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SkyTran's
super energy efficiency
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The 15 second sound bite about SkyTranTM
super energy efficiency
The electrical
energy to move a fully loaded SkyTran
Personal MagLev Transporter
vehicle at 100
mph costs less than a penny a mile. At $2.00 per gallon, the gasoline to
operate the average car at substantially lower speeds costs
ten times
as much.
Thus, SkyTran saves at least 90% of
your energy cost. And significantly, the electricity to operate SkyTran can
come from any electrical generation source, including those that produce no
greenhouse gases; sources like hydro, solar, wind or hydrogen fuel cells. The
current US electricity mix contains about 30% non-greenhouse gas producing
sources and that fraction is bound to increase as renewable technologies
continue to push the cost of such sources down.
One tenth of the energy cost and one
tenth of the greenhouse gases!
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You should be asking how do we
know that or how do we calculate that?
The simple answer is that is
what engineers do. It is called PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS. We use
what scientists and engineers have learned by experimentation over the
centuries and applying it in slightly new and different physical scenarios.
You can figure out these
energy requirements in two ways.... the first is the more rigorous
scientific method where one compares energy used in BTUs (BTUs means British
Thermal Units - a thermodynamic term). The second and more relevant in
the real world is where you have to compare how much you pay for everything
with your hard earned cash. In method two we compare the COST of the
energy of driving a car per mile to the COST that the SkyTran company will
have to be paying the utilities to move the small, lightweight, streamlined
SkyTran vehicle you are riding in each mile. The
table below should help you understand
how efficient our small, streamlined, tandem, two seat SkyTran MagLev
transporter vehicles can be - especially when compared to automobiles. Yes, we are indeed talking
over 200 miles per gallon.
| Location |
Cost of
electricity per kilowatt-hour (industrial rate) |
Cost of gasoline
per gallon |
SkyTran
"EQUIVALENT"
miles per gallon
for a 20 MPG car |
Irvine, California
(ref: Doug Malewicki 11-04) |
$.052 |
$2.37 |
456
MPG |
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
(ref: Jerry Fass 12-04) |
$.056 |
$2.05 |
366 MPG |
Mesa, Arizona
(ref: Jerry Spellman 12-04) |
$.065 |
$2.00 |
307 MPG |
Seattle, Washinton
(ref: Lee Wamble 12-04) |
$.05 |
$2.00 |
400 MPG |
Stockholm, Sweden
(ref: Christer Lindstrom 9-04) |
$.04 |
$5.50 |
1,375 MPG |
The differences you are seeing
here are not only about the relative physical efficiency differences between
automobiles and SkyTran - meaning how many BTUs of actual energy each form of
transportation consumes, but also the relative cost of the energy source
to obtain those BTUs. The cost of a Kilowatt-hour of energy varies with
the source: coal, diesel, gasoline, solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal
or nuclear fission. Even the location or proximity of the raw materials
used to produce the energy to where the power is produced affects energy price.
Energy Efficiency
Discussions: Page1 - Page2
References:
#1 - Here are residential and industrial electrical rate sources found by
Jerry Fass.
Solarbuzz, Inc.
In dollars and UK pence/kwh (1 pence = 0.01 Pound Sterling, as 1 cent = 0.01
Dollar).
World Electricity Prices by Country
http://www.solarbuzz.com/Solarpricesworld.htm
Solar Electricity Price Index verses US Electricity tariff Price Index
http://www.solarbuzz.com/SolarPrices.htm
In UK pence/kwh.
http://www.eskom.co.za/nbd/graphs/p23.html
An interesting USA map for residential rates (1999):
http://www.kaec.org/stand/rates.htm
#2 - Here are the sources
Jerry Fass found for gasoline price per gallon rates around the world.
In dollars/gallon.
Energy Information Administration
Weekly Retail Premium Gasoline Prices, Including Taxes
Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, UK, US.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/gas1.html
California Energy Commission
Selected World Gasoline Prices, average for February 2004
http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/statistics/world_gasoline_prices.html
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