Zero Pollution Motors is designing a set of air powered cars for release in the US. That’s right, these vehicles use compressed air (and at speeds over 35mph, small amounts of fuel mixed with compressed air) to power a 6 seat vehicle over 800 miles on 8 gallons of fuel plus the compressed air. The air is stored in on-board carbon fiber tanks that have the tendency to rip rather than explode on impact. This is important as the pressure being held in each vessel is in excess of 300 bar. Wow. That’s going to be tough to handle!

ZPM has been garnering a bunch of press lately on the heels of their recent announcement with Tata Motors of India. An interesting concept to be sure.

Photo Credit: Unknown

Given that President Bush says “we’re not in a recession” and he’s wrong every time he opens his mouth, it makes me wonder if we’re in a depression. The basic facts of the situation are:

• Real Gross Domestic Product has stayed stable at $11T (2000 USD) Source: Data 360.org
• The US imports more than it exports – $58.2B for January, 2008 Source: American Economy Alert
• The US carries 80% of its real GDP on an annual basis in debt. The National Debt is now $9.4T. Source: Brillig.com
• The US Dollar’s value has declined 40% against the Euro from January, 2001 to March, 2008. Source: x-rates.com

According to about.com, the definition of a depression is any economic downturn where real GDP declines by more than 10 percent. Given this definition, we’re not in a depression. However, when the import/export, debt, and declining dollar are factored into flat growth, I think we’re in real trouble. We may not be seeing a return to the soup line – yet – but if we don’t get our financial house in order quickly that’s where we’re going to end up.

How do we get well? Start by spending less than we earn by at least 10%, and preferrably 25%. Invest the surplus in reducing debt levels. Exit foreign entanglements and financial commitments. Rebuild the infrastructure of the country with a special emphasis on energy independence. Easy to say, hard to do. Let’s hope our next political leaders have the will and stomach to get this stuff done.

We thought highlighting a “green motorcycle” would be a great way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Watch the video below to see an interesting project (the music is a little over the top, you might turn down the volume if that sort of thing bothers you.)

This is a great project and a great way to recycle old vehicles. We love to see activities like these as it provides some hope that people will actually find ways to help innovate out of our present crisis, dependency on foreign energy. Think of a local transport like this charged in a distributed manner…that could be very high impact. Now, if an individual can do this for less than $3,000, why can’t a vehicle manufacturer pull it off?

• D&D SepEx Motor (about 45 ft-pd torque at 2000rpm)
• 400 Amp Alltrax Controller with PC link
• Four 12 volt deep cycle marine batteries (Wal-Mart)
• Four on-board battery chargers
• 6:1 gear ratio

The bike has a top speed of 45mph and a range of about 30 miles. Operating cost appears to be in the range of $0.02/mile.

I just love it when geeks have too much time on their hands. Really, I do. This sort of thing could spawn a whole new coffee subculture of latte art. How long before we see this in Starbucks? Check out how to build your own at Oleksiy Pikalo Invents.

HT: Hacked Gadgets

Click Image to Enlarge

Graph Credit: NOAA

It’s early in the season yet, but there have been more than 2 times more tornados this year than in the prior peak year of 2006. Check the graph out above. Even college basketball isn’t immune as the SEC tournament site was hit in Atlanta last night. Who knew?

In local news last night, we had a huge intense hail storm. Haven’t seen too much of that on the coast – no damage seems to be resulting from it.