Geometry can count

TGIT Thank Geometry it’s Thursday

Today I am sending Thermo Thursday a day early.

Yes geometry can count in saving BTUS. There is a coefficient of drag (CD) that is used in aerodynamics to calculate the amount of drag in fluid flow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_coefficient Note this has nothing to do with the costume design at Beach Blanket Babylon. http://www.beachblanketbabylon.com/

The shape of a vehicle can improve the fuel efficiency if the coefficient of drag is reduced. The energy required to propel a vehicle through the air is proportional to the coefficient of drag. In a TT of about a year ago I wrote about the bio-car that is shaped like a box fish that only has a CD of 0.19. The Prius has a CD of 0.29 and the Hummer has one greater than 0.5.

Below are some photos of some new aerodynamic tractor trailers that will possibly be manufactured in the future




I have opined of the great harm being caused by biofuels. Steve sent me a link he found in which a very large UK bus operator will no longer use Biodiesel in their fleet because of these very same concerns http://www.masstransitmag.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=3&id=4273 This is good news and more of this type of news will be coming from Europe over the next several months.

The US DOE (Department of Entropy) and its head Gangrene Bodman continue to waste the planet’s resources and our money on the futile effort of Biofuels. Since the cost to society of biofuels is the tripling of the cost of tortillas I suggest the EPA change its “SmartWay Grow and Go” program to the “Help Global Starvation and Misery” program. Volvo who take pride in their engines running on seven renewable fuels should remember Josephs interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream of the seven lean years.

EPA Recognizes 48 Companies for Promoting Renewable Fuels in Trucks
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acknowledged 48 companies in late August that have joined its "SmartWay Grow & Go" program, which encourages the use of renewable fuels in tractor-trailer trucks. The EPA program, launched in October 2006, is an offshoot of the EPA SmartWay Transport Partnership, which encourages the development and use of efficient trucks. The new program aims to convince one-quarter of the EPA's SmartWay Transport partners to start using renewable fuels by 2012, raising that to one-half of the partners by 2020. EPA is currently working with about 600 SmartWay Transport partners, including major truck and rail carriers as well as shipping and logistics companies, so the agency still has a way to go before reaching its goal. But one partner, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), is certainly doing its part, providing mapping software that helps truckers find biodiesel pumps. See the NBB press release.
The EPA recognized its partners at the Great American Trucking Show, where it also displayed the first SmartWay-certified tractors and trailers, a lineup of the cleanest, most fuel-efficient heavy-duty trucks available on the market. The six new models of SmartWay tractors and trailers are equipped with a series of advanced aerodynamic features, idle-reduction options, and low-rolling-resistance tires that together can serve as a model for improving the fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks by up to 20%. To date, SmartWay partners have saved more than 350 million gallons of diesel fuel and eliminated nearly 4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, primarily through the adoption of fuel-saving technologies and strategies, according to the EPA. See the EPA press release and the list of partners on the SmartWay Grow & Go Web site.
While most people would think of biodiesel when talking about renewable fuels in trucks, the Volvo Group recently demonstrated that its trucks can be modified to run on up to seven different renewable fuels. Volvo ran its trucks on biodiesel; biogas (methane); a mix of biodiesel and liquefied biogas; dimethyl ether, or DME, produced by gasifying biomass; a blend of ethanol and methanol; synthetic diesel produced from gasified biomass; and a mix of hydrogen and biogas. As the CEO of Volvo put it, "With these vehicles, we have shown that Volvo is ready, that we possess the technology and the resources for carbon-dioxide-free transport ... " See the Volvo press release.


The word of the day is antiquarian In the next century antiquarians will study Volvos

antiquarian \an-tuh-KWAIR-ee-uhn\, noun:1. One who collects, studies, or deals in objects or relics from the past.
adjective:1. Of or pertaining to antiquarians or objects or relics from the past.2. Dealing in or concerned with old or rare books.
From the depositions filed with the Loyalist Claims Commission after the Revolution, from a handful of letters gathered by an antiquarian at the beginning of the twentieth century, and from scattered court papers in scattered archives, it is possible to piece together some of the family's history.-- Linda K. Kerber, No Constitutional Right to Be Ladies
Except to antiquarians and preservationists, silent cinema has little presence on the cultural radar screen, its landmark films unrented on video, its iconic images spotted only as fodder for video collage on MTV.-- Thomas Doherty, Pre-Code Hollywood
Indeed, the evident attention to detail and studied historicism bore the impress of Truefitt's years with the antiquarian Cottingham.-- Francis R. Kowsky, Country, Park & City
A friend of mine, the manager of an antiquarian bookshop in Leningrad in the 1960s, told me that he remembered well the twice-monthly visits of a matronly lady from the censorship bureau, who spent hours rifling through the thousands of books on his shelves, checking them against her latest copy of the Summary List (which was always being updated).-- David King, The Commissar Vanishes
Antiquarian is from Latin antiquarius, "pertaining to antiquity," from antiquus, "ancient."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for antiquarian