Can Podcars be Driven by Solar Energy?The Podcar City, Uppsala, Sweden

Ron Swenson October 2, 2007

www.solarquest.com/workshops

Our Generation’s Challenges

The 21st century’s twin challenges are:

• Global Warming (known and manifest)

• Peak Oil (little known but imminent).

Global Warming

Fires in Congo & Angola

Peak Oil

Two Ways to Respond…

• Germany, Japan, Sweden – Solar Energy– Hybrid Vehicles– Quit use of oil by 2020

• USA – Attack Iraq– Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR oil)– 25 x ‘25 … the rape of Soil and Ancient Water

cloaked with environmental rhetoric

Which way will prevail?

• “The American way of life is not negotiable.” [G H W Bush, 1992]– Check with the people of New Orleans for

more details ….

• Can we change course in time to avoid catastrophe?

Swenson’s Law

To avoid deprivation resulting from the exhaustion of non-renewable resources, humanity must employ conservation and renewable resource substitutes sufficient to match depletion.

www.OilCrisis.com/Swenson

Beating oil addiction with fraud

• New Generation Vehicle (Clinton)

• Hydrogen Highway (Schwarzenegger)

• Cellulosic Ethanol (G W Bush)

PathologicaPathologica

l l

Disconnect Disconnect

Clean Coal?

So what about Corn Cars & Bean Buses?

Net Production of Biomass in the USA

www.oilcrisis.com/Patzek

Compare PV to Biofuels

So what about Hydrogen?

Am I missing something?!

Energy Return on Energy Invested < ½

What do the “experts” say?

“Active solar power ... works, though not nearly as well as fossil fuel…

“Alternative energy sources ... are … implausible … without the subsidy of oil. The only remaining alternative is nuclear energy.”

James Howard Kunstler

www.HubbertPeak.com/nuclear

Global Solar Energy Balance

Solar Energy Input (TeraWatts)

178,000

Reflected to Space Immediately 53,000

Absorbed and Then Reflected as Heat 82,000

Used to Evaporate Water (Weather) 40,000

Captured by Plant Photosynthesis 100

Total Energy Used by Human Society 13

Total Energy Used by US Society 2.5

Total Human Food Energy 0.6

www.hubbertPeak.com/debate/oilcalcs.htm

Total Area Required for a Photovoltaic Power Plant to Produce the Total U.S. Annual Electrical Demand

Nevada

P109-G1055201

Total Area Required for a PV Power Plant to Produce the Total US Electrical Demand

www.ecotopia.com/Apollo2

Internal Combustion …

• Take 26.5 Quads of oil

• Turn 21.2 into smoke

• Use 5.3 to run things

… How incredibly wasteful!?

So what are we going to do?

Basky

The All-New DonCar!

www.OilCrisis.com/Transport

Sustainable Transportation

• Not cars

• Not airplanes

• Walking, Horses, Bikes, Sailboats … and Podcars

Freeway at Capacity

Vehicles Removed

PRT Passengers

PRT System

So what about EVs or Electric Rail?

Parasitic Mass

Transportation Energy for 100 PeopleBattery Electric PRT

Vehicles 100 20

Total weight (tons) 200 5

Battery weight (tons) 25 1

Recycle batteries ? % 99%

Embodied energy ratio 50 1

Battery losses 15% <1%

Rolling Resistance (at 60 mph) 5000 watt 500 watt

Aerodynamic Drag (at 60 mph) 7000 watt (cd=0.2) 750 watt (cd=0.1)

Parasitic energy Consumption 275 6

Energy use (watt-hr/mile) ~150 ~50 (skytran)

Safety ≈ two 747s/week die Very safe

Quality of life 1 hr per day lost Quality time in transit

A Little Personal History…

Tonatiuh

www.Ecotopia.com/Tonatiuh

Solar on Rail

www.SolarEvolution.com/SkyTran

SkyTran Solar

Solar SkyTran, with aesthetics emphasis and added power at stations

Solar on Rail

www.SolarEvolution.com/PRT

SolarEvolution

ElectroRoof

Similar Solar Systems Exist

30 mph, operating speed

x 2 sec (vehicle interval)

= 88 ft between vehicles

= 60 vehicles/mi, separated by interval specified

x 2 kw @ operating speed

= 120 kw needed in a mile stretch

10 hrs at peak operation equivalent

÷ 4 hrs of peak sun equivalent (Coast = 4, Desert = 6)

= 2.5 solar factor

120 x 2.5 = 300 kW/mile

x $6.00 /watt

$1,800,000 /mi

16 watts / sq ft, SunPower, most efficient on market

3.5 ft wide solar panel to meet requirement

Calculate Solar size, cost per Mile

25 mpg, average fleet mileage

27,000 passengers per day to match

2.0 people/vehicle

13,500 vehicles/day

x $2.50 /gallon fuel price

= $33,750 Cost to travel fleet mileage daily

$ 12,318,750 Annual cost to travel fleet mileage

$ 45,000,000 Cost of solar to cover fleet mileage

= 3.7 years payback for solar system to offset gasoline

Compare Solar to Gasoline at $2.50/gallon

www.SolarEvolution.com/PRT

Traffic Nearly Matches Solar Generation

Thermodynamics of PV

• EROI: 5 years

• Life: 50 years

120,000 TW of solar energy received by the Earth

www.ecotopia.com/Apollo2

Miles of PRT/Miles of Solar

www.jpods.com/HomeSolar.html

 URBAN Miles of Road % converted Lane-Miles of PRT

 Interstate 13,491 600% 80,946

 Other Freeways and Expressways 9,175 200% 18,350

 Other Principal Arterial (115-130ft) 53,447 200% 106,894

 Minor Arterial (80-106 ft) 89,911 200% 179,822

 Collector (60-90 ft) 88,604 120% 106,325

 Local Road (little thru traffic) 598,514 100% 598,514

 URBAN SUBTOTAL 853,142 1,090,851

 RURAL

 Interstate 33,067 200% 66,134

 Other Principal Arterial 98,952 100% 98,952

 Minor Arterial (80-106 ft) 137,751 50% 68,876

 Major Collector (60-90 ft) 433,754 10% 43,375

 Minor Collector (limited thru traffic) 272,360 0 0

 Local Road (no thru trafffic) 2,102,977 0 0

 RURAL SUBTOTAL 3,078,870 9% 277,337

       

 TOTAL miles 3,932,012 35% 1,368,188

Exajoules of Solar PRT

Expected Network to replace highly repetitive travel

1,368,188  miles of PRT5,280  feet per mile        

0.0000000000000000010 Exajoules/joule 10^18 joules/Exajoule

3600 joules/watt-hour5  hrs of effective sunshine

365 days

Displacement System Energy Per Year from 75% solar automation

watts/square foot Exajoules  Width of Collectors

10                                

2.8             6.0  ft wide

                                 5.7

           12.0  ft wide

16                                

4.5             6.0  ft wide

                                 6.0

             8.0  ft wide

www.Solarevolution.com