Agreed. Only 5% of the total energy that goes through a traditional gasoline engine goes toward good use. The vast majority of it just turns into heat and blows away.
Wow, ...that's even worse than my figures. I had thought it was more like 15%. Either way it sucks.
You're right, ...a huge % of the fuel burns out the exhaust, where it does nothing to power the car down the road.
The Wilkinson catalyst however, accelerates the burn, causing it to burn earlier in the combustion cycle,
by the time the exhaust valves open, all the fuel is burned, and goes towards powering the vehicle down the road,
...unless it's got a lot of carbon built up in it, ...in which case it'll first have to burn off the excess carbon deposits.
I can tell you in the last 3 years I have seen sooo much, and learned a tremendous amount about the BS that goes on when it comes to fuels, mileage, and compliance regulations for those who use fuel. It's crazy.
And when I think of the incredible unecessary waste, ...it just makes me want to puke.
There are families that are starving, ...yet bureaucrats would rather people waste $200,000
.oo/yr
With that kind of money, ...you can hire an additional employee, and put a citizen back to work.
In Cali we just had a ballot measure last november to give 5K tax breaks to people who buy alternative/hybred cars. It failed, and the general consensus (right or wrong, I dunno) was that the car companies would just raise the cost of hybrids to match.
I am all for alternative fuel cars. I find it hard to believe that in 2009 they can only make a car that gets 12-25 MPG. Thats insane.
What they ought to be doing in providing tax breaks and incentives for those who use verified technologies to increase mileage and reduce pollution. Right now they're trying to install urea tanks at fuel pumps. Basically they will have people shelling out money to fill an additional tank full of ammonia, in addition to their fuel, which they will burn in the exhaust to try to control the oxides of nitrogen (nasty smog precursors). I can see it now. They don't even know if that is going to work, ...and I hate to see what might happen in a fender bender with one of those ammonia tanks. It's absolutely shameful, when there is a nobel prize winning verified technology available that has proven itself to accomplish the objective of reduced fuel consumption, elimination of up to 75% of the harmful pollutants, and can bring vehicles into compliance with year 2020 emission standards
right now, ...while saving motorists money that they could use elsewhere in their lives, ...hiring employess, expanding their businesses, paying their mortgages, buying groceries, etc., etc., and otherwise stimulating the economy and cleaning up the environment at the same time.
