1. Claims about the promise of hydrogen are more hype than hope.
2. The hydrogen economy rests on two pillars: a pollution free source for hydrogen and a device for converting hydrogen into useful energy without generating pollution.
3. The Sure Power offers uninterruptible power supplies, batteries and standby diesel generator for corporate data centers as supply back-up power in case of grid power outage. First National Bank was the first to install the most reliable power source combining fuel cells with other advanced energy and electronic devices. The Sure power system had less than 1 percent chance of failure verses 63 percent over 20 year failure chance by traditional methods.
4. John Bockris said, “hydrogen economy means that hydrogen would be used to transport energy from renewable over large distances; and to store it in large amounts.” Our cars, our homes, our industries would be powered by non polluting fuels. Hydrogen production from renewables must drop in price and US energy policies must allow competition to decrease price.
5. Fueling cars from natural gas makes no sense, either economically or environmentally.
6. Most companies are conservative about purchasing and deploying new technologies. A small number of companies are first adopters, the vast majority only buy after the commodity has a proven track record and a very rapid payback.
7. In cities big and small, too many vehicles in too little space has led to traffic congestion, a problem that cannot be resolved simply by building more highways.
8. Public transportation system can conserve energy and space and strengthen city centers by connecting people from rural areas and those with limited mobility to the culture and opportunities available in the city.
9. Why did the railroad industry abandon its commuter rail service in the 1950s? The key challenge of urban transportation system is congestion, too many vehicles in too little space. Congestion is linked to urbanization which concentrates people and activities and industrialization separating specialized activities at home and work. In the 1950s the rail road abandon commuter services for reasons of lacking profit. American’s love for cars, consumption of gas (1.4 billion gallons a year), freedom of movement, and valuation of time efficiency (auto transportation reduced commute time) caused migration from mass transportation to individual auto transportation. City government lobbied the federal government to support mass transit in urban areas.
10. Why is public transit more essential to urban health and welfare in the 21st century? Cities are where the talent, ideas, and opportunities reside. Systems for eliminating congestion need to be designed and build allowing trains, buses, planes, automobiles to reliably transport their commerce without congestion. Age, income, or health should not be a barrier for the transportation requirements, mobility for all citizens. The system must reduce the cost per trip, reduce the need for parking space, and be high accessible. City center survival depends on efficient public transit systems.
11. As gasoline prices rise, Americans do not shift to public transit, they buy more thrift, fuel efficient vehicles. Image a high speed, Human transport Segway vehicle moving through vast gas tubes along a computer controlled series of tubes high above the ground. The vision described in “Caves of Steele” may still become a reality.
12. Light rail initiatives are popular because individuals are deconcentrated from centralized employment centers. Hundred’s of millions of dollars are spent on light rail which are expensive and inflexible. The fact remains that there are not enough roads, commute time has increased from 22 to 26 minutes and workers commute on the average 45 minutes. Road congestion produces an extra $520 in extra annual per capita costs in the nation’s 75 largest metro areas.
13. Car make possible work choices and life opportunities. Individual want to be able to pick up their kids, go to church, and shop when and where they choose.
14. In Texas, the NAFTA Super Highway is being sold as the Trans Texas Corridor. TTC-35 is parallel to the present Interstate Highway 35 (I-35), slightly to the east, running north from Mexico to Canada. Its present scope is 4,000 miles long and 1,200 feet wide, with an estimated cost of $183 billion. The Security and Prosperity partnership of North America designed too align a North American Union reducing boundaries barriers to commerce and free trade among neighbor nations. Opponents fear the establishment a dictatorial regional government similar too the European Union and the removal of borders and the establishment of a joint perimeter around all three countries. President Bush states, the main purpose is to speed the delivery of manufactured products into the United States from Canada and Mexico.
15. NAFTA super highway: TTC-69 is designed too enter Texas from Mexico as three spur lines at Laredo, McAllen, and Brownsville and then join and head to Houston, to Memphis, Tennessee, to Port Huron, Michigan, to Toronto, Canada. To the west of TTC-69 is a proposed route running from Laredo through West Texas, the Oklahoma Pan Handle, to Denver, and ultimately to Canada. CANAMEX spans West from Mexico to Canada going through Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Montana streamlining the moving of travelers and cargo across shared borders.
16. The expense of maglev trains will soon be overcome by newer and simpler designs. More maglev system are being built today. Critics of maglev is high cost and proponents say the costs are comparable with new motorways. Maglev works by magnets that push and pull the train, at a given point in time. The gap between the vehicle and the guide way is continuously monitored, and the current in the electromagnets continuously adjusted on a time scale in the thousandths of a second. The magnitude of the gap is small, about 10 mm. Superconducting maglev operate with a larger vehicle to guide way gap of 100 - 150 mm.