Friday, September 23, 2011
"U.S. Researcher Preparing Prototype Cars Powered by Heavy-Metal Thorium"
In 1807, there was Fulton's Folly.
History shows it was anything but.
Now, we don't seem to learn from history, so we probably can't conceive that something like this could become commonplace...
History shows it was anything but.
Now, we don't seem to learn from history, so we probably can't conceive that something like this could become commonplace...
Keith Nuthall writes about Thorium at WardsAuto.com:
"A 250 KW unit weighing about 500 lbs. (227 kg) would be small and light enough to drop under the hood of a car, he says.
Jim Hedrick, a specialist on industrial minerals – and until last year the U.S. Geological Survey’s senior advisor on rare earths – tells Ward’s the idea is 'both plausible and sensible.'
Because thorium is so dense, similar to uranium, it stores considerable potential energy: 1 gm of thorium equals the energy of 7,500 gallons (28,391 L) of gasoline Stevens says. So, using just 8 gm of thorium in a car should mean it would never need refueling. Thorium has highest melting point of all oxides at 3,182° F.
Stevens’ prototype systems generate electricity within 30 seconds of firing a laser. This can feed power into a car, without the need for storage."
