The EARTHCAR is “that personal use vehicle which in its design, development, factory establishment, manufacture, distribution and sales, use, service and repair, and eventual disposal conserves the equilibrium of the Earth’s atmosphere, generates neither toxic waste nor waste requiring landfill, and uses only sustainable resources”.
The EARTHCAR is “that personal use vehicle which in its design, development, factory establishment, manufacture, distribution and sales, use, service, repair and eventual disposal conserves the equilibrium of the Earth’s atmosphere, generates neither toxic waste nor waste requiring landfill, and uses only sustainable resources”.
Why the Earthcar?
Debate continues about whether CO2 produced by human activity is the cause of climate change. It’s an important debate but, despite increasing consensus, not the whole story. Other environmental effects are caused by the waste outputs of industrialisation such as the increase in pollution levels in our oceans, with unquantifiable implications for the food chain. In many cases we just don’t know at what point human activity will push our ecosystems to a tipping point beyond which recovery becomes unlikely. Consider too localised effects such as oil spills or nuclear accidents; how can the adverse effects of these be measured? The corollary of achieving the Earthcar will be that, for land based industry and machinery, we will have technologies independent of fossil fuels – and nuclear too for that matter.
More on the Earthcar
The Implications of a Truly Green Vehicle
If the conservation of our planet in respect of its air quality, its water quality and its climate is important, it helps to understand what can and what cannot contribute to a carbon neutral and pollution free industrial infrastructure – the pre-requisite for the Earthcar. Manufacturing a vehicle which burns hydrogen to produce energy with the only in-use by-product in theory being water is a great start but does not give us the Earthcar if fossil fuels have been used to mine the ore, roll the steel and so on. Additionally battery production does not conform to the Earthcar environmental requirements, and even with hydrogen combustion, there are oxides of nitrogen produced not all of which will be collected by the NOx trap. Achieving the Earthcar requires that every stage in the development and manufacturing processes is fully sustainable, has a zero carbon footprint and creates no toxic by-products nor any waste requiring landfill disposal; these requirements apply to product distribution, sales, service, repair and eventual disposal too. The implication of this is that all industry has to be evolved to a condition where its energy needs are serviced through wind power (wind turbines), wave power, tidal power, hydro electric power or other system with no carbon emissions and therewith inherent sustainability. A nuclear powered infrastructure does not give us the Earthcar as we define nuclear waste as being toxic. If to conserve the world is the goal, then creation of the industrial infrastructure that can give us the Earthcar becomes our purpose. Although many of the technologies to achieve sustainable development are solved in theory, the economics and practicalities of effecting the transition strategies necessary to move from today’s infrastructure to the new themselves have to be optimised for energy efficiency. There has to be recognition of the balance to be found between the quickest possible transition – with potential adverse economic effects due to shortening the life cycle of viable plant, and budgets to name but two – versus the effects of overlong procrastination from which we may not recover.
..but there are bumps in the road
It’s not just a question of “trying harder”. There are technological obstacles to be overcome.
Example 1 – Imagine a vehicle running on hydrogen – either as an ICE or a Fuel Cell power unit. The vehicle still requires a battery for operation of electrical systems. Current battery technology is not Earthcar-compliant.
Example 2 – There are approximately 40 commonly used types of basic plastics and polymers in modern motor vehicles. Research is ongoing to find sustainable alternatives, but with separation processes being capital intensive, progress is limited by capital constraints and prioritisations.
Example 3 – the smaller batteries required in hydrogen ICE or Fuel Cell vehicles compared with those required in EVs are a step in the right direction in terms of battery derived environmental stress, but there are technical issues associated with hydrogen power – and the storage and transportation of hydrogen itself. One example is that hydrogen fuel cells, by their nature, are problematic on start-up in cold climates. The nature of technical progress is these sorts of challenges are eventually faced down, but timescales remain unclear.
"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" - Voltaire
Technologies which fall short of the aspirations of the Earthcar are not written off as undesirable if they help form a bridge between our current status and the desired end state. It may be that the Earthcar in its purity will never be achieved – but having a clear target ensures movement in the right direction. Below are some examples.
Battery Powered Vehicles
Battery cars may make city air cleaner and so may save lives – a worthy result – but they are not the Earthcar. Energy used to charge batteries is not necessarily renewable, and the production of batteries is an energy intensive process. Even after battery production is sustainably powered, batteries require use of rare elements which have to be processed and, being toxic, safely disposed of.
“Battery Powered Vehicles” is a sizeable topic in its own right and will have its own discussion. Link to Blog
Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine
When a hydrogen internal combustion is set up to run cool, it produced almost zero oxides of nitrogen (almost Earthcar standards), although running cool reduces output power. NOx traps could be used to remove any extraneous oxides of nitrogen during hotter, more efficient running; this technology therefore could, for practical purposes, be a contender to power the Earthcar. Of course a battery will still be required in such a vehicle, so the comments above apply.
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Engine
Recent news suggest likely to be used in large commercial vehicles / trains only; RESEARCH then brief version here and blog with details