Gore still wants traditional car engine eliminated

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Updated 12:05 AM ET April 21, 2000

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Al Gore arranged to go to Detroit, home of the automotive industry, Friday to renew his embattled eight-year-old call to abolish the internal combustion engine.

Aides said the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee would be joined by industry and union leaders who agree the engine should be replaced with a cleaner machine for the benefit of all.

Gore first proposed abolishing the internal combustion engine in his 1992 best-selling book, "Earth in the Balance," a call to arms to protect the environment.

While the book won Gore praise from environmentalists, it prompted critics to denounce him as an extremist who essentially wanted to abolish the automobile, a charge he denied.

The vice president had the book formally re-released this week to help commemorate the 30th anniversary of Earth Day, and promptly drew fresh political fire.

Republican Party Chairman Jim Nicholson said, "Every American should buy and read Al Gore's extremist manifesto."

Warned Nicholson: "Should Al Gore become president, the consequences will be fewer jobs, higher taxes, steeper energy prices and an economy at risk."

Gore, in a new introduction for the re-release of his book, dismisses critics as misguided. He contends that "the big lie in this debate is that a good environment is bad politics."

Gore was a U.S. senator from Tennessee when he wrote the book and shortly afterward was selected as President Clinton's vice presidential running mate.

The vice president contends that he and Clinton proved over the past 7-1/2 years that environmental protection and economic growth could go hand in hand.

But he also warns global warming is more of a threat than ever and that the world must respond to protect the ozone by reducing pollution.

In his 1992 book, Gore wrote: "It ought to be possible to establish a coordinated global program to accomplish the strategic goal of completely eliminating the internal combustion engine over, say, a twenty-five year period."

Gore does not change a word in the re-release of the book, and in the new introduction tells critics where they can find the passage on his call to abolish the combustion engine.

"It is possible (to abolish this engine); it needs to be done; it will create more jobs, not destroy jobs," Gore adds in the new introduction. "I am proud that I wrote those words in 1992, and I reaffirm them today."

As vice president, Gore heads a partnership between the federal government and the U.S. automotive industry dedicated to developing more fuel-efficient cars that use alternative energy sources.

In the 1992 election, then-President George Bush ridiculed Gore as "The Ozone Man," a moniker Gore later wore with pride.

Texas Gov. George W. Bush, Gore's anticipated Republican foe in this year's White House race, has been relatively silent on "Earth in the Balance."

Dan Bartlett, a Bush spokesman, said he did not know if the Texas governor also considers Gore to be "The Ozone Man."

But Bartlett said, "Al Gore will have more time after the November election to work on additional books."

http://news.excite.com/news/r/000421/00/campaign-gore

-- - (x@xxx.com), April 21, 2000

Answers

I'll be the first to vote for elimination the internal combustion engine, as soon as we have an alternative which will do the job with less environmental damage. And this includes electrical plant effluents.

Meanwhile, I suggest the use of natural gas in place of gasoline, retaining the internal combustion engine during the period of time necessary to find an alternative fuel for the non combustion engine.

There is the possibility that solar could generate enough energy to produce hydrogen from water through electrolysis, but I suspect that we have a long time to wait for this to become a reality.

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.neet), April 21, 2000.


I know less about cars than I know about cooking, but I saw the Honda Insight advertised on T.V. the other day. I thought the concept pretty exciting.

Honda Insight info and Upcoming Developments By Others

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), April 21, 2000.


Anita, not only environmentally aware, but also a great parent! Thanks for the honda article. I wonder if 6'6 230 pounders will fit into these little skates?

Hwy, how old are your kids, Anita?

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.neet), April 24, 2000.


This is more an issue of inevitability than one of environmental concerns. I push for fuel cell technology not because I subscribe to theories of global warming, but to the fact that oil is a very finite resource.

-- Buster (BustrCollins@aol.com), April 24, 2000.

Buster, that's a healthy attitude, although if you also count bitumens as an energy source, we may be more finite than our power supply. Have you ever heard of Orimulsion? I've been surprised to find out that almost no one I've talked to, including my next door neighbor, who just retired as VP of a major oil co., never have heard of this. With Orimulsion, Venezuela now has 1000 times the reserves of Saudi Arabia!

Nevertheless, I'm still in favor of a "green" automobile. By the way, Brazil has been using renewable fuel for their auto fleet since the late 1960's.

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.neet), April 24, 2000.



Buster, that's a healthy attitude, although if you also count bitumens as an energy source, we may be more finite than our power supply. Have you ever heard of Orimulsion? I've been surprised to find out that almost no one I've talked to, including my next door neighbor, who just retired as VP of a major oil co., never have heard of this. With Orimulsion, Venezuela now has 1000 times the reserves of Saudi Arabia!

Nevertheless, I'm still in favor of a "green" automobile. By the way, Brazil has been using renewable fuel for their auto fleet since the late 1960's.

I read in the 70's that their entire fleet ran on ethanol, and have had this reinforced occassionally over the years. Now I realize that I may have had the facts wrong. Just found this on the net:

>LONDON, April 1 (Reuters) - Alcohol-fuelled cars may become a collector's >item if Brazil fails to overcome the headache induced by this 1970's >hangover. > >As government incentives have fallen away so too has the demand for the >cars designed to run on pure alcohol, a renewable fuel produced from sugar >cane. > >``Perhaps 100 years in the future, the decision to reduce government >incentives and subsidies on an alternative fuel will not be seen as too >clever given that oil prices are on the rise again,'' warned Chris Pack, >chief analyst at commodity house Czarnikow. > >Created after the 1970's oil crisis which sent petrol prices rocketing, >Brazil's Alcohol Program seemed a good idea when Latin America's largest >country had few oil reserves of its own. > >But lower world petrol prices and the discovery of oil off Brazil's shores >has led to a decline in the government's fervour for sugar cane fuel and >incentives were gradually phased out, despite its friendlier environmental >profile. > >Nigel Burt from automotive design company Ricardo Consulting Engineers Ltd >in the south of England said the environmental benefits of using alcohol, >either pure or in a mixture, as an automotive fuel were twofold. > >``Burning fossil fuels such as gasoline produces CO2 (carbon-dioxide). >Using alcohol produced from sugar cane benefits the environment since the >crop absorbs CO2, the principle greenhouse gas,'' Burt said. > >Secondly, an alcohol/gasoline mixture can reduce harmful emissions >released into the atmosphere in the exhaust, although there is an increase >in emission of aldehydes, which are irritants. > >``Particularly in Brazil, where cars are kept for much longer, there are a >large number of older cars in use without catalysts. Running these on an >alcohol/gasoline mixture would have the effect of making the engine run >leaner, reducing the amount of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide >produced,'' Burt said. > >Modern cars benefit for the same reasons, but only during the start-up >period when the catalyst is cold which, however, is when about 80 percent >of hydrocarbons produced by modern cars are emitted, he said. > >Though the price of hydrous alcohol is supported by the government at 15 >percent less than gasoline, the Brasilian Association of Automobile >Engineering (AEA) said it used to be 45 percent less. > >``What this means is it is now more expensive to burn alcohol than >gasoline, given that alcohol consumption is higher than gasoline,'' said >AEA's President Henry Joseph. > >AEA figures show the proportion of alcohol-fuelled cars sold annually in >Brazil since 1980 has plummeted to 0.07 percent last year from a peak of >almost 85 percent in 1985 with only one of the four big vehicle >manufacturers in Brazil -- Volkswagen (VOWG.F) -- still making the range. >

>``An increasing number of the now elderly cars which burn pure alcohol as >a fuel are being scrapped,'' said a report by German analyst group F.O. >Licht. > >Licht said many of these cars are now 15 years old and between 250,000 and >300,000 were scrapped last year. > >Although the government maintains a ``green'' fleet of cars which uses >only hydrous ethanol, its impact on the ever-increasing lakes of surplus >alcohol is minimal. > >There is however some light at the end of the tunnel as demand is growing >for ethanol mixed with gasoline -- anhydrous alcohol -- which in Brazil >has been fixed at 22 percent (ethanol) since 1982. F.O. Licht put demand >for anhydrous alcohol at 4.7 billion litres last year from 1.7 billion >litres in 1989, but analysts are uncertain whether demand for this mixture >will be enough to soak up the excess alcohol production. > >``Even if vehicle sales remain at close to recent levels, it would take 15 >years for demand for anhydrous alcohol to absorb all the alcohol now

>produced,'' Licht said. > >The fate of the alcohol industry and car are linked and though many >alternatives have been suggested the government has taken little action so >far. > >``The future of alcohol-fuelled cars depends entirely on government >incentives. If they are scrapped totally it is a real problem,'' said >Lindsay Jolly, an analyst with the International Sugar Organisation. > >The introduction of a ``green'' tax on less ecologically-friendly fuels >and lower or no taxes on alcohol-fuelled cars (at present five percent >less than normal gasoline-burning cars) are possibilities. > >The government could also decide to increase its fleet of alcohol-powered >cars, estimated at some 3.6 million vehicles, of which 2.5 million are >more than 10 years old. > >``Increasing the size of the government's fleet would be a mere drop in >the ocean and a short-term view,'' said Czarnikow's Pack. > >The AEA's President Henry Joseph remains however optimistic about the >future of alcohol-powered cars. > >``Yes, I believe they will exist in 10 years. Probably, the Brazilian >Government will decide to give some incentives to alcohol vehicles >destined for specific uses (government vehicles, taxis, rental cars etc), >just to keep the alcohol fleet size to justify the current alcohol >production and await international developments.'' >

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.neet), April 24, 2000.


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