30. Many people use public transportation to help the environment or to avoid paying high gas prices, but alternative fuels are lowering the costs and harmful effects of cars on the environment.
31.
Notas del editor
Transportation of the Future and its effect on public transportation by Nicole King.
The Jetsons was a sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera on ABC in 1962 and 1963. It projected contemporary American culture and lifestyle into a futuristic utopia in the year 2062. The Jetsons travelled in a space car, which had individual flying portals that the characters could take wherever they wanted. Elroy and Judy Jetson are dropped off to school in the air and ride their individual portals to school, while Jane the wife frequently takes her portal to the mall. When GeogeJetson the father arrives at work he simply presses a button and the car magically turns into a suitcase. Although these ideas may seem far fetched they are becoming more of a reality every day.
There are three main areas where vehicles travel: the Earth, the air and the water.
Transportation on the Earth consists of vehicles travelling on roads: including cars buses and trains.
ISPE is an individual vehicle that incorporates cutting edge design and technology. The design of this sleek and compact vehicle was inspired by the Volkswagen logo, which is a giant circle enfolded in a mesh frame. The vehicle has one seat, ideal for commuters and for easily maneuvering in traffic. Heavy traffic can be stressful for many drivers, the ISPE’s technology changes the hectic and crowded roads into relaxing scenes. IPSE has a virtual environment system which recognizes outside surrounding and then translates the same into virtual living things and objects. The vehicle has an underwater mode when the driver sees sea creatures, and a wilderness mode as seen in the lower right hand corner. The vehicle’s system takes the surroundings such as cars or buildings and turns them into virtual animals, trees, and water bodies. As seen in the lower left hand corner, the driver does not see the silver car but rather a gorgeous white horse that has the same shape of the car. The virtual images produced by the car are relatively the same shape and size as the real life objects and seem the correct distance away giving the driver ample time to stop and manuever through the “traffic.” The real-time transformation mechanism has unlimited database and generates new data by combining different factors.
Electric cars are an uprising technology because of the cost of fuel and its damage to the environment. This sleek vehicle called the Aptera is a long range electric car. It was designed by the automotive firm, ‘eleven’ led by Jason Hill and Nathan Armstrong. The design maximizes efficiency using Computational Fluid Dynamics, basically the shape provides less resistance to the wind allowing it to move swifter and not use as much energy, similar to a bird flying through the wind. The Aptera is also very lightweight, about half the weight of a normal car once again allowing less resistance and energy to move. Safety was an important factor for the ‘eleven’ team when designing this vehicle, the car is strong enough to support the load of two elephants on its hood. This car is currently out of the average Americans price range but reservations are being taken for these exquisite vehicles.
The burning of gasoline has harmful effects on the environment and in the last decade there has been pressure on the automotive companies to produce vehicles that are safer for the environment by replacing gasoline with alternative fuels. Ethanol is the most prominent alternative fuel yielding 66% energy. The research for this fuel is backed by Shell, SunEthanol and Verenium. The first commercial factor is expected to open in 2011 in Iowa, although the product may be more expensive than gasoline because of the large water usage and many time consuming steps.Another alternative fuel is algal biodeisel, based on the fact that algae produce thousands of gallons more oil per acre than crops such as soy or palms but the problem is extracting the oil from the algae. A number of U.S. facilities should come in 2012 funded by GreenFuel, Shell, Solazyme, and Solix.Green Gasoline is a gasoline made by breaking down simple sugars and combining certain molecules to create gasoline. This process is very complicated and the domestic potential will be limited because of the expensive and complicated process. In spite of these obstacles, Shell and Honda are hoping to get this 100% energy yield gasoline in cars by 2012.Butanol is currently the rocket fuel for alcohols. Biobutanolis fermented by microorganisms from sugars, which are broken down from raw feedstocks and mixed with water.Designer Hydrocarbons use E coli and yeast to convert simple sugars into diesel and gasoline instead of fat and alcohol. This technology is making great strides and the first plant will produce diesel in Brazil in 2010. Other advancements being made in alternative fuels include propane, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, methanol and electricity.
In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright created the first vehicle to travel through the air, which they called a plane. Since then air travel has become a common source of transportation, but there are still advancements being made.
Over the next 20 years, NASA will be conducting research on the morphing aircraft. The goal will be for the plane to more accurately mimic nature’s methods of flight. Such a vehicle will be built of a wing construction that will employ fully integrated embedded "smart" materials and actuators that will empower the wings with an unprecedented level of aero-dynamic efficiencies and aircraft control.The wings sweep back and change shape for high speed drag reduction and low sonic boom. The engine inlets and nozzles morph as well. Small jets of air and feather-like control surfaces provide additional control forces for extreme maneuvers and added safety. As the vehicle morphs for landing, the wingtips split for tip vortex control and the wings lengthen for a shorter runway landing. A tail deploys providing noise shielding, increased lift and additional control.
The newest technologies allow vehicles to travel both through the air and on the ground. Many of these new inventions are intended for personal use, which will dramatically change our society.
Milner Motors has produced a car that can fly or drive, called the Milner AirCar. The wings fold out at the touch of a button as seen in the figures. The car has two engines: one for driving and one for flying. Two propeller engines produce up to 296 hp for flying while a conventional engine for road use produces 39 hp and gives it a ground speed of 85mph when driving. The car has five seats and four doors, ideal for families. This car will first be in production next year for sale at a price of $450,000.
Europe NV began designing the Personal Air and Land Vehicle in 1999. It uses tilting technology, steer it like a car and it banks like a motorcycle. The Dynamic Vehicle Control system automatically adjusts the tilt an. gle of the cockpit to the speed and acceleration of the vehicle. To fly the car uses gyropactor technology developed by Juan de la Cierva in 1923. Like a helicopter, it is a rotary wing aircraft- which means that it has a rotor to provide lift instead of wings like conventional airplanes. The most remarkable technology in this vehicle is the foldable and sliding rotor and propeller: the rotor and propellerwill be folded and fixed above the roof of the vehicle, and then expand to become an airplane when desired. The exact price for this vehicle has not been determined but is expected to be in the market by 2011.
The LaBiche Aerospace FSC-1TM is another flying car, the wings and rear propeller automatically vanish inside the car while you are driving. It has five seats weighs 1,300 lbs and can fly up to 800 miles at speeds of 275mph. This is a kit vehicle which can be purchased at $175,000, although the company offers assistance when putting the vehicle together.
Carl Dietrich, a MIT aeronautical-engineering student has designed a roadable aircraft expected to come into production in 2010 at $150,000. The roadable aircraft has two seats and is therefore not ideal for family travel. On the runway, a flip of a switch starts the metamorphosis. The tail folds down, the wings flatten and lock into place, and the control surfaces of the vertical stabilizers line up. The vehicle can fly up to 120mph and will be able to fly up to 500 miles. The unique safety system will use a thumbprint scanner to ensure the driver is qualified to fly and drive the car. The problems facing this vehicle and most other air vehicles is the dramatic effect of a fender bender: it can ruin the aerodynamics of a car and result in fatal airplane crashes. Although this is close to the Jetsons dream, these vehicles are not allowed to fly anywhere by anybody. The drivers of the vehicles must have a driving license and piloting license and can only take off and land in airports with a scheduled time and flight route to avoid air collisions, and they must also follow the same driving regulations as other cars on the roads.
People have used the water as a mean to transport people and goods for hundreds of years, but advancements on boats and submarines are still being made. These changes are better for the environment and can change our military strategies and power.