Recent Comment
Share
There are many shades between brown and green. Somewhere in between devil-may-care, pollute-as-you-go, overindulgent consumerism (Dubai’s planned air-conditioned beach being a perfect, albeit cartoonish example) and the eco-ascetic philosophy - that we must learn to live without any of the things we like – is a man named Johnathan Goodwin.
Mr. Goodwin, a native Kansan, retrofits cars so that they can run on renewable fuels, such as biodiesel, hydrogen, or electric batteries. In that sense, he’s just doing what lots of other ecogeeks out there are doing – tinkering with cars so that they don’t need to run on gas. But Goodwin’s projects are no frugal economy vehicles – they exude luxury, size, power and style.
Consider, for example, his 1400 pound Ford F450 that runs on diesel, hydrogen or natural gas. Or a ’64 Impala that has a raging 850 horsepower engine and gets 25 mpg. Goodwin works on projects for the rich and famous; his clients include Neil Young – whose 1959 Lincoln was converted into an EV with a 100 mile range – and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose 1984 Jeep now gets twice its old fuel economy (in addition to received souped-up power and handling). And then of course there’s his literally green Hummer that gets 40 mpg.
Goodwin’s creations may not win any green awards. 40 mpg is impressive for a Hummer, but it’s not that much higher than the average fuel economy in Europe. Besides, unless you’re either very wealthy or a muscle car fanatic, it would make little sense to pimp your ride out like that when you could just buy a new, fuel efficient car.
Still, there is the philosophy behind it. Johnathan Goodwin believes in using renewable fuels and getting good mileage, but he also believes that a car should be fun to drive. “Nobody wants to sacrifice size and style to gain fuel efficiency,†he says. “And there’s no reason to do it.†To all those who believe that going green means tightening your belt he says – you can have your cake and eat it too.
To be sure, some of the things we love are decidedly unsustainable, and need to change. I am certainly not entitled to a big powerful car simply because I don’t want to give it up. Goodwin’s point, though, is that as technology gets greener it can also get just plain better.
Via CNET Green Tech
Subscribe to this comment's feed
written by Global Patriot, December 16, 2008
What I enjoy about these examples is that someone is looking to apply technology to the problem, and that hold the promise of developing solutions that apply to a much broader base of the overall problem.
-
- +0
-
-
written by Francis, December 16, 2008
-
- +0
-
-
written by Mark, December 16, 2008
And No, Francis, driving a Prius doesn't make you tough. That's just a ridiculous thing to say. It might signify that you are frugal - or eco-cool - or eco-pious. That's not even in the same room as tough.
-
- +1
-
-
written by Mr. Lee, December 16, 2008
-
- +0
-
-
written by Luke, December 16, 2008
By the same reasoning that water is the only exhaust from burning hydrogen, gasoline and diesel engines only produce water and CO2. (High school stoicheometry).
Everyone knows that the emissions from gasoline and diesel engines are much more complex, interesting, and dangerous than that... I heard once about a paper claiming that hydrogen engines tend to burn more oil than gasoline engines, which would make sense to me, since most hydrogen engines are research-tools rather than high-volume production units. I agree that hydrogen engines would probably be cleaner than burning natural gas -- but I wouldn't go as far as to claim that hydrogen is the answer.
The other issue is finding the hydrogen to burn... I don't know of anywhere on earth where you could drill for hydrogen Until we start mining the gas giants or the Oort cloud, we'll probably have to make to make our own hydrogen by knocking the carbon off of natural gas (the way it's done now, which emits lots of CO2), or from water. The problem with making it from water is that you're burning hydrogen backwards. That sounds wonderful, except that you have to put all of the energy into the water that it will release when you burn it later. (This is also covered in high school stoicheometry.) That sounds an awful lot like a battery!
That doesn't mean that hydrogen isn't usefulfor transportation -- but it does slap the "hydrogen is the answer" idea around just a bit. Many liquid-fueled rocket launch vehicles already hydrogen-powered, and powering commercial airliners with hydrogen seems reasonable. Hydrogen packs more energy per unit mass than any other fuel -- though it doesn't carry as much energy per unit volume as jet fuel or gasoline. So, an airliner would require bigger (but lighter) fuel tanks. Also, commercial airliners are operated by professional crews, and they travel between a small number of well-developed destinations, so many things get easier.
Anyway, I love getting down in the weeds with this stuff. It's super-fascinating! But, as often as not, the reality (as I understand it) clashes with what alternative-energy advocates believe. But, if we advocate things that actually work (like lightweight battery technology), then everyone wins in the end.
Travel clean!
-
- +0
-
-
written by Tom, December 16, 2008
-
- +0
-
-
written by jello5929, December 16, 2008
That said I don't think the size of a mans package can be determined by the size and/or trendiness of his car.
Prius is the _most_ trendy car in america right now. Bar none.
-
- +0
-
-
written by Carl, December 16, 2008
-
- +0
-
-
written by TommyP, December 18, 2008
I believe the 1400 might have referred to the horsepower, Mr. Goodwin is a genius at tweaking turbo- diesel engines to unreal amounts of power. Equipped as stock, the F450 produces about 350 horsepower so this is quite a feat. I don't think he is solving any problems, he is just a car guy having fun and showing Detroit that with a little thought, modern cars do not have to get 20 mpg - about what that F450 will get, on a good day.
-
- +1
-
-
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
As far as fuel usage goes....
Hydrogen powered car could produce as much exhaust as they may because the stuff coming out of their tail pipe is water! However Bio diesel is not the same. Diesel combustion produces carbon based pollution. I understand that some sector of our work force depends on large vehicle, and trucks. But most of those Hummers, or SUV driver rarely need such large car(especially those kinds that spends hours on weekends polishing their "baby" to high gloss, enough to see themselves in the reflection)
The issue with being green in the US partly has to do with the culture of "bigger is better" instead of figuring out each individual's real needs.