Enviro-Green Tech: The Good? (not the Bad and the Ugly)

[ERD50]

I think there's a lot of progress to be made in mass transit--for environmental reasons and reducing commute times. The best ones use the same right-of-ways as highways/roads, but get above the clogged traffic.
1) There have been several concepts that use a light overhead rail and small individual cars (4 seats). ...

Yes, I think the whole Personal rapid transit (PRT) idea has a lot of potential. I think the personal safety issue could be a tough one - ever feel uncomfortable when you are alone in an elevator with a shady-looking character? That could be a real problem with little cars with just 1-4 people in them.

The regular rapid-transit in Chicago has a big advantage over the commuter trains, instead of waiting 20 minutes, or an hour or two for a train, the RT arrives every few minutes at peak times, 10 minutes most of the day, and I think 20 minutes in off-hours. PRT would be even better.

Another green wave I'd love to see: things that are designed to be maintained/fixed/kept in service. ...

+1

There is a flip side to this though. I've had people moan about how nothing is repairable these days, you just buy a new one. Yes, but I was involved in high volume manufacturing, and the techniques that make these products as small and cheap as we want just do not lend themselves to being repaired. It takes specialized equipment and experience and special profiles for each application to replace a BGA style part (tiny solder pads on the bottom side, hundreds of them, all invisible - they are 'bulk' soldered by applying solder paste with a screen, and then heating the entire thing, and that repair often fails.

But, I do think we could make things much more modular. One recent success - bought a replacement smartphone for DD, and it didn't come with a charger. Finally! The standardization on USB charging pushed by Europe has hit critical mass - just reuse your old charger, and you can share a charger across several devices because they are more standardized. And if a device dies, just re-purpose the charger it came with. A win-win-win!

But yep, all these specialized front panels with switches and electronics that burn out, and make the whole darn unit often cheaper to replace than repair is a real enviro-mess. I'd like to think of some reasonable way to promote better repair-ability on products, especially big ones like major appliances, but it's tricky w/o micro-managed gov't regs.

One example - Apple laptops, and many phones. They have gone to these non-user-swappable batteries. Now some people want the sleek size that Apple can offer by making the battery the way they do, that's fine. I just wish they could come up with a second line of less, sleek, but more modular laptops, so I had a choice to get one with a swappable battery. But that's not 'sexy', so I don't expect it.

And I'd like a car with easy to replace parts, but I do think we are a small enough market, I just don't expect to see it.

I think you guys are underestimating the impact of this innovation of self-driving cars. My prediction is that if you could peak 50 years into the future, the change you would notice most is self-driving cars and how they have changed how we build cities and real estate and the things that are automated (like same-day instant deliveries) that we have to do manually now.

I don't think we are underestimating them. I won't even guess what we will have in 50 years, I was addressing the more near term. In 50 years, other developments may make self-driving cars a non-issue. I thought I was being pretty positive about what they could be doing in the near future (drive to your door for car-sharing was one example).

-ERD50

 

[Chuckanut]

The regular rapid-transit in Chicago has a big advantage over the commuter trains, instead of waiting 20 minutes, or an hour or two for a train, the RT arrives every few minutes at peak times, 10 minutes most of the day, and I think 20 minutes in off-hours. PRT would be even better.

That is nice. One thing I noticed about the better public transit systems in Europe is that the only schedule one needs is the time the trains start to run in the morning, and when they stop running late at night. Other than that they run so frequently, that no schedule is needed. Very nice.

 

[Chuckanut]

Conservation is a big Greenie plus, IMHO. And the cost is often nothing or very little. For example, in my home the hot water to the shower first goes past the kitchen sink. So, if I shower after I do the morning dishes, I get almost instant hot water. This is much better than showering before breakfast when I have to waste several gallons of hot water as it works its way through the pipes to the bathroom.

 

[samclem]

I think I found one for you.

Super Clean 1969 Checker Marathon Deluxe | Bring a Trailer

That's the idea. But, smaller--like a Nash Metro!

Keep making the same body panels, bumpers, light covers, etc for at least ten years. Make all the body parts removable and replaceable without a torch. Lots of access panels. For starters--how about an oil filter than is easy to reach and oriented with the gasket at the top?

Yes, I think the whole Personal rapid transit (PRT) idea has a lot of potential. I think the personal safety issue could be a tough one - ever feel uncomfortable when you are alone in an elevator with a shady-looking character? That could be a real problem with little cars with just 1-4 people in them.

Yep, I think it would have to be point-to-point, no stopping to pick up more people.

But, in case of trouble--maybe if anyone inside presses the "Cops" or "Medical help" button, the "pod" goes directly to a police station/ER.

But yep, all these specialized front panels with switches and electronics that burn out, and make the whole darn unit often cheaper to replace than repair is a real enviro-mess. I'd like to think of some reasonable way to promote better repair-ability on products, especially big ones like major appliances, but it's tricky w/o micro-managed gov't regs.
-ERD50

Two ideas come to mind.
1) A "Universal Common Appliance" standard/label that manufacturers voluntarily sign on to. Components (motors, pups, timers, control boards, switches, etc) would be standardized across manufacturers, required tools for diagnostics/service would be standardized/minimized, access to subcomponents would be simplified, etc. If a manufacturer wants the label, they adhere to the standards.
2) Do it as a single company effort. With the exception of the cabinet, most components of a washer/dryer can be shipped UPS, so the company could sell parts online from a single location. The advertising would stress the easy serviceability of the models, online videos show how to do anything that needs to be done, and customers get a guarantee of parts availability and low prices (show them the list) when they buy. Heck, maybe have onboard diagnostics that download a troubleshooting tree to a USB memory stick plugged into the front of the appliance. Whether you want to fix it yourself or have someone else do it, you'll save a bundle if the parts are reasonably priced and the labor hours are minimized. And, it is better for the environment.

 

[travelover]

That's the idea. But, smaller--like a Nash Metro!
...............

OK, here is your dream vehicle.

 

[ERD50]

OK, here is your dream vehicle.

I'd be fine with something along that concept (not THAT spartan though). Now those are the things the govt could have [-]spent[/-] invested money to turn into hybrids - with their start-stop and high miles 6 days a week, it sure would have been more of a test ground then subsidies for hybrids that sit idle most of the day. And they'd have access to all the maintenance and cost and savings records

... in Europe ... the only schedule one needs is the time the trains start to run in the morning, and when they stop running late at night. Other than that they run so frequently, that no schedule is needed. Very nice.

I was thinking about if our commuter trains, which are BIG honkin' beasts, could run smaller, lighter cars more often, like that - but then you stop traffic at a zillion crossings in the 'burbs (not in the city, almost all crossings are above street grade), which is a pain and a safety issue. The Rapid Transit is under/over ground.

I was just inspired about that 'common front panel' thought I had a few posts back - hold on, I've got to tie a few thoughts together here:

I recently ordered this little thing for $15 with shipping (and that was w/o 'prime' - Item Subtotal: $9.97 - Shipping and Handling: $4.99),

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051CAE1C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

it pulls all the available engine info in real time, not just the fail codes, and transmits via bluetooth to your tablet/smart-phone. I already had a code reader, paid $56 for it, and that old one does far, far less. But it needs buttons, and a display, etc., so that drives up the cost. But this little guy leverages on the fact that I already have a tablet, just install a free app, and now I've got something far more useful, for far less money.

OK, so imagine that various mfgs came up with a few standard sizes of touch panels, and maybe some w/o touch, but a few standard buttons. You would not need high quality graphics, most wouldn't need color, so these things could be cheap. They should all use a standard connector inside (USB?), and all be easily removed/replaced. With that kind of standardization, lots of companies would compete for business, and the price would come down. And since the panel would be firmware driven, just reprogram it for different uses. You could even pull one from otherwise unrepairable appliances, and use them to replace a bad panel in another appliance.

As examples, a simple, small one for things like dishwashers, maybe a larger one for simple microwaves, and bigger ones for more feature-rich microwaves. They could go in washers, dryers, stoves, fancy-refrigerators (ours is old-school), car radios, tv remotes, just about any product you interface with.

Wouldn't that make more sense than every single product having a different control panel that costs a fortune to replace if it has a simple fault (and often ends up scraping the whole darn appliance)? I could see the EU pushing for this in the same way they pushed for USB charger standards for cell phones.

-ERD50

 

[travelover]

OK, here is your dream vehicle.

My apologies, I posted the luxury sport utility version. Here is a true spartan car.

 

[ls99]

Is not. It has a luxury sunroof!

 

[Mulligan]

After installing my light colored metal roof this past winter, I am a big believer in them saving me money and being more Eco friendly. Despite a recently enacted 10% increase in electrical rates, my summer cooling bill has been on average 15% lower than last year. I do not get the morning "heat up" that I normally did with the asphalt shingles.


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[springnr]

Kramer: "What about self-driving cars? In 20 years, these will be becoming mainstream."
___________________________
In today's Washington Post an autonomous drive through D.C. The video states "could be" 6 - 8 years. I think there will be some push back to overcome.

Driverless vehicles? Even in D.C. streets? An autonomous car takes a capital test run. - The Washington Post

 

[ERD50]

Kramer: "What about self-driving cars? In 20 years, these will be becoming mainstream."
___________________________
In today's Washington Post an autonomous drive through D.C. The video states "could be" 6 - 8 years. I think there will be some push back to overcome.

Driverless vehicles? Even in D.C. streets? An autonomous car takes a capital test run. - The Washington Post

Fascinating article. It's amazing how capable these are, and also how difficult it is to adjust to unusual situations. A cop (or maybe a citizen in an emergency situation) gets out in the crosswalk to direct traffic - can a computer and video interpret those hand waves? Did that truck stop to unload, or talk to someone on the sidewalk for a minute? Go around them
or wait?

It's hard to imagine how far computing and sensors will advance in 20 years, so I won't rule anything out. But I think the article makes sense, these ideas will catch on a little at a time as something that helps us drive safely, and will grow and grow. By the time we are talking full autonomy, there may be other options, making that moot.

-ERD50

 

[ziggy29]

In today's Washington Post an autonomous drive through D.C. The video states "could be" 6 - 8 years. I think there will be some push back to overcome.

For sure there will be issues to overcome. How does a driver manually override the computer in case of emergency or malfunction (the equivalent of a pilot disabling the autopilot feature of an aircraft)? Can hackers break into the self-driving car's computer and sabotage it (the high tech version of cutting a brake line)? What will be the policy about impaired "operators" of a self-driving vehicle (not just drunk or stoned but reading, texting, et cetera)? How much redundancy is required to be built in to minimize the chance of tragedy in case of a malfunction? What about traffic controls (barricades, traffic cops) that aren't programmed into the computer? How do they know to pull over when an emergency vehicle is approaching?

 

[bld999]

One idea I've wondered about is the prospect if 3D printing parts out of aluminum, titanium, or other material instead of shipping finished parts from say Cleveland to Yellowknife. That would save warehousing, stocking labor, pulling, packaging, and physical transportation for the parts purveyor. They would get a fee of some size for software use to instruct the printer for that exact part. Turbocharger housing stuck in transit due to weather? Not if it's just emerging from the printer.

 

[Walt34]

For sure there will be issues to overcome. How does a driver manually override the computer in case of emergency or malfunction (the equivalent of a pilot disabling the autopilot feature of an aircraft)? Can hackers break into the self-driving car's computer and sabotage it (the high tech version of cutting a brake line)? What will be the policy about impaired "operators" of a self-driving vehicle (not just drunk or stoned but reading, texting, et cetera)? How much redundancy is required to be built in to minimize the chance of tragedy in case of a malfunction? What about traffic controls (barricades, traffic cops) that aren't programmed into the computer? How do they know to pull over when an emergency vehicle is approaching?

That is why I think the major hurdle will be legal, not technical. Who is responsible for what? Now the legal responsibility in all cases rests on one person - the driver.

There is a precedent of sorts. What if there are two drivers such as a ladder fire truck (guy driving the tiller, or rear end of the truck). In MD anyway, the law ignores that. Even if the tiller man screws up the driver up front takes the legal heat.

But that doesn't work for everybody. I sure am not willing to take the heat for some software programmer who didn't anticipate a skydiver landing in front of the car. So while the technical issues may be largely solved in a few years, the legal ones are going to take a while longer than that.

So if the manufacturer advertises an autonomous vehicle, that means I can get in it and ride drunk, stoned, asleep, or simply not paying attention to anything outside. It is going to be a long time before that happens, if ever.

 

[kramer]

That is why I think the major hurdle will be legal, not technical. Who is responsible for what? Now the legal responsibility in all cases rests on one person - the driver.

There are major efforts underway in multiple countries on developing a legal framework (and yes it is a major issue for self-driving vehicles). Much of the framework already must be developed in order to allow upcoming automation features in human-driven cars. If the overall rate of accidents drops significantly, as most are predicting, then accident costs should decline overall.


For the problem of testing unknown or uncommon conditions, test environments have been developed. Google has created a simulation of the entire California road system:

Google has built a Matrix-like simulation of California to test its self-driving cars | ExtremeTech

Google, it has emerged, has built a “Matrix-style” simulation of the entirety of California to test its self-driving cars. While this in itself isn’t massively surprising given Google’s history as a software company (though it is a bit scary), the company is also petitioning California’s state officials to allow safety testing within the Matrix, instead of testing on real roads. This might sound a little terrifying — imagine if Ford started selling a car that had never been road-tested — but it makes quite a lot of sense for a self-driving car, where there are millions of conditions that need to be tested — conditions that are essentially impossible to test in real-time on real roads. “In a few hours, we can test thousands upon thousands of scenarios which in terms of driving all over again might take decades,” a Google spokesperson told the Guardian.

Information about Google’s Matrix-like simulation of California was obtained by the Guardian – via a freedom of information petition to California officials, and then some further information from a Google spokesperson. Google has built the entirety of California’s road system (about 172,000 miles) in software, along with accurate simulations of traffic, pedestrians, weather, and so on. There’s no word on the hardware being used to create the Google Matrix, but it’s probably a fairly large cluster of servers.

It's still early days for self-driving cars (think cell phone technology in 1983) but I think it is good to think through the ramifications. It really is a society-changing technology where land transportation becomes an automated commodity.

 

[LOL!]

Self-driving cars will just become a means of suicide such as certain bridges. Also could be used as mobile IEDs. Imagine drug lords "sending" a car of explosives to a "friend" of theirs.

 

[travelover]

Self-driving cars will just become a means of suicide such as certain bridges. Also could be used as mobile IEDs. Imagine drug lords "sending" a car of explosives to a "friend" of theirs.

Good morning, Sunshine.

 

[HFWR]

...can get in it and ride drunk, stoned, asleep, or simply not paying attention to anything outside...

I see that all the time...

 

[ERD50]

...

But it seems like many industrial installations could do things like this. The big data centers create so much heat that needs to be pulled out - can't they co-locate those with some industry that can use low grade heat?

I wonder if big diesels with refrigerated trailers could use the waste heat to run absorptive air coolers? Those aren't as efficient as compressors ( 0.7 COP vs 3-4 COP for compressor?), but if it is just waste heat, could it make sense? ...

I saw a few articles that address this, thought I'd post and maybe reactivate this thread...

KPMG Captures Heat for Data Center Cooling

Enter the fourteen natural gas-powered micro-turbines ...

The exhaust from this miniature power plant reaches a sweltering 600°F (about 315° C), but instead of being vented to the atmosphere, this valuable waste heat is captured and piped from the turbines to the remarkable equipment that extracts its true worth: a pair of absorption chillers.

Absorption chillers are hardly new; they've been in commercial use since the 1920s. But they are considered pricey, and need a lot of heat to work their magic-turning heat into cooling. Instead of using an electric compressor to turn refrigerant from a gas to liquid to begin an evaporation cycle that removes heat from air, absorption chillers use heat-no moving parts-to drive the operation.

These chillers provide the air-conditioning that keeps KPMG's servers in a safe temperature range. "In effect, we're getting free cooling," said Dominick Regina, KPMG's associate director of infrastructure operations.

National Snow and Ice Data Center Gets a Cool Makeover

... But perhaps the greatest innovation is how the center will cut down its need for traditional air-conditioning simply by taking advantage of the surrounding geography. "This is Boulder," says Gallaher. Filtered outdoor air is expected to provide most of its cooling needs for the equipment. And on hot days when that's impossible, the data center is installing a new system that uses indirect evaporative cooling—a technology that uses no compressors, but blows air through water, and takes advantage of the change in temperature when the water evaporates.

In fact, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), ... needs 100 kilowatthours per hour of fossil fuel power to process data on the state of the world's frozen regions. ... And about half of that power is spent not to crunch data, but just to cool the equipment.

... "Even in the dead of winter, these things are cranking full-tilt, trying to chill off the 100°F-plus (37°C) heat coming off the back of these units."

With the cool air of the Rocky Mountains all around, it didn't make sense. "We said, 'Why are we doing this?' " Gallaher said. "Why don't we dump the warm air outside and pull in the cool air?"

-ERD50

 

[meierlde]

Re ERD50s comment #44. Until recently houses in Albuquerque used this instead of refrigerated air (the comment about evaporative cooling) it is called a swamp cooler. Now it turns out you trade water for electricity and it becomes unclear which commodity is in the greatest shortage. It appears that due to water usage issues Albuquerque is phasing swamp coolers out in new construction.

 

[kramer]

I had forgotten about this thread.

Recent announcements about automobile auto-pilot advancements from September, 2014:

Cadillac to Introduce 'Super Cruise' Self-Driving Feature by 2017

During a presentation in Detroit yesterday, General Motors CEO Mary Barra confirmed that several 2017 Cadillac models will receive a semi-autonomous driving technology called Super Cruise. In addition, Barra said the 2017 Cadillac CTS will receive vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology.
Super Cruise will debut on an all-new Cadillac in a "segment where we don't compete today," Barra said. That could mean the technology will appear on a high-end luxury flagship, such as the Cadillac LTS sedan featured in our Sneak Preview issue that will serve as Cadillac's answer to the Mercedes S-Class. Last month, Cadillac chief engineer Dave Leone told Automobile that the LTS would be one of the lightest, best-driving cars in its segment, and reiterated that it will have a V-8 engine.
Cadillac has experimented with Super Cruise for several years and is now ready to put it into series production. The system allows a car to accelerate, brake, and steer automatically when in highway traffic. Cameras, radar sensors, and GPS maps help the car navigate roadways automatically, with the car's computer controller steering, braking, and acceleration. A more advanced version of the lane-keeping systems available on some other luxury models like the Infiniti Q50 and Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Cadillac says Super Cruise works both in stop-and-go traffic and during road trips on more open roads. Nissan and Volvo will both offer similar traffic-jam assist technologies, although neither of those systems operate in open-road driving scenarios.
. . .
Barra said as an example that Cadillac Super Cruise could take control during rush-hour traffic on southern California highways, or could drive itself on the freeways between California and Las Vegas. However, Barra said that a fully-autonomous vehicle that can also drive itself in urban traffic might not arrive until the next decade. We named autonomous driving systems our 2014 Technology of the Year.

Self-Driving Cars From Tesla In About 3 Years, Says CEO Elon Musk

Autonomous vehicles have become a hot talking point in recent years, as major firms like Google continue high-profile development of the technology.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] has also expressed an interest in recent years, and now tells Nikkei that the firm could introduce self-driving technology in the next three years.

Musk says that full auto-pilot technology will appear within a "five- or six-year time frame", but some aspects of the technology would appear in the lower-priced Model 3 electric sedan due in three years time.

 

[ERD50]

An Update on my OP - Wrightspeed

I saw a few news articles pop up on developments on the Wrightspeed approach - serial hybrid garbage/delivery trucks powered by a turbine engine.

Seems they have moved from the Capstone turbine to their own in-house design (The Fulcrum) with recuperation to improve efficiency. They say they leverage work done on automotive turbochargers, which have become common and reliable and are mature and relatively affordable technology.

The recuperator captures waste exhaust heat, and transfers it to the post compression stage, so that heat further expands the gases to improve efficiency. There's a rather vague claim of 30% improvement, but I didnt see any absolute numbers.

The Fulcrum | Wrightspeed

and from this article:

Green Car Congress: Wrightspeed unveils new turbine range extender for medium- and heavy-duty electric powertrains; 30% more efficient than current microturbine generators

FedEx, which is already running a couple of trucks using the Route powertrain, has ordered 25 more.

I hope this works out. They are claiming ~2x fuel efficiency in the garbage trucks, and these trucks use so much more fuel annually than a car, that it really makes sense to economize in this area. Economically, and environmentally.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Interesting to me. The idea of an opposed piston engine has some positives - no cylinder head, and supposed better thermal efficiency since the heat that would be lost to the cylinder head is contained and used/shared by the two opposed pistons. Better balancing as the piston motion cancels itself out?

Negatives are two crankshafts.

They also show simplification by using ports instead of valves, but I would not think that would work very well for a standard automobile application. Modern engines use variable valve timing to optimize things over different speeds/loads.

But, if this was used in a series hybrid, the engine could run at a constant speed/load, so I would think fixed ports could work well?

Opposed-Piston - Achates

-ERD50

 

[jazz4cash]

That opposed piston 2 stroke design is fascinating. I scrolled through some of the other videos and found a testimonial from one of my former bosses.


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[ERD50]

That opposed piston 2 stroke design is fascinating. I scrolled through some of the other videos and found a testimonial from one of my former bosses.

Wow, interesting that you have an actual connection to that.

They have a military contract now, so maybe something will come of it. I have not heard any updates on the WrightSpeed evaluations and it's been ~ 1 year.

-ERD50