to be., Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:39, archived)
# It is funny how
'for environmental reasons' there is a massive petrol tax;
and 'for environmental reasons' they do everything possible to slow traffic down, thereby consuming MORE petrol and doing absolutely nothing for the environment....

*strokes chin*
(Londingham ., Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:40, archived)
# Do the cars have to slow down to go over them?
As I read it, the car depresses the platform, not drives over it like it would a speed bump
(I helped save b3ta! abandonnship, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:40, archived)
# It will still take momentum from the vehicle;
which would be replaced by burning fuel

And the electricity generated = far less than the fuel burnt
(Londingham ., Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:41, archived)
# How much fuel
would a car have to burn to give it enough momentum to drive over a 3" high ramp?
(I helped save b3ta! abandonnship, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:45, archived)
# *calculating*.......
Assuming a car mass of 1000Kg
1000Kg * 9.81 N/Kg = 9810N
* 10cm = 981 Joules
Effeciency of a car engine = approx. 30%
- friction losses = approx 25%
981J * 4 = appx. 4KJ per car
* thousands and thousands of cars...
(Londingham ., Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:45, archived)
# ^this



/give or take the power of several mice on a wheel*



*should be the standard unit of energy.
(I helped save b3ta! Evil Prof. Pixel Masher I made this!, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 3:05, archived)
# I admire your science, sir
(I helped save b3ta! abandonnship, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 3:18, archived)
# No no no,
they will install these in gyms. Fat people lose weight by jumping up and down on them.
(I helped save b3ta! Kamikaze Stoat £4.09, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:24, archived)
# Oh my god
that would be so incredibly fantastic!
(I helped save b3ta! abandonnship, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:38, archived)
# yes, this would be
a fucking great idea. Or stupid people who whinge about wasting extra oil that has already been burned could bang their head against them when they realise that it's not such a dumb idea afterall.

*is still angry about canadian politics*
(jaldo_dron a delicate balance, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 3:05, archived)
# Well I suppose...
... It avoids the need for generators or cabling to lights in remote locations, especialy when they may be temporary.
(JamesG, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:40, archived)
# It's a lot like solar cells
They're nice and seem free, but they cost more to produce and maintain than they actually provide.
(I helped save b3ta! Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5], Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:42, archived)
# Except that solar cells do genuinely produce pollution free energy
and these ramps just burn up extra oil..
(Londingham ., Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:43, archived)
# I know I've already said this, twice, but
the oil has /already/ been burned, so this device recaptures energy that would otherwise be wasted. Sorry.
(jaldo_dron a delicate balance, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 3:04, archived)
# it's not necessarily such a stupid idea
if it's generated on a downward slope then the energy generated will be as a result of the mass of the car being dragged towards the centre of the earth. The car has already gone up the hill so as it goes down we might as well recoup some of the energy instead of simple wasting it as heat in the brakes of the car.
(jaldo_dron a delicate balance, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:45, archived)
# 'tis true
(Londingham ., Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:52, archived)
# I have been trying to pull apart retarded arguments for the last hour and a half
listening to the four canadian "leaders" even the current prime minster isn't thta sharp with answering the questions put to him, but the other three are just totally full of shit. I wish there was someone better to vote for than Paul Martin and the Liberal Party, but the other options are even more shite and based on empty and logically flawed arguments. One day, I want to be a politician that just fucking answers questions that are asked of him, even if it means losing face, I'd rather be like that than just bullshit people over and over a-fucking-gain.

Sorry, don't know what that had to do with anything.
(jaldo_dron a delicate balance, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 2:57, archived)
# I don't know what that had to do with anything either.


...but I'm totally with you.

I listened to it on the CBC. At least I was spared actually *watching* it.
(I helped save b3ta! Evil Prof. Pixel Masher I made this!, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 3:38, archived)
# but anyway
the point is once a car is in motion it has to stop again at some point, instead of wasting the energy that has been put into the vehicle by turning it into heat in the brake pads this /clever/ person has found a way to capture that heat. He's not my father but it's the "crazy" kind of thing that he might come up with. Actually not stupid at all.

*fumes*
(jaldo_dron a delicate balance, Sat 17 Dec 2005, 3:03, archived)
# Right-
technology already exists to recover a large proportion of braking energy- regenerative braking, as used on hybrid cars, and previously electric vehicles such as forklift trucks, now for many years.
The point you are missing is that, execpt for in very certain circumstances, vehicles will accelerate to regain lost speed after passing over the ramps, thereby burning extra fuel to replace the lost momentum.
I do agree with your previous point that the ramps could be useful in situations where traffic is guaranteed to be stopping, or on downhill stretches of road. However, as with many things these days, the problem lies not with the technology, but with its application.
(Londingham ., Sat 17 Dec 2005, 3:25, archived)