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How are we going to race our cars? Should we put miniature jet fueled engines in them? As excellent as that would be, for safety's sake we’re going to use air. But before we get to our cars, lets go over some energy sources that get used in everyday vehicles, and the benefits and limits of each.
The most commonly used fuels in vehicles today are gasoline and diesel. Both are used similarly in what is called the internal combustion engine. Nearly every vehicle on the road today has some form of internal combustion engine. The Diesel engine ignites fuel through compression, and gasoline engines ignite the fuel mechanically with the help of a spark plug. This turns the chemical energy in fuel into heat, then into mechanical energy. This reaction in the engine causes a piston to move up and down turning a crankshaft, which in turns causes the wheels of the car to move.
Gasoline and Diesel have been around since the beginning of the automobile and continue to be the most commonly used fuels, yet what are their drawbacks? Both fuels are oil products and therefore are non-renewable sources of energy. This means that eventually we will run out of these fuels. Both create pollution and create greenhouse gases contributing to global warming.
Electric cars are exactly that. Cars that run on a series of rechargeable batteries that power an electric motor. (Again chemical energy) What's the difference between an engine and a motor? Glad you asked! An engine converts chemical energy (Gas/Diesel ignited in an engine) into mechanical energy where a motor turns electrical energy (A cordless drill) into mechanical energy.
Electric cars are incredibly quiet, and do not create ANY greenhouse gases. Until recently electric cars were not very popular because of their limited range. Battery technology didn't allow cars to travel very far, and places to charge cars during the day were hard to come by. Recent advances in technology have created an electric car that is capable of traveling over 400 km on a single charge!
A hybrid vehicle is any vehicle that combines two or more sources of power that can directly or indirectly provide the power needed to move the car. A train is a perfect example. A train uses a diesel engine to power an electric generator to power the wheels and move the train.
There are two different power systems used in hybrid cars on the road today; the series hybrids and the parallel hybrids. A train is an example of a series hybrid, but one we are more likely to encounter is the Chevy Volt. The Volt has a battery and a gas powered generator that powers the battery when its charge is depleted. The gas generator never powers the car directly, only the battery does. This is the biggest difference between series hybrids and parallel hybrids.
A parallel hybrid uses both a gas engine and an electric battery to power the car at different times. This is what powers a Toyota Prius. The battery in a Prius is used to power the car when less power is need, like when it's cruising on a highway. The gas engine is used when more power is needed, like when it's accelerating or passing someone. Both the engine and battery are responsible for powering the car at different times, unlike a series hybrid where only the battery powers the car.
Solar energy is the conversion of sunlight into electricity. There are different methods by which to convert the sunlight into energy. One of the most common methods is the use of solar panels. Solar panels use photovoltaic technology to turn sunlight into electricity.
The concepts behind solar panels can be a little much to understand without some background knowledge, but at their most basic, a solar panel converts sunlight into usable electricity. Solar power is an excellent alternative to conventional fossil fuel power sources. It is completely renewable and greenhouse gas free.
Can solar power be used to power a vehicle? ABSOLUTELY. Cars that run completely on solar power are used in races around the world. The limits of the technology keep the cars small and aerodynamic. Imagine trying to fit a family of 4 in the car pictured above. However solar panels are being used on vehicles in small areas, like solar panels that can assist in charging the battery, or even assisting the battery to power the car on a hybrid. Until the technology behind solar panels becomes more efficient and inexpensive however solar powered cars will remain strictly for racing in competitions.
A great example of a solar powered vehicle is the PlanetSolar yacht.
Wind has been used as a source of power for thousands of years! Just think of ships using sails to power themselves. A ship turns its sails perpendicular to the wind, and as the sail fills with air it pulls the ship along.
Wind power is used in windsurfing, kite surfing sailing, and all kinds of recreational activities. Due to its impractical applications though it has yet to be used as a power source for everyday vehicles.
COMPRESSED AIR
Compressed air is the energy we will be using in our pneumatic dragsters. A perfect example of compressed air is blowing up a balloon. As you fill the balloon with air, the air inside it gets put under pressure. The more air that is put into the balloon, the more pressure it will be under. Then when you release the end of the balloon, all the air inside rushes out at such force the balloon is sent rocketing around the room. The more air in the balloon, the faster the air will rush out and the faster the balloon will fly around the room. Yet if we put too much pressure into that balloon it will burst.
The same can be said for our dragsters. As we fill them with air, the more air we put inside them, the greater the pressure will be. The second the air is allowed to escape it will try and rush out all at once. This air rushing to escape the back of the car will force the car forward at an awesome speed.
Compressed air has been used in tools for over a hundred years, but as a fuel for a car it has yet to catch on. The Indian auto maker TaTa has vowed to create compressed air cars this year, but it has yet to be seen. As the infrastructure needed to supply compressed air cars doesn't yet exist, it will be some time before compressed air cars are available to the average consumer. Limits on how far a compressed air car can go on one charge, and other factors keep compressed air cars from being mass produced.
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