Commentary - July 2008

Sky-High Gas Prices?

Hope is on the Horizon

by Lyle E. Brennan

Everywhere you go these days, people are discussing the high price of gasoline. Some are changing their driving habits, others have planned “staycations” instead of vacations this summer, and voters are demanding that the government take some action.

Developing alternative ways to power our vehicles has become more important than ever, not only because of rising gasoline prices, but also because of concerns over climate change, as well as the need for the U.S. to stop depending on hostile nations like Iran and Venezuela for oil.

The truth is, there’s not a lot we can do in the short run to fix the situation, which is the result of a perfect storm of economic and political circumstances – everything from unrest in the Middle East to increased demand by developing nations like China and India, to speculation by commodities traders.

Alternative fuels like ethanol or biodiesel, made from corn or other agricultural products, were once thought to be a long-term solution to powering our vehicles, but it turns out that fuel made from corn and other agricultural products is not only expensive, but they also raise the prices of agricultural food items. This leaves people with the choice of feeding themselves or feeding their cars’ gas tanks. It creates a special hardship for developing nations whose growing populations depend on their agriculture for food. In U.S., studies show that if we converted all of agricultural farms to raising products for biofuel, we would only supply a small percentage of our current gasoline consumption needs. How much sense does that make?

A better solution, and one we can live with, is electric and hybrid electric vehicles. Remember when automakers first came out with cars like the Prius several years ago? They weren’t very pretty, and they were certainly not as sexy as Hummers. However, owners of these cars are now having a good laugh at the expense of the gas-guzzling vehicles waiting in line to pay upwards of $4.25 a gallon.

I recently attended a summit in Detroit, “Developing the Market and Infrastructure for Electric & Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles.” This summit, put on by American Business Conferences, brought together experts from all over the world to share ideas on how to best develop and market electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Scientists and automotive engineers have been conducting research for years to find practical ways of making our cars less dependent on gasoline. In fact, GM, Daimler, Mercedes, BMW and other major automakers have joined efforts to conduct research at one facility and they are sharing results with each other. As I found out at the conference, the big automakers finally get it… our dependence on oil must come to an end. Some of the topics discussed at the conference were:

• Commercializing battery technologies & the charging infrastructure.

• Evaluating battery technology performance.

• Vehicle to grid & vehicle to home technology.

• Standardization of vehicle charging and Utility (Grid) Infrastructure.

A variety of options will be available for the motoring public in the next few years. It seems that all the major automakers have some kind of hybrid, or electric car in the works. Studies have shown that 78 percent of people drive their cars less than 40 miles a day for regular use, so an electric or plug in hybrid car that can go 40 miles per day without using gasoline would greatly reduce our total gasoline consumption. Chevy is developing a plug-in hybrid car called the Volt, which should be available in 2010. It is designed to plug into a common 110-volt household plug and go 40 miles on a charge. For longer trips, a power source will take over to recharge the battery pack and extend the driving range another 360 miles using only nine gallons of gasoline.

I also made a trip to China this spring to see how the Chinese are developing battery-operated cars and conducting their own research on battery technology. Chinese automaker BYD, which is already one of the world’s top battery suppliers, will begin selling a plug-in hybrid sedan in China by the end of the year and wants to bring the vehicle to North America in three to five years.

However, in all my travels, and all my research, I found the success of any plug in hybrid or electric car now or in the future rests 100 percent with the right battery component. The battery is everything. We already have the proven electric motors and all the other necessary components to achieve the rest of the picture. So, where is our hope with battery technology? The laptop computer helped us in this arena. We are currently successfully using lithium-ion batteries in electric cars and they are doing a pretty decent job. But the big winner may be located right here in Nevada, Altairnano, located in Reno. They seem to be the one company everybody in the industry is watching. Altainano has developed a battery using nano-technology that is environmentally safe, that has three times the power of existing batteries, low life-cycle costs, operates in extreme temperatures and lasts much longer than batteries in use today. It can be recharged in just a few minutes at a high-voltage charging station or two to four hours at a home or business.

Once again, it appears a small company with American ingenuity has come up with a solution to problems that have stumped large, established corporations. Something similar happened when the Wright brothers, who started out as bicycle builders, changed the world of transportation because they wouldn’t take no for an answer.

I’m proud that a Nevada company is helping to move our economy into its next phase when we will all be driving plug in hybrid or electric vehicles and won’t worry or need to be concerned about gasoline prices. So, hang in there, staycationers. Help is on the way, but it is important to realize that it is up to us to demand change.

Lyle E. Brennan Publisher
COMMENTS? email: lyle@nbj.com