Nuclear Powered Automobiles?

[Svartalf]

http://www.txchnologist.com/2011/the-th ... clear-cars

Thorium lasers: The thoroughly plausible idea for nuclear cars

especially when there's no laser involved in it at all.

[Jason]

Actually wood gas combined with fuel cell technology is a viable way to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions. Considering that it can be made from a broad variety of materials, some of which have little use - such as rice husks, and it produces Biochar which can be used as a fertilizer and for carbon sequestration it is both a renewable fuel source and a way to reduce carbon already in the atmosphere.

It's a modern development of an old idea into a high technology synthesis of several modern developments and advancements in technology. Hardly something to be dismissed out of hand on the false assumption that it is the same technology used in WWII to power one million or more vehicles.

Wood gas... Like the gazognes they used during WWII to compensate the oil penury?

Basically. The concept is the same only the method has been refined, removed from the unit requiring power and centralized. Gasification is performed at central plants on practically any biomass, these plants generate negative CO2 emissions and manufacture syngas for fuel cells that can be used in a wide variety of applications including automobiles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bio-energy ... nd_storage

[Warren Dew]

The Nuclear Renaissance will probably do much better this time around if the press can learn a little physics and not exaggerate

So much for a new nuclear renaissance.

[JimC]

The mass of the required shielding makes the idea absurd, even with miniaturisation and ignoring the issue of collisions...

What we need are fusion plants, and electrical storage devices with at least 5 times the energy density of the best current batteries,,,

[Schneibster]

What we need are fusion plants, and electrical storage devices with at least 5 times the energy density of the best current batteries,,,

Ever check out Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, or EMC2, or EEStor?

[Tyrannical]

That Italian Andrea Rossi is set to demonstrate his 1MW cold fusion plant in TWO days.
Runs on Nickel powder and Hydrogen, produces heat and copper. It doesn't produce high energy gamma rays (4 inches of lead is plenty), and any radioactive copper isotopes have a very short half life. Reaction dies once Nickel melts (~1500C) so it can never have a serious meltdown.

Fake or real? We'll learn soon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Catalyzer

[Schneibster]

The guys down in San Diego at the Naval Weapons Lab had a pretty good look at cold fusion and I ain't heard shit in five years.

I'll keep an eye on that, but I ain't holdin' my breath.

[Svartalf]

That Italian Andrea Rossi is set to demonstrate his 1MW cold fusion plant in TWO days.
Runs on Nickel powder and Hydrogen, produces heat and copper. It doesn't produce high energy gamma rays (4 inches of lead is plenty), and any radioactive copper isotopes have a very short half life. Reaction dies once Nickel melts (~1500C) so it can never have a serious meltdown.

Fake or real? We'll learn soon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Catalyzer

So I can count on you to tell us on Friday night how it went? my own bet is a fizzle so quiet I won't hear of it even in my fav science news.