Saturday, March 16, 2013

Insanity – The President And Electric Vehicles





Albert Einstein is quoted as saying “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  On Friday March 15, President Obama went to the Argonne National Lab outside Chicago and delivered an impassioned speech on how he will again spend $2 billion of our money to get cars “that can go coast to coast without using a drop of oil. 

Is the President insane?  Is the President a Thermodynamic Neophyte?  Is the President lost on his Electric Highway?  Is the President desperate for a legacy?   Yes is the answer to all four questions. 

The Argonne Labs was the source of my data that the primary energy to fabricate lithium ion battery packs is enormous and makes the Tesla Model S an extremely gangrene mode of transportation.  The 472 kilowatt hours of primary energy to fabricate each kilowatt hour of battery stored energy make the argument for battery vehicles a non-starter let alone a coast to coast vehicle.  Did any of the scientists at the lab remind the “commander in chief” of the report that lab prepared?  Hell no they were hoping the President would give them funding to keep the entropy increasing.

I wonder how the President will do the coast to coast trip in his Electric Car.  Will he do it in May or October in perfect weather to avoid using the heater or the air conditioner?  Will he stop every 170 miles even with 60 kilowatt hours of battery pack under his seat and let the car recharge for a couple of hours while he plays a quick 9 holes?  Will he take a gift from a future president to subsidize the purchase of his electric vehicle no one can really afford?

Defenders of the President will claim the $2 billion to be spent over the next decade will yield new battery chemistries that are twice as good and twice as cheap.  I say I have heard that before and the $2 billion will be wasted.  President Obama will not be remembered as having accomplished the electrification of the American vehicle fleet, but will be remembered as having supported Solyndra, A 123, Ener 1, Fisker, and Tesla.

Talking of insanity my Congressman Mr. Huffman who replaced the incompetent Lynn Woolsey is repeating the mistaken and insane green energy policies he implemented in Sacramento.  Mr. Huffman helped craft state law that gives away money like there is no tomorrow to owners of the Bloom Box.  Assemblyman Huffman was responsible for wasting hundreds of millions of dollars in California.  Now he is in DC he wants to mess up the whole country.  Thankfully his hair brain amendments on funding clean energy research did not pass.  


Next week the President should approve the Keystone Pipeline and simply concentrate on achieving a compromise with the House to get a budget passed.   Next week and for all the future time he is my representative in Congress, Mr. Huffman should make sure the FTC comes down hard on Bloom Energy and all other companies that greenwash claims of higher efficiency than they actually achieve. 

Come to think of it Mr. Huffman you helped Bloom in California, and you will probably help them in nation’s capital.  Mr. Huffman if you really care for the environment, for Mother Nature’s sake  listen to the Green Machine who has pleaded with your office to get the FTC rolling on enforcing their rules against greenwashing.  The FTC Green Guides have rules on carbon offsets and non-toxic claims.   Bloom has violated these rules.

We know the Bloom Boxes generate toxic solid waste and have higher carbon emissions than stated on their web site.  Mr. Huffman nailing Bloom would be a slam dunk to make a freshman congressman stand out.  You like your predecessor may even become the ranking democrat on the science and energy committee.  You may even become President of the United States and who knows you may even win a Nobel Peace Prize.  

2 comments:

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