How much time do you think we have left?

[UNGN]

The US is swimming in shale gas. More than enough to get us through to a 70% nuclear fusion economy 30 years after the first "breakthroughs" in Nuclear Fusion come. We have 300 years of full electric power trucks and autos worth of coal under the ground in the US, but we can't touch that, being full of that nasty carbon that plants crave.

Windmills and Nuclear power plants (Fission and eventually Fusion) don't stop making power at night, even though nobody is using it. A Nuclear Fusion breakthrough will NECESSITATE a rapid switch over to electric cars, just to use up the excess power they will be making at night. Electric companies will eventual almost pay you to charge your electric car overnight... except it won't actually be your car... it will be the car that picks you up in the morning and drops you off at night and takes you to Walmart and out to dinner at Taco Bell for $15.98/day with a 2 year contract (Wifi is $.99/day extra and you can ad a VR p*rn subscription for $39.99/Month)

Even people that say they will never jump on the bandwagon will jump on the bandwagon.

 

[CWPottenger]

With today"s technology and IMO any of the foreseeable technology automated cars will not work in the varying weather and other environmental or animal intrusions on the roads in rural areas. In the city all these variables are controllable and for the most part programmable into the cars logic. As for renewable energy we need to be researching and constantly improving. Wind and solar will never be able to be a primary energy source as long as it is Earth surface bound. To put simply the wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine.
To put simply 1 Nuclear powered turbine produces avg of 800MW. A wind turbine produces between 2 a 4MW. So at maximum output 100% of the time it would take 200 wind turbines to equal 1 nuclear turbine. The reality is wind turbine operated at closer to 25% efficiency so now we need 800 turbines(lots of real estate for that). So we have a lot to learn and improve on.

 

[Turbo Zach]

If I can't drive my cars any more. I will park them and play with one of my other hobbies!

 

[Turbo Zach]

If I can't drive my cars any more. I will park them and play with one of my other hobbies! View attachment 77226

Sorry I think we need some pictures. A nother hobby I think people should persu.

 

[pagrunt]

Sorry I think we need some pictures. A nother hobby I think people should persu. View attachment 77227

Those are like Pringles, just can't have one. 😀

 

[ssn696]

Semi-Autonomous Trucks May Drive Across the Country In Platoons
"Trucking may soon involve convoys of electric, semi-autonomous big rigs driving cross country.

Tesla’s much-anticipated debut of an electric semi-truck on Thursday night has spurred debate about the future of trucking, especially how advances in autonomous driving technology could make many truck driving jobs obsolete. Tesla’s new semi-truck, which is not expected to be manufactured for another two years, has some autonomous driving capabilities, although it still requires a human driver.

But, one Intel-backed tech startup has an interesting prediction about trucking’s future. Peloton Technology has developed a system that would allow for “platooning,” in which multiple trucks follow closely behind a lead truck to take advantage of reduced wind resistance while using sensors and radar technology to synchronize their speeds and routes. Peloton predicts that platooning would save companies money by improving trucks’ fuel efficiency while also cutting down on emissions."

Rolling resistance on rails is much less. Two guys can operate a vehicle that moves 500 shipping containers. It's called a train. Why not electrify the major rail lines? Wind turbines in the middle of nowhere...can power trains rolling along...across the middle of nowhere.

 

[DRIVEN]

Sorry I think we need some pictures. A nother hobby I think people should persu. View attachment 77227

Got that more than covered.
None of mine have numbers😵

 

[DRIVEN]

Rolling resistance on rails is much less. Two guys can operate a vehicle that moves 500 shipping containers. It's called a train. Why not electrify the major rail lines? Wind turbines in the middle of nowhere...can power trains rolling along...across the middle of nowhere.

My understanding is that trains aren't that far off anyway. Already powered by electric motors and managed via computer. If the diesel generator was replaced with a battery pack they'd be all electric. Could be charged at stations or have a live feed from a track.
Seems like there's a member or two that works in that field. Maybe they can chime in.

 

[pontiacgp]

I think the high end cars of today have been slowly taking over control of the car from the driver. On my son's 4 series BMW it has a system that will apply the brakes in the city if a pedestrian walks in front of the car and like many cars on the highway it will brake if you get too close to the car in front. It has traction control, lane warning etc. Other cars self park so it seems that the plan is to get people accustomed to the car doing more and more for them so the transition to "look ma, no hands" won't be a big step.

 

[UNGN]

My understanding is that trains aren't that far off anyway. Already powered by electric motors and managed via computer. If the diesel generator was replaced with a battery pack they'd be all electric. Could be charged at stations or have a live feed from a track.
Seems like there's a member or two that works in that field. Maybe they can chime in.

It's a fallacy that we are running out of fossil fuels anytime soon. Diesel freight trains are pretty efficient, so they are way down on the list for full electrification. Trucks still have to move goods to/from trains and there are millions of those.

Passenger trains, especially 1/2 empty ones, ARE NOT efficient and will likely "just go away" in the US the next 20-30 years, except for "charters" for nostalgic train enthusiasts. Elon Musk's Hyperloop put the stake in the heart of push for "high speed rail", too. It's dead. Some people who have a stake in it still won't admit it, but it's dead.

Current TBM technology does 6 miles/year with 28 ft diameter tubes. Musk is shooting for over 100 m/y out of a TBM with 14 ft diameter tubes and that is though the city. Out in the country, it's way cheaper to bury a couple 14' diameter pipes than have a 100' wide railroad right away and the infrastructure to keep 200+mph trains separate from EVERYTHING they are passing by.

Musk is shyster showman, but his numbers add up.