OhGizmo! - Latest Comments in The Wind-Turbine Cellphone-Charging Taxicab

Re: The Wind-Turbine Cellphone-Charging Taxicab

William Tanksley Jr — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 00:43:44 -0000

You guys should be expecting the inefficiency; read the cited purpose: "The initiative is intended to promote the use of clean energy in the context of the Kyoto Protocol."

In that context, it's all about looking good by doing SOMETHING, no matter how ineffective.

Re: The Wind-Turbine Cellphone-Charging Taxicab

John D — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 16:41:15 -0000

Duh. The fact it is mounted on the car increases wind resistance which means more petrol is used which means the atmosphere gets more pollutants and the oil refinery uses more energy to produce the wasted petrol which means the power stations burn more coal, which means more CO2 goes into the atmosphere etc etc.

Re: The Wind-Turbine Cellphone-Charging Taxicab

LD — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 14:28:55 -0000

Why not just use the damn battery on board? I agree that the drag created would use more energy than if they simply plugged into the already available power onboard.

It's like sticking a wind generator on a diesel generator...what's the point?

Re: The Wind-Turbine Cellphone-Charging Taxicab

Jordan — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 11:44:13 -0000

Wouldn't the drag created by the turbine waste more gas than the value of the amount of electricity created? It's a novel idea, but it doesn't seem very efficient.