Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Yeah! Electric Cars (again? soon?)

For a person who considers himself a "conservative" I sure have some decidedly liberal views. Tale for example my enthusiasm about cars like the Prius and even the Honda Civic and Toyota Yaris, that gets terrific gas mileage. It just seems unsustainable to depend on a fuel that is, well, unsustainable.

I find this article encouraging, if indeed true. A Texas company has achieved a breakthrough in electric storage for autos through their capacitor approach. Capacitors are the little device that is charged quickly in your flash camera, and send a jolt to the flash tube thus blinding your children and capturing red-eyed devils for grandma's enjoyment.

It will be interesting to watch this unfold. It is revolutionary, and potentially a landscape shifting technology, if it is not bought and buried by a threatened corporation. (See Who killed the electric car for a decidedly liberal, yet interesting analysis of the demise of the EV1.) We're smart, just not too focused on this problem as a society: we can break our dependence on oil and we can transform our power-consumption lifestyle. But this does bring up a good question: is it ethical and wise to cut down my trees so I can use solar panels? Hmmm.

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