According to my research, an inverter changes DC current to AC, a converter changes DC voltage, and a transformer changes AC voltage, and all of them involve losses of energy.
Similar to your idea of the generator running off the axle is the idea of putting a wind power generator on the roof of a car. Motion of the car causes the wind turbine to spin and generate electricity, but the power produced is less than the extra power required to drive the car against the resistance caused by the windmill. You cannot get something for nothing, and there are always losses converting one form of energy to another.
Can you imagine any government committing political suicide by actually trying to ban all personal vehicles? Aside from the inconvenience of not being able to drive to work, how do you do any shopping, visit friends, go to entertainment venues? Only with great difficulty. And then, of course, you're left with an unusable metal machine that you pid a lot of money for and is now worthless.
In converting one form of energy to another, there is always a loss, due to friction etc. You can run a small generator off the axle of a vehicle, but the amount of electrical energy produced will be less than the increase in fuel energy consumed due to additional load on the axle. You can't get something for nothing.
Well,there actually have been cars built to operate on solar power. They are very light, single person vehicles, covered with solar panels. They work, while the sun shines, but are totally impractical for most places, as they are too flimsy and cannot meet safety standards, cannot carry passengars, and have no heating system, and won't work when "the sun don't shine".
Eactly Jack! I understand the automotive industry can churn out 90 million cars per year, so even if they switched to making electric cars tomorow, it would take eleven years to replace them all. But how many people could afford them when their old cars have zero trade-in value? And besides, where will they get one billion batteries? Or the electricity to run them all? I fear we are screwed!
The elephant in the room is the one billion automotive vehicles, thousands of aircraft and construction equipment, etc, using hydrocarbon fuels, plus the thousands of coal-fired power plants, and all the natural gas used for power production and building heating, all generating CO2. How do we replace all these with non-global warming alternatives in any reasonable time frame?
Bursting religious bubbles can be hazardous, as some religious people can react very strongly, screaming comments like "you're going to Hell!". They might even get physical. Just be careful and have some idea of their personality first.
If you are cornered and feel tht you have to declare your atheism to your fellow workers, it might help to inform them that there are 20 million atheists and agnostics in the U.S. I'll bet none of them have any idea there are that many..
I can relate to some of your dislikes, although I enjoyed singing some of the oldtime hymns. others I found ridiculous, such as 'Onward Christian Soldiers' I attended a Baptist church, went to Sunday school, and at about age 18 I was baptised and joined the church as a member. Shortly thereafter I started Engineering at the University of Alberta, and as my knowlede expanded, my faith weakened. I remember eagerly purchasing a book that promised to prove the truth of Christianity, but in the end all it did was quote the Bible. When I found myself biting my tongue during sermons to avoid standing up and yelling 'bullshit!' I realized I was an Atheist. Fortunately, none of my three wives were religious.
I'm comfortable telling others that I'm an athiest, after all, plenty of religious adults proudly wear a cross to
proclaim their beliefs. Of course, I'm an old, retired guy who doen't have to worry aabou the reactions of some superior at the office.
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