The Hybrid Theory

EARTH....... The sheer single most important source of our sustenance. No matter how much we mess it up, it takes it all in and manages to keep us all alive and well. BUTTTT... for how long do you suppose it’s going to continue to do so??? Most intriguing…

"Okkk..Why da heck is this guy talking about the unfortunate happenings to Mother Nature??? Isn’t this blog about engines and stuff like that??? ". That’s probably what’s going through your mind right now...

Well keep reading and you'll find out WHY!!! soon enough.. :)

To get to what I want to explain today...I need to put some facts on the table and make them absolutely clear to you guys!!!.... So here goes...Most of us might not care about what’s happening to the Earth, but there is a serious problem looming in the not too distant future. A problem that’s going to strangle and choke the automobile industry.... That’s right WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF BLACK GOLD!!!...(for those of you who dont know, black gold = oil :) ). The earth running out of oil is not the only problem that we are facing. There are greenhouse gas emissions, leading to global warming due to the burning of these fosil fuels...Keep in Mind...
That’s FACT 1 for you.

Now consider this...back in 1961, the not too distant past, the population of the earth was about 3 billion and we were only using half of the Earth’s resources. In simpler terms, the amount of resources we used was only half the capacity of what the Earth could replenish... Clear.. ok great.. Moving on, by 1986, the population hit 5 billion by which time we were using all of the Earth’s sustainable resources. If Earth was a space ship it reached its carrying capacity in 1986 (and I had not even been born :s). By 2001, we were at 20% overuse with population at 6 billion. By 2050 we are looking at a population of 10 Billion. Which, in other words means that we are going to have to use 2 planets’ worth of resources. Quite Disturbing....That’s FACT 2.


Not a cause to worry, yet.. There are plenty of brilliant people on earth who came up with many different solutions to the problem in relation to motoring....... Or have they????


What I’m talking about here is the "ECO" replacement for the current "GAS GUZZLING" motors. The most heard of this "ECO Classification" are Electric cars, biofuel-driven engines, hybrids, solar-powered cars, hydrogen combustion engines... Hmmmm… Many alternatives, but not all of them are keeping up to their original claims. Let me enlighten you as to why that is.

Electric cars & Hybrids. Both of these consist of a very simple structure which encompasses an electric motor, a heavy-duty lithium battery, and in the case of hybrids a small petrol engine. In the case of biofuels, they are an extraction of organic material. The result of this combination is of course lesser CO2 emissions and lesser or no use of crude oil as its source of power. All of the above said methods deals very successfully with FACT 1.

And What of Fact 2???

Recent years have seen a boom in the popularity of hybrids because they are said to be "ECO Friendly". .......I don’t think so. WHY???....I said earlier that hybrids are powered by the lithium-ion batteries storing the electrical charge which drives the motors. Well the extraction process for the Lithium is the one of the world’s most polluting processes, because it involves the release of sulphur dioxide which causes acid rain. If this side product of the extraction process is not dealt with properly...well you knoe what happens. Now with the increased use of hybrids the demand for batteries will grow and in turn the demand for lithium once again plundering the Earth’s resources.

Conclusion: Fact 2 not dealt with.

Ok change of subject....Leaving all of that aside there is still one factor which renders most of the current alternatives useless. It’s the very simple fact that these cars have no feel to them. You can just cruise along the roads with no sensation whatsoever. Without the radio on, it’s ever so quiet in there. (Personally i think that people will start falling asleep in those things). This may not sound very convincing to those of you who just use a vehicle to get from point A to B. But for those of us who put our cars onto the roads just to take a drive. It’s never enough. Call me old-fashioned but I don’t care. The old-school sensation is just lost.


OK GENIUS!!!!...  EASIER SAID THAN DONE.

I agree.... In my opinion I see the  best solution to this problem is the hydrogen-powered alternative. To elaborate, hydrogen-powered vehicles don’t need many changes done to the current engine architecture. Therefore, they can be easily implemented into existing motors, unlike hybrids and electric cars which require new additions to the current design.  It also manages to keep intact the sensation and ‘feel’ of gasoline engines (I  like that very much). The result of combustion of hydrogen is water, and unlike lithium or crude oil hydrogen is abundantly available on earth and is not very polluting to extract.. dealing completely with Fact 1, and to a great extent with Fact 2.  

However this alternative is not technologically feasible enough since there are countless hurdles in storing hydrogen due to its extremely flammable nature and low density.

So we'll have to wait a few more years, or possibly a decade or two,  before we get our hands on this technology.... But I’d say its pretty much worth the wait!!!