I came across this interesting article in the net. There are lot of alternative energy research projects going on - Fuel Cell, Electric, Solar, Hybrid - combination of these etc. This is the first time I am coming across the idea of using air as fuel. This seems to be a very innovative and novel idea.
Conceptually it looks to be pretty simple and straight forward. In terms of technology and operation as well this looks to be simper compared to other technologies. It will be interesting to see what the net energy efficiency ratio for this technology is - This is the ratio of energy used to compress air Vs energy generated by compressed air. If this ratio is positive this technology has a great future. It is very early stages to ascertain the viability and sustainability of this technology. However given the current trend of hybrid vehicles(multi-fuel sources) i think this might be a good option in addition to one of the proven fuel sources.
One other thing that struck me with this article was that Tata motors was in the forefront and trying to build some concept cars based on this technology. Way to go Tata's!! Over the last couple of yrs I have become a big fan of Ratan Tata for this vision and global strategy for expanding Tata group. I see them breaking into the Global top 5 conglomerates in the next 10 yrs. It will be interesting to watch how Tata leverages the Jaguar/Land Rover brands to grow in the current market conditions where gas price is going up and market is moving towards smaller, fuel efficient vehicles.
Check out these below links
http://www.autoextra.com/article/articleid-207
http://www.theaircar.com/acf/
The Power of Stepping Away...
4 months ago
