Catrin and I are movie buffs. While we enjoy contemporary music very much, our true pop culture passion is for modern cinema. The DVD players in our home see a fair amount of use but for us, the ultimate cinematic experience takes place at our local multiplex with 200 or more of our closest friends watching a 70-foot convex screen in unison.

The first Hollywood production which we saw dealing with the rubble of what once was the KGB was the film Terminal Velocity. If not for above-average performances by Nastassja Kinski and Christopher McDonald, this film would belong in the B movie pantheon. Well, it relates to global warming because it features a brief but important sequence in a giant wind power farm in the Mojave Desert. That was the first time I had seen such an array of wind turbines, whether in person or on screen.

A decade later, as I sat in one of the very fascinating break-out sessions of the Solar World Congress in Orlando, I saw a PowerPoint presentation about a design of a large photovoltaic power plant and listened as its merits were explained. As fate would have it, just a few weeks later, I saw the film Sahara which culminates the main story arc at a solar power plant of the same ilk!

In my previous post, I told you how the Interstate Traveler system will be effectively immune to cloud cover and seasonal changes in sunlight once the system is fully built throughout North America.

How can this be?

The answer to the question points to the genius of Justin Sutton. Every mile of rail will be covered with tens of thousands of square feet of solar collecting panels. What’s more, whereas a typical rail system only interconnects switch tracks and trestles, the Interstate Traveler interconnects the solar panels themselves by way of piping hydrogen from utility substation to utility substation.

Here’s what that means.

Enough waiting! Will Corbett ever show us the goods?

I appreciate your patience. You’ve stuck with me through multiple threads to show you what is here. Earlier, I gave you a preview of the look and feel of the Interstate Traveler in motion with the following photo:

The first time I showed this image to you, it was to demonstrate that it will operate very well alongside the multilane highways of North America. Now that you’ve had a chance to soak in that image, let’s circle back around and highlight the aspect which I like best, the fact that it’s COVERED with photovoltaic solar panels. Here’s an aerial view.

I hope that the last 3 posts have instilled in you at least some of the excitement I feel about the Interstate Traveler Hydrogen Superhighway. I’ve shown you that it’s clean. I’ve told you that it’s fast. I’ve given you a peek at it in flight. Now, let’s pause for a moment and discuss part of its role in humanitarian support.

More than a decade ago, when Justin Sutton walked through the countless mental steps and calculation blocks needed to propose the Interstate Traveler, his desire that the system be clean led to an inevitable photovoltaic cost analysis. No solar-powered rail system would be viable without one. During that process, he came to realize that a portion of the energy surplus he could build into the operating model could be given away under the right circumstances, pro bono publico.

When the American Computer Science Association chose Justin Sutton and the Interstate Traveler Company as the first recipient of the coveted NEWTY award for the new millennium, it established for the whole world that the Hydrogen Superhighway will have a greater positive impact on humanity than the good works and achievements of the Gates Foundation, Lord Richard Branson, the Segway personal transportation device and even hybrid gasoline-electric automobiles.

I am no scientist, although I know a thing or two about computers, and couldn’t agree with ACSA’s decision more. Justin Sutton has invented (he would use the word integrated) a technology which is just that good. It has the potential to take what the steam locomotive did for North America in the 19th Century and extend it for the Western Hemisphere in just a few years’ time. In fact, by the year 2020, we may have a celebration for the Americas at the new Promontory Point, perhaps in Panama City or Bogota.

Part of the reason the ACSA chose Justin Sutton’s Interstate Traveler over so many other beneficial technologies is the altruism at the heart of Justin’s work. Here are excerpts from their announcement:

As you read this, I am in the midst of Justin Sutton’s second visit of 2007 to Central Florida. Working with this man is a joy. The more he tells people about the Interstate Traveler, the greater the excitement. He now has cities, states and nations lined up around the globe awaiting construction in their area.

So, what aspect evokes the greatest number of smiles? What really trips the most triggers when groups hear about the Hydrogen Superhighway? Until recently, I had trouble tracking it. A wholly unscientific tally of responses both verbal and otherwise seemed to point to a recurring rhetorical question: “How fast can you build the system worldwide?”

OK, so I have made the bold statement that it is, in fact, quite simple to build a solar panel large enough to produce hydrogen cleanly. Can I back it up? Fortunately, I don’t have to. Justin Sutton is the genius. All I have to do is give you a quick snapshot of the concept. Trust me. When I’m done, you will see that Justin derives a broad economic impact by using solar energy.

Award-winning inventor Justin Sutton was a top-tier supporter, exhibitor and presenter at the Green Earth Expo. He told hundreds of new acquaintances about his solar-powered Interstate Traveler platform. Since I first shared my excitement about Justin’s work with you in November, global interest in the Interstate Traveler has grown and grown.

One region in which active dialog is underway even as you read this is the Far East. The Internet is run by computers which run on microprocessors, many of which are manufactured in Taiwan. Microprocessors are based on silicate technology, as are solar-electric power cells. Well, as the world’s largest solar power facility when fully constructed, the Interstate Traveler will consume a great deal of available solar power systems: 85,000 square feet of solar paneling per mile of rail. That’s a whole lot of solar!

The good news is that the vast population centers and vast rural expanses between cities in Asia make the region an ideal location for a solar-powered transportation platform such as the Interstate Traveler.

NOTE: Audio for this post is accessible at the end

Justin Sutton is full of bright ideas, no pun intended. He invented the Interstate Traveler – which is on track to break ground in 2009 – but as impressive as that revolutionary system is, it really is just the beginning of the good deeds he has planned for his countrymen and all of humanity.

The sun is at the heart of much of what Justin Sutton does. One might say that it fuels his genius. Well, one of the objections which global warming skeptics hurl at us true believers is that sun spots are to blame for increases in global average temperatures. In effect, they are saying that solar radiation explosions are the culprit, not the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation on a planetary scale and widespread ocean poisoning.

Basic geology explains away any correlation between solar radiation explosions and the pace at which our world is warming but the genius of Justin Sutton is that his inventions work no matter what happens to the sun. So long as it keeps shining at much the same intensity, we are in good shape. Moreover, the Interstate Traveler transports more people, provides more free hydrogen and provides more clean water if solar radiation explosions persist. In other words, he has us covered.

As you will come to understand by listening to the interview which he gave to me on May 31, shortly after returning home from a successful visit to Orlando for the Green Earth Expo, Justin Sutton has found a way to provide for many of our needs while boosting our economy. The running time of the telephone interview is almost 50 minutes and the topics have a wide range but I am confident that you will find it a fascinating listen.

Last month, it was my great pleasure to present to you a full-length interview with Justin Sutton. Hundreds of people listened to it. As the buzz gathered force and other high-traffic blogs invited me to make guest appearances on their platforms to discuss such topics as the millions of environmental refugees who will be displaced by global warming, I came to realize that a follow-up is needed.

At first glance, the Triage Traveler mobile trauma center may appear to lack a global warming aspect. In truth, it has a very large one. During my first 13 months of posting content every Monday, Wednesday and Friday here at Keyboard Culture, the techniques and technologies which I have showcased for the most part mitigate or reverse the effects of global warming. While vital, they leave one aspect of the climate crisis more or less unaddressed.

NOTE: Audio for this post is accessible at the end

The benefits of the Triage Traveler mobile trauma center over conventional air and rail-based Medevac platforms are many. In the second part of my interview with Justin Sutton (available at the end of this thread), we focus on several. The largest difference has to do with the level of care which casualties and disaster victims will receive.

When I ponder the word triage, the meaning which comes to mind most often is: the sorting of patients according to the urgency of their need for care. The application of this in the field can be tricky because most modern diagnostic tools are unavailable.

That’s where the power of the Triage Traveler mobile trauma center enters the situation because it brings a full-function MRI facility right to the scene. Imagine the benefits! Even if the average hospital or Medevac provider could afford to equip a mobile trauma center with an MRI facility, the logistics of bringing it where it is needed within the golden hour of emergency medical response would be prohibitive in many cases.

Having the amazing power of an MRI in the field only is part of the solution, however. Since critical care is, by definition, critical, the diagnosis which emerges from a reading of MRI results often can point to emergency surgery. Even with the speed of helicopters, though, in some situations, patients can’t wait for a ride to the operating room. They need immediate attention from a surgical trauma team.

NOTE: audio and presentation file for this post are linked at the end

Life is dangerous. Driving an automobile is dangerous. Burning any type of fuel is dangerous. However, millions of people drive gasoline-powered automobiles every day because the risks are known and manageable.

Depending on the application, hydrogen is less dangerous than gasoline. That is a known, demonstrable fact. Converting a car to burn water and gas involves blending hydrogen with gasoline, adding one explosive compound to another. However, as my friend Adam Nehr of the Kennedy Space Center explains below, converting a car to burn water and gas involves the addition of hydrogen from water which has been reformulated from H2O into HHO, or oxyhydrogen, a useful but highly volatile substance.

Please read on for all the details or, better yet, scroll all the way to the bottom of this post to listen to my in-depth telephone conversation with Adam. It contains all of the information which appears below in a greatly expanded version along with a PowerPoint presentation (in Adobe format). As you will come to see, the idea of converting a car to burn water and gas is appealing but ultimately can’t work without violating entropy, not a good idea no matter how high fuel prices go.

Enough Danger To Make Even Will Robinson Tremble

CORBETT: Many of our readers have heard that conventional internal combustion gasoline engines convert to thrust only 40% of the kinetic potential of the fuel – and on a good day. Why is this?

ADAM: The mechanical conversion of combustion to linear and then rotary motion is inefficient. It’s really a mechanical problem due to the fact that as gases expand they become less dense relative to the square of expansion. As combustion happens the pressure builds and pushes the piston down but as the piston moves, the gas has a greater space to fill and soon it reaches the point where it is too weak to push further. It is still very hot, however, and that heat now has to go somewhere. That’s where the cooling system takes over but just like the alternator, it costs some horsepower to do its job. When you add it all up, the average engine only returns 30 – 40% of the energy potential of the gasoline in the form of power to move the car and the rest goes to heat dissipation and electrical generation.

CORBETT: Here on Keyboard Culture Global Warming, I have featured the fact that Ford currently makes a diesel version of the Fiesta and some owners report fuel economy of 60 miles per gallon. Back in the 1990’s, I knew a gentleman from Scotland who drove the diesel version of the Ford Escort and obtained upwards of 80 miles per gallon.

If it is possible for diesel automobiles to have such high efficiencies without exotic technologies such as regenerative braking, why don’t we have high-efficiency gasoline engines?

ADAM: Well first, the core problem is that we like BIG cars and, with big cars, come big energy needs. The more wind drag a car has, the more horsepower is required to push it against the invisible sea of air all around us. If you think about the root of my first answer, the engineering of today’s gasoline engine is pretty wasteful fuel -wise but it is about as good as a gasoline-burning mechanical engine can be made in a practical sense. We either have to drive smaller or think bigger when it comes to energy conversion for the size of cars we drive.

If we could find a low entropy means of using all of that heat the engine wastes to provide propulsion, it would be a start, but a better solution would be to get away from gasoline altogether. The diesel is more efficient than a gasoline engine because it compresses the air first – and because the fuel has a higher energy specific or energy content per liquid volume. The difference is around 15% more energy per gallon of diesel compared to regular gasoline. The hypermiling figures you stated are the result of many factors, all being optimized....including tire inflation. Good mileage has to be approached from a holistic system point of view.

CORBETT: We have heard prominent people, including George W. Bush, express enthusiasm about hydrogen in automobiles. If hydrogen is part of water, why won’t technologies which claim to allow us to run our car on water function?

ADAM: Well it’s a problem of entropy. If you made the hydrogen from solar energy at a station designed for high volume production and stored it in a high-pressure or nickel-metal-hydride tank onboard the car, like some of the H2 cars currently on the road, hydrogen is a good fuel but not a great one. The problem here is that the tanks are heavy plus the fuel cell is stuffed in and inaccessible to easy maintenance. Electric cars are ideal but that does not stop the use of hydrogen for energy storage – in fact, it encourages it! If you use hydrogen to store energy from solar production and then use the stored gas to create electricity when the sun is not shining, you are getting much closer to a viable and sustainable use of hydrogen for personal transportation, like the way the Interstate Traveler is designed. Batteries and super capacitors are making chemical propulsion look like it is in its last few decades and if we really put a push on the development of the new technologies, we can realize this dream quickly. Note that I talk only about hydrogen and not oxyhydrogen (or HHO) gas. That’s for safety reasons.

If you split water into its component parts, you get hydrogen AND oxygen at a ratio of 2:1. If you keep the gases together, you have oxyhydrogen (or HHO), which is very explosive. In fact, welders use this gas when they need to melt metals with melting points as high as 2700°F. In a car, this gas can be lethal in moderate quantities because it is so explosive. It is like running your car on acetylene and oxygen mixed together....not a good idea. Even more importantly, the systems for converting a car to burn water and gas take energy from the gasoline engine to make the HHO gas right in the engine compartment. That is not only dangerous but completely inefficient. In fact, it costs you a small amount of mileage which some of the systems for converting a car to burn water and gas cover up by convincing you to lean out the fuel mixture by reprogramming your engine computer. This decreases engine life but it does increase mileage right up to the point where the engine fails. The attached presentation tells the story...

CORBETT: If HHO technologies don’t function, what alternatives do automobile drivers have to improve fuel economy?

ADAM: Well, smaller cars for one – perhaps owning two cars, one for commuting and another for general hauling and errands. That’s what I am doing – I ordered a Smart for Two and will use it on my daily 45-minute commute instead of my mini pickup truck. There’s also tire inflation, good maintenance and using public transport when possible. As far as a miracle fix for fuel consumption, there isn’t one out there yet, but the electric car and the hydrogen storage of solar and wind energy is coming up fast! Right now, conserve, be smart and be patient.

Click here for written presentation (PDF)

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Newer does not always mean better. As a movie buff, I know this to be true. Still, there are other areas in which humanity’s progress truly improves upon the ways in which we used to do things. As regards personal transportation, especially in large cities, the first decade of the new millennium has produced mixed results. On the one hand, we have the Prius and Segway, both evolutionary leaps in the right direction. On the other hand, we’ve had the pervasion of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) on every continent.

As we seek to move ever more people and merchandise, we must find ways which consistently are better. No doubt you know by now that the Interstate Traveler is a great solution and I am pleased to inform you that it draws closer to breaking ground with each passing day. However, it cannot be everything to everyone. So, in order to solve all of the world’s ills in the realm of transportation, we need multiple solutions. Some, as above, will be modern; others will be retro.

Given the depth of the problem of air pollution and its march toward suffocating levels in most of our largest cities, urgency informs us that we should embrace whatever works so long as we keep our eye on the ultimate prize of 100% clean transportation. Luckily, by embracing assorted solutions in order to keep progress moving, we can solve problems of congestion at the same time.

Vehicles which are powered through the burning of fossil fuels operate at their dirtiest when idling and when first started. Congested roads cause thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dirty engines to run at their dirtiest for many hours a day every day. Naturally, this situation leads to smog and respiratory ailments for the people unfortunate enough to live in congested cities.

Traffic gridlock also places a large strain on municipal infrastructure due to fender benders and road surfaces which exceed their designed load factors. A vicious circle begins because cities with clogged streets spend too much money filling potholes and deploying traffic police and hence have inadequate funds to invest in mass transit systems.

The auto rickshaw may be an old solution to a very modern problem, however. In the second part of this thread, I will elaborate.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Superconducting Cable Means Fewer Electrical Towers

This is it, my 100th podcast! Can you feel the excitement? I’d like to pause for a moment to thank the creators of Keyboard Culture and my fellow experts here in the community. Together, we form a powerhouse and make a real difference in sharing wisdom with our readers. After more than a year of posts and 100 podcasts, let’s circle back to the reason for the existence of my corner of Keyboard Culture, the quest to reverse global warming.

The simplest, fastest and arguably easiest way of reversing the growth of greenhouse gas emissions which cause global warming is a swift move toward energy efficiency. This means turning off the lights when we leave a room, setting the thermostat on our climate control systems a degree or two out of our comfort zone and maintaining our cars in proper working order with well inflated tires. However, those steps only will bring us part of the way. For real energy efficiency to happen, we need to overhaul the way we generate and transmit electricity.

If that weren’t enough, we must contend with a crumbling infrastructure which cannot keep pace with current demand – let alone provide reliable service for a growing population. The Interstate Traveler Hydrogen Superhighway can assist us with these challenges because it has at its core a very high capacity electrical transmission core and the Interstate Traveler Company does not want any money from taxpayers or the utility companies to build it.

So, not only will construction of the Interstate Traveler improve the capacity and reliability of America’s electrical grid but it will facilitate decentralized generation and lend itself both to heightened national security standards for energy and greater energy efficiency, thus helping to fight global warming at the same time.

Be sure to return here for the next installment when I provide you with my 22-minute telephone interview with Justin Sutton in which we cover energy efficiency and reforestation, the other exciting initiative which comes with a bonus from building the Interstate Traveler Hydrogen Superhighway.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

NOTE: Audio for this post is accessible at the end

In commemoration of my 100th podcast, I have provided you with introductory threads about the unique attributes of energy efficiency and reforestation as the best means to combat global warming. Last time, I laid out for you the fact that the Interstate Traveler has components of both, including through recent additions to the solar-powered hydrogen rail initiative.

Now, it’s time to hear from Justin Sutton in his own words. As follows is the abridged textual version of my third interview with this genius. At the end of the text, you will find the audio player to hear the telephone exchange in its entirety.

Mister Sustainable: Even under ideal conditions, high-tension wires lose 10% or more of the current flowing through them to heat and other inefficiencies. How efficient will the conduit cluster inside the Interstate Traveler Hydrogen Superhighway be for transmitting high-voltage electrical service?

Justin Sutton: The Hydrogen Super Highway, or HyRail for short, hosts a redundant set of what is known as high-temperature super conductor cables, or HTSCs. They are called “High-Temperature” super conductors because of the unique metallurgy that enables super conducting properties at the temperature of liquid Nitrogen which is about -196 degrees Celsius – pretty is pretty cold stuff – but not nearly as cold as liquid hydrogen which is -252 degrees Celsius. The breakthrough innovation of HTSC was the creation of the unique metal that works at liquid Nitrogen temperatures, which has enabled the development of cables that can be charged with liquid Nitrogen and installed into conduits like our conduit cluster. Until this new metal was developed, the only way a super conduct could be made was in a laboratory using liquid Hydrogen which was next to impossible to make into a cable. These cables have the ability to distribute a massive amount of electrical energy with nearly zero resistance which enables the power companies to save the energy that is lost in traditional high-tension lines. What is more, the use of HTSCs enables the distribution of lower voltage which reduces the coronal discharge, or ambient electromagnetic energy the can light up florescent tubes at a distance.

Mister Sustainable: In his Pickens Plan, noted energy trader T. Boone Pickens advocates the broad adoption of wind power in the United States. Many leading environmental organizations have fallen in behind him but at present, the American electrical grid has several large gaps in areas which are ideal for the construction of wind power. Can construction of the Interstate Traveler Hydrogen Superhighway along all 54,000 miles of Eisenhower expressway alleviate this problem and provide an electrical pipe for the gigawatts of wind energy which will come online in the next decade?

Justin Sutton: Yes! The National HyRail, which refers to the Hydrogen Super Highway built along the Eisenhower Interstate Highway network, can provide more than just the ability to distribute the power from wind farms. The National HyRail can buffer and store the energy produced until it is demanded by the customers our on the national energy grid. Even more beneficial to the Pickens Plan, the Conduit Cluster has the ability to provide a massive pipeline to store and distribute Natural Gas and other viable fuels to feed market demand as we transition away from fossil fuels in the coming decades.

Mister Sustainable: One of the greatest challenges facing the growth of the American economy is the need for new corridors for high-tension power lines through areas which already are populated. Can the Interstate Traveler eliminate the need for new power lines and/or eliminate existing lines?

Justin Sutton: Yes! The HyRail can certainly provide the distribution capacity demand of today’s market on into the future. Even more exiting, the HyRail system of systems creates a financially viable method to replace existing high-tension lines with a safe and resilient elevated rail that can distribute power down the established corridors while enabling the valuable real estate to become safe for public use. This will enable the power distribution companies to not only save money by reducing the energy losses to next-to-nothing, but also reap the benefits of safe and desirable land corridors for housing, shopping and entertainment.

Mister Sustainable: An aspect of the fight against global warming which receives inadequate attention is reforestation, the replanting of trees in order to sequester carbon naturally and help the atmosphere regulate temperature. A leading advocate of reforestation is the United Nations, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Under the auspices of the United Nations, the 10 Billion Acres project has begun to gain traction and its overarching vision includes a concept known as the Grand Arbor. You recently launched the Grand Arbor Carbon Sequestration Program within the Interstate Traveler Company. Would you elaborate on this, please?

Justin Sutton: The Grand Arbor Carbon Sequestration program is a very important program, perhaps the most important for the future of our global climate change issues. It has been known to science and historians that human activity has brought about the destruction of billions of acres of forests world wide over the last 500 years. This has created a terrible imbalance in the carbon/oxygen cycles of the natural ecosystems and, sadly, has destroyed the unique habit of countless species that are now extinct. The Grand Arbor Carbon Sequestration program employs the HyRail to create a constantly flowing supply of water to replant millions and millions of acres of trees in places where they have not stood for hundreds of years.

Beyond that, it is known that desertification has rapidly increased with the Sahara and the Gobi marching forward and relentlessly overwhelming once viable agricultural land. The Grand Arbor will not only enable the sequestration of millions of tons of carbon in the form of natural vegetation, but will also reclaim parched landscapes for future generations of people to enjoy an agricultural system that will work relentlessly for hundreds of years into the future.

Mister Sustainable: Another exciting project of yours is the Hydroponic Traveler. In addition to supplying desolate areas with an agricultural corridor, I understand that the Hydroponic Traveler can sequester about 24 tons of carbon per year for each mile of rail. Wow! How will this be achieved?

Justin Sutton: Yes, the Hydroponic Traveler is the key to halting the terrible desertification of lands that had once supported hundreds of thousands of people. As the core technology of the Grand Arbor Carbon Sequestration program, the ability to deliver Hydroponic grade solutions will enable the fortification of soils, and the creation of new compostable soils in areas that are parched and dry.

Listen Free Here

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

NOTE: audio for this post is available at the end

Jim Griffin of Project Green America is one of the good guys. Even has he has continued work on the United We Stand Expo to take place in August, his advocacy for the Interstate Traveler Hydrogen Superhighway (HyRail) has accelerated.

Since I last wrote to you about the HyRail, much has happened to bring it within baby steps of breaking ground. However, political pressure must continue to be placed on elected officials throughout the United States and the world to bring it to fruition. To that end, Jim Griffin gave a fabulous interview to a radio station near Washington, DC in which he explained several key points about the HyRail, including one which did not arise in my past coverage, the fact that it can clean polluted waterways.

I exhort you to listen to the entire 27-minute interview which is available below. I guarantee that when it ends, you’ll wonder why everyone doesn’t want the HyRail.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

NOTE: audio for this post is available at the end

Last time, I shared with you the fabulous radio interview which my friend Jim Griffin gave on March 23. In it, he covered a great deal of material surrounding the Interstate Traveler Hydrogen Superhighway (HyRail), particularly its ability to purify water bodies. Not surprisingly, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

In parallel, support for the HyRail and the United We Stand Expo continues to grow to such an extent that WNAV asked Jim to return and he brought Justin Sutton on the air with him. In their broad interview, Jim and Justin shared amazing insights about the true meaning of their parallel initiatives and I am delighted to share the recorded excerpts with you.

Embedded just below this text is the player through which you can listen to the 38-minute recording. I encourage you to take the time right now to listen to it and ruminate on the technological revolution which is about to fire off. I know that you will derive every bit as much inspiration from the recording as I do.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler