Ever since gas prices started skyrocketing to new highs, I've been talking to you about carpooling, engine idling, hybrid vehicles and fuel-saving tips. I've also been championing the benefits of electricity in the auto industry. Those who know me will tell you that it's because I once worked at the communications department of Hydro-Quebec for 29 years. So, I'll admit I have a thing -- well, okay, more of a love affair -- for this clean energy source.
Today, however, I chose to write about air-powered vehicles. Did you know that a combustion engine could actually run on compressed air? That's right! In Spain and southern France, such cars are already being sold. If a jackhammer or a truck's braking system can work by using compressed air (in the latter case, the air pushes on the piston which pushes on the brake pads), why can't an automobile?
Past meets present... and future
The use of compressed air dates back to the first locomotives, around the 1840s. Back then, the train had a special tank that operators filled up at certain spots along the railroad network. Then came the Porter compressed-air locomotive (1923) and the Mékarski tramways, used in Paris from 1876 to 1879 as well as in Nantes, Vichy, Aix-les-Bains, La Rochelle and Saint-Quentin at the dawn of the 20th century. Experimental tests were conducted to apply this technology to automobiles, but it was soon discarded in favor of fossil fuels. There was no lobby for compressed air... until the early 1990s when aeronautics and Formula One engineer Guy Nègre started to get real serious about it.
Greener than electricity?
It sure looks like it! Instead of using fuel to create an ignition inside the cylinder and move the piston, the engine relies on compressed air stored in reservoirs under the car. What do you think comes out of the tailpipes? Only air. And the real beauty of this system is that the air is cleaner at the end of the cycle because it has been filtered. Seriously, think about it for a moment: thousands and thousands of air-powered cars on the road would help purify billions of cubic meters of air. Plus, owners wouldn't have to worry about replacing and recycling the batteries, which is currently the Achilles' heel of hybrids and electric cars.
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| One of the version of the CityCATS. |
Today, however, I chose to write about air-powered vehicles. Did you know that a combustion engine could actually run on compressed air? That's right! In Spain and southern France, such cars are already being sold. If a jackhammer or a truck's braking system can work by using compressed air (in the latter case, the air pushes on the piston which pushes on the brake pads), why can't an automobile?
Past meets present... and future
The use of compressed air dates back to the first locomotives, around the 1840s. Back then, the train had a special tank that operators filled up at certain spots along the railroad network. Then came the Porter compressed-air locomotive (1923) and the Mékarski tramways, used in Paris from 1876 to 1879 as well as in Nantes, Vichy, Aix-les-Bains, La Rochelle and Saint-Quentin at the dawn of the 20th century. Experimental tests were conducted to apply this technology to automobiles, but it was soon discarded in favor of fossil fuels. There was no lobby for compressed air... until the early 1990s when aeronautics and Formula One engineer Guy Nègre started to get real serious about it.
Greener than electricity?
It sure looks like it! Instead of using fuel to create an ignition inside the cylinder and move the piston, the engine relies on compressed air stored in reservoirs under the car. What do you think comes out of the tailpipes? Only air. And the real beauty of this system is that the air is cleaner at the end of the cycle because it has been filtered. Seriously, think about it for a moment: thousands and thousands of air-powered cars on the road would help purify billions of cubic meters of air. Plus, owners wouldn't have to worry about replacing and recycling the batteries, which is currently the Achilles' heel of hybrids and electric cars.