MIT’s new engine design
MIT researchers are developing a half-sized gasoline engine that performs like its full-sized cousin but offers fuel efficiency approaching that of today’s hybrid engine system–at a far lower cost. The key? Carefully controlled injection of ethanol, an increasingly common biofuel, directly into the engine’s cylinders when there’s a hill to be climbed or a car to be passed.These small engines could be on the market within five years, and consumers should find them appealing: By spending about an extra $1,000 and adding a couple of gallons of ethanol every few months, they will have an engine that can go as much as 30 percent farther on a gallon of fuel than an ordinary engine. Moreover, the little engine provides high performance without the use of high-octane gasoline.
This is the sort of thing that will succeed in combating pollution, CO2 emissions, and declining oil reserves, not artificial regulations or Kyoto style reductions.
Of course, you are right to the point that a 750cc 4 pot will use a lot less fuel than the 5500cc V8 in the RV.
As I have commented elsewhere, when is someone going to have the gumption to tie this particular problem to a possible solution to the Iran/Iraq/whereever strife by reducing global dependance upon oil for energy. The very big problem is of course that of air transport. Secondary after that is the difficulty of the internal transportation system – no not yer RV, but functions like getting food from production to city and mass city transport – and cheap heating.
But I do not believe that is enough. My great fear, after listening to Stern’s speech and some of the interviews that followed (political, scientific, supporting, against) is that once more we (humanity, or those able to) may have completely under-estimated the impacts of global warming. Nothing to do with cause… just effect.
Instance in point must be Australia; some parts of the country have not had rain in 6 years. That is unprecedented in the past 150 years (I believe) of reliable weather records. This is impacting on farmers, and even some of the major cities are running short of water. We were in Cairns four years ago and the main city reservoir was only 30% full. The headwaters of the Barron River system were dry, with the major hydro power station at Cairns operating at about 15% capacity as a result.
And so it goes…