Quote:
Originally Posted by Diego
But seriously, we need to remember that air pressure is NOT a fuel or an energy source. It's an energy transfer medium. (So is hydrogen, for another example. It's not an energy source itself. It has to be manufactured, which requires a bit more energy from some other source than it will deliver.)
The energy one gets by expending the pressure of compressed air also has to come from somewhere. In most cases, it will be from electrically powered pumps, which means the actual energy source will largely be coal and nuclear power plants for the foreseeable future.
If we already had an overabundance of electrical energy, and preferably from renewable sources, then energy transfer media such as pressurized air or hydrogen would be a wonderful replacement for petroleum-fired powerplants in motor vehicles. Until that day, it only transfers the problem of providing the underlying energy to some other vendor.
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No prob....I'll just stop by my favorite politician....FREE HOT AIR! Actually, joking aside, why hasn't someone thought of solar panels on top with an on-board electric compressor to top off the tank? Solar is about as "free" and "ecologically friendly" as you're going to get.
Derswede
Hmm....solar panel over my head on a "compressed air bike?" Bunch of weight up there? Hate to see what it would do in the twisties....
