Don’t lie to yourself- you were one of those people silently chuckling at the Hummer owners at the gas station when gas prices were up. You were one of those people who knew that eventually SUV and Hummer owners would have to own up for the price for their ridiculously tank-like cars.

Not today, my friends, not today.

Gas prices are down. And while this is a cause to celebrate, it’s also a cause for alarm. Why? Because we’re still dependent on foreign countries and OPEC. And the Hummers are, much to my annoyance, still chugging their way through oil and tankering down highways.

So for the sake of my fragile sanity, I ask all you SUV owners to consider these practical points:

• Gas won’t last forever. Having a fuel efficient vehicle will not only save you money but will help the environment, too.
• You don’t know when the recession will end. It could be a full blown depression for all you know! Sell that SUV and save some cash!
• Have you not been reading The Nearby Future’s articles about this topic?!?

Completely against the thoughtless waste of our world’s natural resources,

-Rika

With rising gas prices, a hybrid car is turning out to be something that may help people save money.

What is a hybrid car?

A hybrid car is basically a normal car that uses fuel, except it has two motors, an electric one and a gasoline one.

What is the difference between hybrids and normal cars and why should I get a hybrid?

The only real big difference between normal cars and hybrid cars is that hybrid cars have a special system that captures braking energy, which is then stored in an onboard battery.

People are now picking hybrids because hybrids are the most gasoline efficient of all cars, they typically get 48 to 60 mpg. That’s great, but it’s only about 20% to 35% better than a fuel efficient gasoline powered vehicle such as the Honda Civic in which gets 36 mpg. When you compare prices, however, hybrids cost from $19,000 to $25,000 and gas saver cars cost $14,000 to $17,000.

Not only is the hybrid cars fuel efficient, it is also “green” for the environment, and we all know this website is definitely pro-environment. But hybrid cars offer more than just great fuel economy, they offer many green advantages as well. Where pollution is the worst (large cities), it produces smaller emissions when you’re in those stop-and-go traffic jams.

Applaud Japanese companies because the two hybrid cars that are the most popular are the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius. Come on, U.S., catch up!

What should people consider before buying a hybrid car?

But what’s a smart car buyer do? Are the savings in gas worth it? It kind of depends on how you drive. If you drive mostly in the city, you may save enough to warrant the extra cost. Hybrids cut emissions by 25-30% even over the most fuel efficient gas powered models (like the Honda Civic). Also, if you buy a hybrid it can reduce your cost for taxes up to $3,400 depending on the vehicle. Only the first 60,000 vehicles produced yearly will get this advantage though.

Experts think in the end, hybrids are probably something that people will want to switch to. Hydrogen or methane fuel cell powered cars are probably the cars of the future.

What else can we do to protect the environment and reduce costs?

But you don’t have to buy a hybrid vehicle to reduce emissions in the air. Just by using a different source of transportation makes a difference. Walk or ride a bike to a nearby store instead of driving. It helps the environment and gives you exercise. Also, car pooling is a great way to help the environment, and you get you’re own lane.

So basically, don’t throw all your money into a hybrid, consider the pros and cons to it and see if it fits your family’s lifestyle.

-Hope

Hummers: driven by people who want the world to be destroyed.

That has to be an exaggeration.

It’s the truth! Unless the Hummer and large SUV owners have been living under a rock, the following facts are known by them:

• Hummers and large, heavy, SUV’s are expensive
• A 2004 Hummer H2 SUV has 9.6 mpg compared to a Honda, who’s miles per gallon ranges from 20-50 mpg. So for sure all of the SUV and Hummer owners know that they’re paying more for the gas prices then other car owners.
• The emissions from cars contributes to global warming, and by simply switching from a fifteen mpg car to a 30mpg, you are cutting your car’s CO2 emissions in half.

What’s up with all the melodramatic titles?

Rika has stated that my titles are over-dramatic. Well they’re not. Our current environmental goal is to stop global warming, and almost everywhere on the road you see these heavy SUVs roaring down the road.

All of these car owners understand that buying fuel efficient cars would not only be less expensive, but better for the environment. So why do they keep buying these heavy duty vehicles?

Why?

“Because I feel safer knowing that in a car crash I wouldn’t be the one hurt” is one that I’ve heard. I guess that some people feel powerful behind a wheel of these tanks, but they’re endangering other people on the road. If no one drove heavy SUVs, then everyone would be safer on the road.

What should we do?

So when choosing a new car, you have several choices. Hybrid cars go for approximately thirty grand, depending on the model you buy. Hummers, on the other hand, often cost much more than that.

-Calister F. Wells

This article has been chosen as one of the best articles of 2008.

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About two or three years ago on freewebs.com/thenearbyfuture I wrote a particular article about the dangers of using corn as fuel. It was moved to this site earlier in January (view it here) and I thought that it contained some good points. If people had taken the article seriously, then corn and our economy would be in much better shape.

But no. People couldn’t continue research on air powered cars, algae power, solar power, or so many other renewable energy sources that wouldn’t have hurt the economy; any other plant used to replace corn as the ingredient in ethanol would help us out a lot.Why didn’t the world listen?

Some facts about the fight over corn fuel:

• So politicians nod and approve it, automakers throw in their lot and make trucks and cars that run on corn fuel, farmers send tons of corn to refineries- so what could be wrong? More than people are giving a thought.
• The refineries that make corn powered fuel actually use more energy than the corn actually gives cars. So the benefits energy-wise are limited. Also think about the pesticides used to grow all this needed corn; it isn’t good (we’re spraying CHEMICALS on the land for heavens sake of course it isn’t good!) because is causes water pollution.
• Corn powered cars run out of energy quicker and the vehicle needs to fill up more often. Not good news for environmentalists who like car trips.
• Like Social Security, we’re stretching corn’s abilities over too many fronts! It can’t be sweetener, cooking supplies, food, ingredients in cleaners AND fuel! That’s just asking too much.

So with that said, we need an alternative. Maybe another plant to produce ethanol to power cars? That would work! We could use algae which doesn’t take up space where crops should be and grows pretty fast.

The moral of this article is that The Nearby Future has some good points, whether people acknowledge them or not! And sometimes acknowledging our ideas earlier next time might actually help our world….

-Frustrated Rika

“Eat the corn, screw the cars.”

What is this world coming to!? First, we use corn for fuel. And now we’re using CHOCOLATE for fuel? Mmm… Chocolate… Right! Back to reality! Well, according to a very useful source, scientists have figured out how to turn chocolate into gallons of fuel.

A car company — Ecotec — has been collecting waste from a Chocolate Factory. Ecotec is from the UK and they are planning on driving a car fueled by chocolate all the way from the UK to Timbuktu. The fuel works like bio-diesel and it takes approximately 7 pounds of chocolate remains to produce 1 gallon of fuel. It costs approximately $1.16 per gallon of this sweet gas.

Unfortunately (for anyone who was hoping for this), the fuel is not edible. I know, I wish it was too, but it’s not like you can drink gasoline from a glass. Or can you? Ok! Gotta stay on subject here! Haha. Well, there you have it! The people at Ecotec are currently working on making enough fuel to take them from wherever they are all the way to Timbuktu. (Why there? Who knows?) Keep reading and use fuel-efficient cars!

-Jennith

What if there was a car that ran on compressed air and electricity that gave off virtually no pollutants? That definitely sounds like the kind of car that we’re talking about. Thankfully, someone has already viewed that what if as a possibility and has created the MiniCat (mini Compressed Air Technology car). This new small golf cart type car runs on compressed air and oil (1 liter of vegetable oil, actually) and can travel for eight hours for the incredible cheap price of…. two bucks!

How does this car get its power? Like I mentioned above: compressed air tanks! 90 cubic meters of air tanks, actually. Sounds dangerous to have that much of compressed air under the trunk? Not exactly. According to the creators of the Air Car, they have tested and retested the air tanks to ensure safety. What about oil changes? The car uses 1 liter of vegetable oil and needs an oil change every 31,000 miles.

But this car isn’t all it seems- the French creator doesn’t have a steady income yet, and with only three prototypes made, we here at the Nearby Future are having a hard time believing this too good to be true story. And- according to a grudging MDI- the prototypes have not yet lived up to their goals. In one of the first published tests, the car ran little over 4.5 miles- not even close to the promised amount of mileage for one tank. If the prototypes aren’t at their full potential, what makes the company think that it can get one up and running as soon as they think they can? The company is almost over confident, and they are selling licenses to other people around the world to make and sell the Air Car locally when their first prototype travels a measly 4.5 miles.

What do you think about this car? Do you agree with us that it’s far from completed and a little too good to be true? Or do you think that MDI is right on the money?

The car debate is continuing- with many, many companies out there finding creative ways to make cars run efficiently without the use of things like gasoline. Who knows? Maybe the car of the future will run on recyclables! Until then, The Nearby Future will be covering every aspect of this speedy revolution.

The MiniCAT by MDI

-Rika

Hummers are seen as huge, gas guzzling vehicles that are out to put as much emissions into the air as possible. On December 1, 2007, they won the ‘green car’ contest. What is wrong with that picture? Actually, nothing. GM’s sketch for the “Hummer O2″ portrays a car that runs on hydrogen tanks and fuel cells. It’s 100% recyclable and lasts for five years. This is still an idea in the making- but it may be the push that the car industry needs to go green.

The “Hummer O2″ Sketch.

-Rika

The next advancement in technology car-wise shouldn’t be flying cars. Let’s face it: a lot of energy would be needed to get a car up in the air. And using gas is just not a good idea. What we need is some sort of way to power cars that isn’t harmful to the environment. I say we create a hybrid solar/electric car! The car itself would be covered in solar panels, absorbing energy during the day. At night you would use the electric power until you come to a place to recharge your car.
The upside of these cars would be that the environment would not be harmed, and yet we can keep our cars. Cars would also be somewhat safer because there would be no gas tanks to worry about if the car caught on fire, and the fact that there would be a decrease in air pollution, people might be healthier.
The downside, however, is that solar panels are very expensive, and they would be quite heavy. And we still haven’t found a way to successfully store solar energy for long periods of time. So technology would have to considerably advance until we could be able to create these cars. Another downside is that these cars would also become quite pricey until we find a way to make them cheaper.
So there you have it, what I think should be the next big innovation! It still is an idea in design, but I think it’s a good one nevertheless. I’d like to hear anyone’s comments about my opinion, and I would gladly accept anyone to elaborate on it! But, until then it remains an idea in question, one I think shouldn’t be overlooked. Thanks for reading this!

~Rika

Don’t forget to submit your ideas on Solar Powered cars by leaving a comment!

You’ve seen the movies. You’ve read the books. The future contains many technological wonders that us mere mortals can hardly comprehend. Robots (that may or may not revolt and turn against us) aid humans in everyday life. Hover packs, Honeymoons on the moon! So many miraculous marvels that have us climbing over ourselves to get to the time machine. One of many futuristic machines is the flying car.

It’s a bird…it’s a plane… it’s… … … a flying car (sorry Superman). But don’t grab the keys yet; think about this first.

The economy is slowly being ruined by cars and their exhaust. And not to mention large gas-guzzlers that are draining up the natural resources that cannot be renewed. Imagine what it would take to run a flying car. Imagine the energy needed just to make it hover. That would be a lot, and we haven’t even started flying yet.

So, perhaps the futuristic car that we all fantasize about is changing. What’s one of the popular new cars at the moment? A new car that more and more people are trading their monstrosity of a truck in for?

The hybrid car.

So perhaps this is the car of the future. A car that runs off electricity, or solar energy. Something to stop the ozone layer from sizzling up and burning us all to a crisp. Something good for the environment.

Though not quite as cool an image as the hovering car, the Hybrid shows much more promise for the future.

Who knows, maybe soon, the cars that are ruining the environment will become ghosts of the past, a reminder to people about what the past would be like.

So perhaps, instead of a future where the sun is blocked out by smog, and the only reason people are still living past the age of forty is because of their handy clone-organ donors, the sun will shine brighter than ever before, and global warming was a scare of the past that will be learned from.

Who knows, the future could even be nice and bright. Better wear your shades!!

~Ashley Lampost