Chapter 3 More thoughts on Energy Conservation
“Here is what I think the truth is: we are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial about to face cold turkey” Kurt Vonnegut, Cold Turkey
Another idea of mine for saving energy involves our favorite technology in the United States: our automobiles (and other personal vehicles). Many reasons exist and have been elegantly articulated as to why we should drive small cars, environmentally friendly cars, or even scooters and other vehicles. For the most part, this has not persuaded any change of behavior on the part of the American consumer. Again, we are left with the challenge of how to provide incentive for people to save some energy here without suggesting major alternative changes to their lifestyles. Is there a mechanism by which we could live largely as we do now but show an immediate improvement in our gasoline consumption?
I think there is a simple technical solution here. When I drive to work each morning, I see a number of equally frustrated commuters stuck in traffic. Traffic in the Washington DC area is among the worst in the nation. It’s an ugly experience to commute to work for the most part.
What stands out is that most vehicles can accommodate four people but there is only one person driving. I know this is not an earth shattering observation, and people try to address this with car pool measures and other techniques. My question: Is there a simple technical/mechanical method to have the car to a more appropriate size so that one person is driving the “right” sized vehicle for themselves, without compromising their regular need for the full size vehicle?
The answer is to introduce a 4 seat to 2 seat conversion technology I think. Like the convertible tops that fold in and out in the car, you have a four seat to two seat converter. It would decouple the two back seats and assemble the vehicle back together again. There are some keen mechanical challenges here; especially involving the exhaust system, but I think they can be overcome by an ingenious mechanic out there.
So once you hit your magic button in the morning, your usual four seater turns into a two seater. You do your daily commute, and any time you need the full size feature, you would reattach at a point and hit the magic button again. Should an emergency arise and you needed the full size in a hurry, dealers would stock extra back seat components which again the magic button would reattach.
Think how simple this would be if it’s mechanically feasible. It’s true that the massive components of a car do not reside in the back seat. The engine is in the front part for most cars. However, say the savings is only 5%-10% because of the decreased mass. If you multiply that by the number of vehicles traversing our highways every morning, you quickly realize the significance.
The main obstacle I see here is that there’s a mechanical challenge of disconnecting the back seat portion, and then there’s the challenge of keeping the rest of the car aerodynamically tuned with a different configuration. I’m sure there are a number of interdependent components that would require adjustment when you flipped modes. But I don’t think any of them are insurmountable, and in the end you would just have a switch that would flip modes and make all the adjustments after you physically remove the back seat component.
This plan requires no fancy new technology beyond the coupling/decoupling scheme I have described. If implemented as convertible rooftops are it’s such a minor nuisance/adjustment to your way of life that I think most people will gladly accept it if there’s a significant savings in fuel costs. With fuel costs rising the way they are now, I think that’s even more incentive for the average Joe to take advantage of this. What could tank this plan/approach is if the savings turns out to be negligible. I don’t think that’s the case, but that’s just a gut feeling, and I haven’t done any numbers to prove it one way or the other.
If you needed a back seat component in an emergency, the dealers could stock standard additions. Or there could be an evolution depending on demand where some 24 hour stores would base their business on renting components on demand.
A plan like this can be adopted for any type of car- electric, hybrid, gasoline, or whatever the underlying technology is. So it has wide applicability regardless of how environmentally friendly we make the fuel. The basic point of physics is that the reduction in mass will help minimize the fuel burned.
Discuss and enjoy!
Notes to the 3rd edition for Chapter 3.
At the time of this edition ( June, 2012) gas prices have risen significantly in the United States again. An average price is hovering around $4.00 per gallon. I think any ideas to cut costs to the average citizen deserve a close look at this price point.