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What's Gas Got To Do With It?


Solar power expert Dave Brueggeman, left, and solar-powered electic car owner John Webber with a solar panel and Webber's car (CBS/EARLY SHOW)
(CBS) Sick of high gas prices?

Relief might not be far down the road.

As Early Show national correspondent Hattie Kauffman reported Tuesday, the rush is on toward vehicles running on eco-friendly alternatives that would let you drive right past the gas station!

For instance, auto makers let the public test-drive hydrogen-fueled cars outside the California State Capitol Building in Sacramento -- and called them cars of the future.

Legislative Director Rosanna Carvacho told Kauffman, "I was really impressed with how smooth it was, and really quiet."

At first glance, Kauffman noted, the cars look like anything you might see on the road. But, under the hood, there's a world of difference.

"There is no exhaust, there is no heat generated," points out General Motors spokesman Shad Balch. "It is a complete electric vehicle powered by hydrogen fuel cell ... a true zero-emissions vehicle, which means the only thing coming out of the tailpipe is water vapor."

A handful of fuel cell cars are popping up in a few test markets, but it could be a decade before the infrastructure is built to
make them available to the general public, Kauffman says.

"They are coming," Catherine Dunwoody, executive director of the California Fuel Cell Partnership, assured Kauffman. "And they will provide tremendous benefits to not only the environment and our energy situation, but to customers."

In Boise, Idaho, Bob Schaeffer salvaged a car from the junk heap and converted it to electric.

It may be the best investment he's ever made, Kauffman observes.

"Every time I drive by the gas station, I laugh," Schaeffer remarked to her. "Sometimes, I roll down the window and laugh and wave. Ha-ha!"

He took the engine out of the car and put in golf cart batteries. He keeps them juiced with a simple plug.

"There's no maintenance costs," he raves. "No oil changes, air filters, oil filters, fan belts -- none of that ... and it costs about two-cents-a-mile to run."

It wouldn't even cost that much if you never had to plug in to charge your batteries.

That, says Kauffman, is John Webber's goal. His go-power comes from the sun.

And, Webber says, "You can stay up with speed with the rest of the cars."

The solar-powered electric car even derives power from the sun as it's used, Kauffman adds.

Solar panels on the car roof charge the batteries. Webber built it with the help of friends.

And as long as he uses it, buying gas is a thing of his past. "I haven't filled it up yet in two years!" he says. "It feels pretty good (to use green-fuel only), especially since you have a few extra dollars in your wallet," Webber adds.

He's getting advice from an expert on solar energy, Dave Brueggeman who asserts, "Solar is the answer. There's nothing better. It will solve all our problems. ... It's a great time to be alive. Everybody now has the chance to change the world as we know it."

And, concludes Kauffman, "in this new frontier, from the little guys to the big companies, the spirit of invention is alive and well."

And, if you lack the skills to build your own car, not to worry! Car companies such as GM are looking for regular people to test drive hydrogen vehicles they're developing.

without drastic, and I'm talking on the order of "Aliens come down and give us the secrets of their technology", increases in storage capacity, charge density, and duty cycle of storage batteries, AND efficiency of solar cells, there's no way in hell this will EVER work.

The article doesn't give much space for mileage, or speed. But, this person got this running himself with a few friends helping him set a solar panel in place to augment another free energy source that can be converted to power. No question that it can not do the same tricks as the cars we have on the road. Still, he did, and it is a start. Suspect that motorcycles will become more popular .... hope so, because that is more of an immediate solution to this politically made problem.

Now, if President Bush takes on the Democrats challenge (ABC News today), and does away with the federal ban on drilling first, i.e., that his dad but into place when he was president, there would be very little wiggle room for the Democrats not to rescind there congressional mandate against drilling off shore, and whereever there may be more productive fields. Do not hold with the idea that it will take 10 years before oil is produced from these new fields-Alaska is already on land, and there are rigs all over the planet that can be had for a price. In any national emergency, it is rather transparent to suggest that time issues are the new cause and effect element that will hold up the historic intransigeance of the Congress, and the President on this oil issue.

actually electric cars have more potential usablitiy than hydrogen or other fuel cell vehicles are likely to have in the near future, FOR some purposes. for those that need to go further Hybrids are a good choice. and even the solar power idea could work...........but for now leave the solar cell at home generating power in to the grid, and use the grid to recharge the vehicle. nothing (well almost nothing) would be LESS energy efficient then straping a fragile, heavy, non aerodynamic panel to the roof of the car, for the minor amount of recharging you might get.

Bush1 was substanially smarter then bush2 will ever be.
Had bush2 not fought againist fuel efficientcy standard for vehicles and every other conservation measure we probably wouldn't be having the problems we are now.
Certainly blanket offshore drilling is nothing more than a bandaid for his previous errors, at the risk of permenantly damging our coastal resources like fishing which maybe our only future source of adaquite food.

"Bush1 was substanially smarter then bush2 will ever be." T-Shirt
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No question that Bush 1 was smarter, and had more class than Bush 2. Yet, Bush 2 does do great barbecues, and perhaps, he has some untapped job potentials for the future?

Drilling for oil with advanced drilling techniques certainly has come a long way from the haphazard methods used in the past. There is always the need to balance quality of life measures with energy concerns and issues. If drilling were the only way available, i.e., given the social cost of losing ones home, job, or the inability to afford the high cost for food ... the question to drill or not, becomes quite academic.

Think one of these could get you back and forth to work?
http://www.teslamotors.com/
i'm not suggesting these are practical or affordable for most of us, but they do show that an electric car can work/replace gas powered cars. from my view point I'd much rather see electric cars or (plugin hybrids (prius like) that are gear for efficientcy rather than performance.
the same "power" (energy) this one uses racing around on it 200 mile range, could give a less powerful, carefully driven car a range of 4-600 miles on a charge.

Unfortunately the oil industry has a long history of touting "advanced, safe, clean production techniques" before any senstive project and then frequently making a mess of things.
They are 100 times cleaner then they were 50 years ago, but they aren't near perfect yet.
America needs to change, it energy footprint in radical ways. In thye short term their is lots of oil on land still recoverable, but it wasn't economic at $12/barrel, at $120 (even down to $60, though we may never see that again) we should see a boom at existing wells/ fields and at known discoveries that have not been tapped.
No doubt we will see a lot of pain in some sectors as we change, but America has the skills and engineering to do it.

Suspect that there will be many fuels and energy sources used-some will obliviously have more political pork barrel needs, rather than a focused joint effort on a single remedy. The infrastructure for various fuel/energy needs still needs to be created, or re-energized, e. g., in California, currently there is a push for hydrogen fuel by the state. Although, to fill a tank up may require an appointment. why? Because, currently the process can take several hours, and there are only a handful, or so of stations available. Then, there are no refineries for gas treatment! Off shore drilling needs, rigs and ships to move product, are non-existent. All these blockades can be resolved where there is a will to do so. But, to have a Congress that has continually used legal maneuver, after another legal maneuver to obstruct progress, is the biggest draw-back to self-solvency, and does not demonstrate an acceptable leadership role model for the American people, according to the latest percentage of people that are urging drilling now.

The idea that there will be oil producers that will take advantage of this situation is very true indeed, unfortunately, But, fortunately there are many prisons available to accommodate these turkeys too! In terms of oil on the beach and sea, i.e., doing in wild life, or the fishing industry-check out the largest off-shore fields in the world in the North seas, just off of Norway, in some of the most turbulent seas in the world-they are very successful at what they are doing with indeed many safe guards in place, and a continued up-dating.