The Green Optimistic

I guess that the Chevy Volt has been one of the most hunted electric cars from the beginning of this year. GM has done all their possible to keep the secret from the press(?), but it seems that several images and specs have “leaked”, acting as a teaser for the information thirsty public.

I really didn’t like what Top Gear guys did the last time to a Prius, but this time I think they have a point (partially). They’re going to race a Toyota Prius (1.5L)versus a BMW M3 (4L). Of course the BMW will win the competition… but wait… not the speed competition. The BMW will get 19mpg and the Prius only 17mpg. Why is that? Does it prove that the Prius is more gas-guzzler than the BMW? No.

This is a short video showing a device made up of a simple bicycle wheel to create electricity for your tent in the mountains.

There are a lot of speculations around the future Chevy Volt, the series car that it’s said to revolutionize the car industry. Although there hasn’t been much proof that they have the battery to power the electric-hybrid car, they’re confident in their success, or at least that was wanted to be seen on this abc news video clip. Watch it. I think they’re going to make it, because probably they’re going to be using the EEStor technology or something equivalent, technology that has only recently been unveiled.

Here’s a method of producing a battery out of some Cola, salt, aluminum and copper coins. It lights a LED and it can be an interesting source of free energy!

Michael Strizki’s house is the most low impact house I’ve ever seen. He lives his life off-grid, because his home system feature solar panels, 10 hydrogen tanks filled with the excess energy from the solar panels, with the hydrogen taken out of water, and a 15 year-old geothermal system, that covered its price 8 times since it was installed.

This video is a clip from a 1978 CBC News, showing Jack Nicholson driving a hydrogen powered car. The concept existed since then, the hydrogen was packed in high pressure tanks, and the engine’s timing (top dead center) was retarded a bit (probably 8 degrees, it’s a common value). And, as extra value, the hydrogen was obtained from solar power, through some solar panels, cutting edge tech at that time.

If you watch The Green Optimistic you already know that we covered air cars in previous posts, both MDI CAT’s and the Angelo DiPietro air motor. The first time we wrote about these inventions was about 6 months ago. Now, MDI and Angelo DiPietro have contracts all over the world with auto makers to sell them the compressed air technology so automakers do what they do best: cars.