COMMENTS

RARE EARTHS

When we want to estimate the impact of industrial production, we must appreciate the entire production chain ...
Where it appears that the production of an electric car is very polluting, as much if not more than diesel.

RARE EARTHS: Electric cars are as much or more polluting than diesel cars.

Germanium, boron, lithium, scandium, graphite, cobalt, indium, promethium, tungsten and other lanthanides are among the rare earths in the periodic table of Mendeleyev elements. Under these terms of austere chemical names lies the future of many advanced technologies and our "eco-mobility".
Big problem: China appropriates a quasi-monopoly of the extraction and the refining of the rare earths, and uses it to influence its foreign policy.

Electric vehicles are big consumers of rare earths (about 10 kg in a car) but also some wind turbines that require super-magnets to be productive. The energy and digital revolution, the information and communication technologies are also fond of them. Read More

THE CHILDREN HAVE A STRANGE MINE IN THE DRC.

Children still work in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This persistent situation is more or less accepted by a large part of the world's rechargeable battery sector using this metal.
Phones and laptops, electric cars: they are dependent on this "rare earth", like lithium. Read More

A NOT SO VIRTUOUS ECOSYSTEM....

"Who today is worrying about dealing with the issue of mobility as a whole? What solutions for the manufacture of batteries, battery recycling, operation but also the supply of rare earths, the nature of electricity production ... etc. ", asks Carlos Tavares. Read More

Source "Tribune" 13/09/2017 (The Tribune is a French business weekly publication)

RARE EARTHS - 97% produced in China and 3% in Congo with prices that will rise exponentially as demand exceeds supply

• A growing automotive market worldwide.
• A gradual and constant rejection of thermal engines.
• State incentives to buy hybrid and electric vehicles.
• Rare raw material prices increasing exponentially.
• Rare earth refining capacities that are scarce, stammering, uncertain and expensive.
• An expanding world population (over 3 billion before 2050) that will also demand to take advantage of technological
developments and therefore means of transport.

Read More

DEFLATION TO ENERGY PRICES

People are realising that renewable energies are "deflationary to energy prices". They drive energy costs down, not up. It's no longer necessary to adopt renewable energies to save the world. It's economic, he said.
"We know the climate is changing. We don't know if it will be really bad or nearly apocalyptic. Both are within the realm of possibility."

Source Ramez Naam, Singularity U NZ Summit in Christchurch NZ.

WHY THE COMPRESSED AIR STORAGE REVOLUTION?

Two reasons -

The expansion stage in the storage loop.
A holistic approach to applications.

This is why the traditionalists wrestle with the concept. They fail to realise that compressed air energy storage has 5 components:

Transfer,

Compression,

Storage,

Expansion,

Application.

Conquering the expansion stage has revolutionised the affordability, efficiency and scale in the use of compressed air storage and its huge range of applications. It’s taken 20 years to get to this point.

Source John Mennega, AVL CEO

CHEAP & ABUNDANT ENERGY

“Renewable energy has the hallmarks of a revolution that will rival the industrial revolution, and may very well be the next industrial revolution. Its global impact could exceed all other revolutions. Cheap and abundant energy!”

With the energy transition beyond fossil fuels accelerating and the global move towards off grid energy and decentralised energy, the MDI technology can be playing a significant role in the next generation of energy (electricity) providers.

Source John Mennega, AVL CEO speaking at WIN Seminar in Sydney

MDI AFFORDABLE ENERGY STORAGE & TRANSPORT

There is such an intense industry need for affordable energy storage and transport, both at the centralised renewable energy generation as well as at distributed energy users, that profitability has a huge tailwind. It's a revolution to clean energy and transport for the masses.

MDI are also developing a separate use of their engine technology, by developing a range of power generation equipment. This is in turn divided into two areas, small scale units using compressed air tanks and large utility scale utilising underground air storage.

Again for the small scale motor GenSets, a complete turn key factory is being developed.

Source Paul Gurr, Chief Operating Officer, AVL

ELECTRIC VEHICLES ON AIR - CHANGE IN MINDSET NEEDED

People will have to alter their mindsets in terms of Transport Systems and Utility Vehicles and consider the Clean Vehicles as the normal every-day means of transport of the future. As the Automotive Industry is amongst the most competitive one, it is not simple for the Clean Vehicles to penetrate the world market. These Clean Vehicles are often described as “The Constrained Vehicles”; and therefore, they will have to overcome this image by offering a real alternative to conventional cars through other pragmatic, salient and outstanding features.

The impact of the economic crisis on the Automotive Market, the polluting factors affecting the Global Warming and rapidly depleting oil reserves have led MDI to take into account parameters other than the “Ordinary energy efficiency from Tank to Wheel” in order to draw attention to the MDI Technologies compared to the other ones.

PARADIGM SHIFT? (A paradigm shift invites us to view the world with a dramatic new perspective)
Are we beginning to see a paradigm shift in the car industry, history has shown that the automotive industry, mainly run by old men in grey suits, is more likely to gang up and resist change rather than to embrace it. We may see the first signs of this change with the introduction of the Nano, it may not be in direct competition with them for now, but it does put them in an uneasy position and challenges many of their established business conventions. It’s modular design allows the factory to produce kits that can be assembled by local entrepreneurs who will then sell and service the car with nothing more than basic tools provided by the factory, creating further employment for rural communities. This requires a shift in mindset to change the way we build cars. The Tata Nano, is the small car which is going to change once in for all, the way we Indians are going to travel. Source
And this is only the beginning Tata is also involved with the French Compressed Air Engine from MDI......

SUDDEN DISRUPTION

Amazing New Air Car - It's NOT About the Air!
And it's not even about the car!
It's a whole new way of thinking about energy!

Every now and then an idea comes along that will change the world - and gets mostly ignored..............
MDI has a good chance of creating an amazingly efficient little car, and that's cool. But what's REALLY exciting are all the other potential industrial applications. Source

AIR CAR A GOD SEND TO HUMANITY
Automobiles that run on compressed air are a God send to humanity, global warming and a major contributor to world peace and international economies!

I can see solar powered air compressors fueling these compressed air vehicles making the air cars truly zero emission qualified. Ironically, there are already solar powered air compressors in use along oil pipelines that are used to power air tools.

A compressed air refueling infrastructure will be able to be implemented almost over night due to the user friendly nature of compressed air. A large percentage of residential shops already have an air compressor. So, people are already familiar with compressed air. I can envision compressed air availability at K-Mart, Wal-Mart, 7/11 etc., besides service stations.

Compressed air cars make hybrids, hydrogen, electric and bio-fuel cars obsolete. Air cars are the future, here and now. Compressed air is the most cheapest and abundant commodity on the planet so why not use it.
Source

ADVANTAGES OF AIR CAR OVER THE HYBRID
I may be one of the few to say this in public but I honestly don’t know why hybrids are getting all the buzz. Admittedly, they pollute the air less than standard cars, but they still do pollute AND they create a different pollution problem that is horrible. That itty-bitty detail seems to be getting overlooked. People should know that they have mongo sized batteries and no one can tell me exactly how long they last and where they will end up like other dead batteries. But we know where they’ll end up, don’t we? Yup, in a landfill. Batteries are one of the most hazardous elements to leach into soil from landfills, so while the beloved hybrid won’t pollute the air as much, they will cause harmful pollution in other ways. I personally find that bio-diesels and Air Cars (with their zero pollution) are the true wave of the future but I can’t fight multinational lobbyists - so I think hybrids may be here to stay for a while.

In any case, I’m rooting for the Air Car even if isn’t the most attractive car (either is the hybrid!), and even if it will suffer a slow, torturous, unfair death. Or will it? One very big company in India, actually THE biggest automobile company in India (Tata Motors) has agreed to help further develop the air engine technology. Plus, the Air Car has been in news more and more lately so at least I know it is still alive and kicking. Go Air Car go!