Compressed Air Technology - Air Car

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V1P3R

V1P3R

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It was talked about a little bit in the Oil Alternative thread, but what do you think of Compressed Air Technology as an alternative form of transportation?

Sounds pretty awesome to me.

 
The best part about this is that it runs on air (obviously!!!), the second best part is that it sounds similar to a petrol engine, so not even the gear heads can complain! Sure, it takes 2-3 minutes to "fill up", but it's free fuel! NOBODY can complain.
 
So its a 2 stroke engine that runs on air?

I think I saw a radial engine that ran on air, it was sweet

I really think this could take over quickly
 
The technology is so simple as well. I'm surprised this hasn't been done already.
 
I hate Australian shows.

It could work, but it'd need a big company to commit to it.
 
That air rotary looks genius. The only concern should be the air compressors themselves. I hope solar can provide enough energy one day to run electric compressors or even electric cars at low cost.
 
Casio
I hate Australian shows.
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Even if it's an Asian chick with an Australian accent? :dopey:

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I remember watching this exact episode on TV a few years back, so it's not exactly new. There's been plenty of fuel alternatives, but let's face it, we won't see any of them until we run out of oil.
 
Shannon
I remember watching this exact episode on TV a few years back, so it's not exactly new. There's been plenty of fuel alternatives, but let's face it, we won't see any of them until we run out of oil.
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Not necessarily. Although people are now getting fed up with buying small imports from the 1980s, and are buying SUVs, they still don't like the fact that gas is getting expensive. If gas were to reach insane levels in price due the increasing rarity of oil, like, say, 3 dollars a litre, consumer demand for alternatives are going to skyrocket before it actually runs out.


One thing I like about the air car over the other alternatives, though, is that it basically runs on air. You still need electricity for the air pump, but the electricity required won't nearly be the same amount as that used by a pure electric car. I'd rather have a bunch of air cars around instead of electric ones and more nuclear power plants in the world. Solar powered electric cars are ideal though, either directly or indirectly.

I also like the fact that the air powered engine is pretty similar to petrol and diesel ones, so instead of the situation where the electric car takes over and you now have a billion cars in junkyards, just convert them to air engines! I'm sure historic Ferrari V12s would sound just as beautiful with air as with petrol, but chances are there's gonna be quite a few drops of (EXPENSIVE) oil left to fuel them up for historic racing events for many years to come. Hell, we could always use ethanol if we had to for those old cars.
 
Shannon
I remember watching this exact episode on TV a few years back, so it's not exactly new. There's been plenty of fuel alternatives, but let's face it, we won't see any of them until we run out of oil.
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As Grand Prix said demand for the alternatives will get so high people won't buy oil based fuels anymore. The planet will never just run out of oil altogether.
 
Grand Prix
One thing I like about the air car over the other alternatives, though, is that it basically runs on air. You still need electricity for the air pump, but the electricity required won't nearly be the same amount as that used by a pure electric car. I'd rather have a bunch of air cars around instead of electric ones and more nuclear power plants in the world. Solar powered electric cars are ideal though, either directly or indirectly.
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Only problem with that statement is thermodynamics. If you have a pure electric car making X amount of power, and you want the air car to make X amount of power, you are going to need to spend at least X amount of power compressing the air with electricity.

Electric cars are the most efficient in that they take the middle man out of alot of it. But air cars are a nice stepping stone I guess :P
 
Azuremen
Only problem with that statement is thermodynamics. If you have a pure electric car making X amount of power, and you want the air car to make X amount of power, you are going to need to spend at least X amount of power compressing the air with electricity.

Electric cars are the most efficient in that they take the middle man out of alot of it. But air cars are a nice stepping stone I guess :P
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Hmm, true enough. I still think we should work on air engine technology though. Air engines do at least make a sound that could be heard by children and old people not looking before they cross the street. You're less likely to be sued for injuries in an air engined car. ;)
 
Grand Prix
Hmm, true enough. I still think we should work on air engine technology though. Air engines do at least make a sound that could be heard by children and old people not looking before they cross the street. You're less likely to be sued for injuries in an air engined car. ;)
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Or you can put a whistle on an electric car 💡

That aside, I think its more of just a neat thing, kind of like bio diesel and such.

Of course, we all know the future of car power is self satisfaction. ;)
 
Azuremen
Only problem with that statement is thermodynamics. If you have a pure electric car making X amount of power, and you want the air car to make X amount of power, you are going to need to spend at least X amount of power compressing the air with electricity.

Electric cars are the most efficient in that they take the middle man out of alot of it. But air cars are a nice stepping stone I guess :P
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I'd actually call electricity a middle man. Why use fossil fuels to generate electricity, then use the electricity to gererate motion when you could just use an internal combustion engine to begin with?

Then there are the problems associated with storing electricity. Your electric car requires X amount of power to drag all those heavy batteries around whereas an air powered car might only require 80% of X for similar performance.

Personally I don't see either as a viable alternative, nor do I see land grown biofuels as sustainable. Still it's nice to see people experimenting.
 
Azuremen
Only problem with that statement is thermodynamics. If you have a pure electric car making X amount of power, and you want the air car to make X amount of power, you are going to need to spend at least X amount of power compressing the air with electricity.
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But while you'll create X amount of pollution creating that energy in an electric car and running it, there will be less pollution because during the operation of an air powered car there is none.
 
V1P3R
But while you'll create X amount of pollution creating that energy in an electric car and running it, there will be less pollution because during the operation of an air powered car there is none.
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It depends on where the power/electricity is coming from. If it's coming from windmills or solar panels it doesn't matter, but if it comes from nuclear fission or coal, that's a big problem. Although power from nuclear plants is a lot better than from coal plants IMO.

The air powered engine does cut down a lot on electricity required to move the car itself. But how much electricity is required for operating the air pump? My initial guess was fewer than with an electric engine, but now I'm not so sure. Does anyone have any figures on how much electricity is required to run an air car compared to an electric one?
 
Yeah but while in motion the Electric car is going to emit far more pollution than an air car regardless of their "refueling" times and pollution levels.
 
V1P3R
Yeah but while in motion the Electric car is going to emit far more pollution than an air car regardless of their "refueling" times and pollution levels.
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But of course. Coming to think of it, it doesn't look like the air compressors use that much energy, do they? They look pretty simple to me. Probably takes more energy to use a drill or chainsaw for 3 minutes.
 
Maybe I'm missing something. But what pollution does a car running purely on electricity generate?
 
Casio
Maybe I'm missing something. But what pollution does a car running purely on electricity generate?
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Pollution from power stations across the country, powering the car indirectly when it charges up at home. If our electricity all came from windmills, solar panels and the Bay of Fundy, this wouldn't be an issue. But sadly, the majority of our power doesn't come from those sources...
 
Grand Prix
Pollution from power stations across the country, powering the car indirectly when it charges up at home.
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It's not generating it.

It's using power from things that may make pollution. By that reasoning my toaster generates pollution. Me not using it isn't causing any more or less pollution than already exists.
 
Casio
It's not generating it.

It's using power from things that may make pollution. By that reasoning my toaster generates pollution. Me not using it isn't causing any more or less pollution than already exists.
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It does, actually, albeit a tiny amount. But if you replace every oil car in the world with an electric one... um, yeah, there's gonna be a problem. Unless we have made significant advances in getting power from clean resources.
 
Although you've got rid of all of the oil generated pollution of every car on the road.

I suppose the question is, how much extra power is required to run every car off electricity, and would producing the extra power cause more pollution than would be offset by eliminating the automotive generated oil pollution?
 
Casio
Although you've got rid of all of the oil generated pollution of every car on the road.

I suppose the question is, how much extra power is required to run every car off electricity, and would producing the extra power cause more pollution than would be offset by eliminating the automotive generated oil pollution?
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That's hard to say. But don't forget that we would now be adding demand for electricity for automobiles, along with all the other electric appliances and toys and Christmas lights and TVs. We'll still need more power stations regardless.

Most likely these would be nuclear plants, which take up space, and produce harmful radioactive materials that have to be contained in yet more space, for a very long time. I for one do not want a nuclear plant in my back yard. Not to mention the risk of meltdowns.

However, if electric cars were solar powered, I would have no problem with accepting them as the new form of transport. We'll need to work on increasing solar efficiency though, and fast! :) 👍
 
I'm with Shannon, but with a slightly modified view on it. Nobody is going to buy into alternative, non-petrol based fuel sources until the cost of petroleum gets so high that they notice. We notice the $0.95/litre now, but nobody gives a hoot. We have just as many suv's and minivans with just one person in 'em on the roads. When fuel gets to $2.00+ / litre, people might start doing something. I doubt we'll see even minor changes in people's vehicle choices and driving habits until the 1.50+ mark... nothing major will be seen until the $2.00+ mark since that would mean up to $200 per tank on a large SUV...
 
I'm sorry for the noob question, but does this have anything to do with Compressed Natural Gas? (CNG) (It takes 3600PSi to make this thing move.)

If so, then CNG was available a long time ago. Sorry, I'm just confused. :confused:
 
Grand Prix
That's hard to say. But don't forget that we would now be adding demand for electricity for automobiles, along with all the other electric appliances and toys and Christmas lights and TVs. We'll still need more power stations regardless.
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Right, and we would need more power to compress that air. DUR? You are ultimately going to spend the same amount of energy compressing the air as you would just running the car. So in fact, the AIR powered car would produce just as much pollution, remotely, as an electric car. Hate to burst your bubble.

Grand Prix
Most likely these would be nuclear plants, which take up space, and produce harmful radioactive materials that have to be contained in yet more space, for a very long time. I for one do not want a nuclear plant in my back yard. Not to mention the risk of meltdowns.
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Yes, with less than a dozen incidents in the last 2 decades, none of which were serious by any measure. Nuclear power is the safest and cleanest power on the planet that can remotely meet our needs. Hydro is up there, but only in certain areas, like where I live. But your options for the near future are nuclear or coal. And coal is terrible for everything.

Grand Prix
However, if electric cars were solar powered, I would have no problem with accepting them as the new form of transport. We'll need to work on increasing solar efficiency though, and fast! :) 👍
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Solar efficiency isn't the issue. Its batteries that are the issue really. In fact, batteries are pretty much the only technology that hasn't followed Moore's law remotely.
 

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