The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

494 THE FREEMAN AugustFor intercity traffic on land, andfor long distance travel in the airor in the seas, it is difficult to seehow oil can be replaced. For centercity stop-and-go traffic, itwould be well to switch to vehicleswith stored energy that is lessheat generating. The rubber bandis an obvious energy storage deferfrom petroleum only by thepresence of a little oxygen. In fact,some geochemists believe that petroleumoriginates in animal fatburied in the rocks for eons, andthat the oxygen is removed by catalyticaction of bacteria or of clay.Table 4 gives the comparative powerdensity of a number of fuelsand batteries. 7 It may be a bit unfairto compare gasoline to a batteryin power density, since thebattery carries both fuel and oxidizer,but the oxidizer of gasolineis ubiquitous air that is alwaysavailable except in space and underwater.Table 4.Energy density in storageChemicalenergykcal/gGasoline11.0Lipid9.3Methanol5.2Ammonia4.8Carbohydrate 4.1Protein4.1Sodium-sulfurbatteryConceptual super flywheelLead acid batterySuper fly wheelRubber bandElectricmechanicalenergy watthr/lb(20%heatefficiency)1,15055051038520085401vice, but rather low in capacity.The flywheel was tried in buses inSwitzerland and is capable of tremendousimprovements. One canconceive of a rotor with an exceedinglyhigh speed of revolution,kept inside a high vacuum to minimizefriction, and made of compositematerial of carbon filamentsin epoxy resin to withstand thetremendous centrifugal forces.There is a great technologicalinnovation on the way that cangreatly influence the future patternof population distributionand transportation needs: the videophone.People live in great metropolitanregions for the ease ofcontacting many other people andto use common facilities. Thesegreat concentrations lead to crowdedcities and tremendous transportationproblems. With a technicallyadvanced videophone, one canhave vivid and direct communicationswithout leaving his home.Managers and white-collar workers,scientists and artists can liveanywhere they choose and do alltheir work at home and by videophone;housewives can shop byvideophone; students can talk totheir professors by videophone.There is no need for people to gettogether except when they wantto have fun together. People wouldonly travel for pleasure then. Thiscould result in a great dispersionof people back to the countryside.