I have a lot of ideas I’ve developed over the years, and since I don’t know how long my contract is here on Earth, I thought I would just lay out some of these ideas for collaboration and synergy on this blog. The first idea I present is a proposal for how humanity should go about having electric cars, called INVES. I address it as a letter to gas station owners because they are a main constituent who could get cut out of the electric car revolution, though INVES offers a solution.
Dear Gas Station Owners, and those with an interest in alternative energy:
You may be concerned that a conversion to plug-in electric cars away from gasoline cars will put you out of business. You recognize that oil is unsustainable, and that environmental and security concerns about oil are legitimate issues, but don’t see anyone putting forth proposals that will keep you in business as more and more cars plug-in at home. The service station is an American institution, and many people rely on it for many needs, but without gasoline it will go by the wayside. Or will it? Do the oil companies care? Will they just continue to sell oil and other energy products to the utilities and cut you out?
I believe I understand what the solution to this problem could look like, but it will require service stations, energy companies, automotive, and other manufacturers and regulators to come together immediately on the ideas I propose. My only financial gain would be from those who develop patent’s out of my ideas attaching me, possible consultant fees, and/or bonuses. Maybe I will just be taken advantage of, but I am an artist, poet, and playwright, and I feel that these ideas are important, and should be shared right now. The time has come for these ideas.
You may also see on my blog my other creative works, and please note that I may be commissioned to do work as an artist and writer.
I am proposing a new energy system and infrastructure which is logical, efficient, and feasible, and will include service stations in the mix. But this would be a new paradigm on some levels, so it may take some getting used to. That is why we live in times that demand the kind of bold leadership that can take on the risks of dreamers.
The Inter-battery Vehicular Energy System(INVES) is designed to take into consideration all the parts of the puzzle that are being left out. It is a general idea, with the specifics waiting to be developed. I will describe it as a simple list:
1. Car batteries are not to be a permanent part of the vehical, but rather, one goes to the service station and pulls up to a stall where an attended automated lift device takes out the de-charged battery and replaces it with a fully charged battery at a set price about equal, but competitive with, a tank of gas. It could end up being much cheaper, and here is why.
2. The batteries are charged at a facility located at a energy producing plant or site rather than wastefully pushing all that energy through the grid. Wind farms, solar farms, or other energy producing installations could charge countless batteries on site without need for an expensive and wasteful grid. The batteries would come and go by truck, train, or tug boat and be distributed nationally and/or locally.
3. Vehicle owners would not be stuck with expensive maintenance on battery obsolescence, defect, or replacement costs. The vehicle would be designed to slide a battery in and out as simply, efficiently, and automatically as possible.
4. The bulk owners and traders of the physical batteries would have in place a program and system for battery recycling as batteries failed or became replaced with better models, en mass, at a cost much more affordable than what an individual could buy.
5. Vehicle owners could still charge their battery at home but it could be much more expensive and would require special equipment. Even if someone produced their own energy and did often charge at home, they would still use service stations when traveling, when in the city, when squeezed for time, or for battery rotation. The truth is, many people will not have the time scheduled, or the resources(say they rent an apartment) to plug into the grid, or even at their own house with solar panels. But I warn against attempts to force consumers to not have this option. Such greed could doom the project, create black markets, and foster a lot of ill-will against everyone involved.
6. This system, therefore:
A.) Gives massive wind farms and solar farms a place to put their electricity without forcing use of eminent domain on private land owners to build inefficient power lines at a cost of billions of dollars.
B.) Gives electric car and truck owners more options, less liability, and less expensive vehicles that will not depreciate as dramatically as fixed-battery vehicles.
C.) Will keep service stations in business who by means of government grants, loans, or industry provided incentives, update to this system, allowing them to continue as well in providing gasoline, natural gas, kerosine, etc. in a rapidly fluctuating market.
D.)Will allow the oil companies and shipping and transportation entities to stay in business producing energy for, and moving batteries to and from their destinations.
E.) Will help reduce dependance on oil by not just creating new industries which replace oil, but by the savings from not having to push all that energy through the grid, and by not having to manufacture and install it, using massive amounts of plastics, concrete, and metals the building of massive new grids and the accompanying excavation required. As well, INVES will lead to a much more efficient recycling industry of old batteries.
F.) Will prevent a massive disruption of the economy by keeping service stations in business, and their suppliers, from lollipops to lottery tickets, air pumps to peanuts, and beyond. INVES will probably create more jobs at service stations as people adapt to the new installation system. Will keep distributors in business. A switch-over to hydrogen as fuel in the future could be standardized to this format, as well. One doesn’t just pull up and pump hydrogen, it needs to be transferred in highly safe containers, just like we do with beer kegs. Single beer kegs have been known to last for 40 or more years.
G.) Could save the auto industry as they develop standardized Inter-Battery® vehicals, manufacturing, and design. Will require shelving and shifting some current designs and products. Huge demand for these vehicles should occur as consumers learn of and witness their convenience and cost benefits.
Concluding, I ask that whoever receives the ideas of INVES forward it to those who might have an interest in its allocation, an ability or affiliation that would contribute to its realization, or the political or economic power to see it through. On a macro-level it would be an all or nothing proposal and requires a lot of different people and interests coming together. It could, however, be experimented with on small local levels. And since I am a struggling artist and poet with no health insurance or income I ask that I not be kept out of the loop.
©Kenneth Petersen Boe
Date of initial publication: July 23 2008
Blog:
www.kenboe.com
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