Holy Crap! Lazer Powered Cars?!

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We have no shortage of ideas here in the United States about how to power our cars. We=92ve seen gasoline and electricity, and we=92ve heard about fuel cells powered by water. The nuclear option is the only thing left to discuss.

According to Txchnologist.com, a General Electric-sponsored blog, inventor and entrepreneur Charles Stevens of Laser Power Systems (LPS) is working to build a turbine-electric generator powered by a thorium laser.

The laser isn=92t the conventional kind that shoots a beam of light. It consists of an element that heats up and gives off energy. Thorium is a mildly radioactive material that is as abundant as lead, according to LPS. It is sometimes used as a stand-in for uranium in nuclear reactors because its fission is nonsustaining.

Stevens says the technology could effectively power a car forever, completely emissions-free--a lofty goal, to be sure.

The heat flashes from the thorium would create pressurized steam to turn an electric generator. A 335-hp engine would weigh about 500 pounds, according to LPS.

NoOp Comment: Wonder how you could tweak this Lazer motor to generate

500+ HP? ;-)

As far as fuel, the company calculates that one gram of thorium equals the output of approximately 7,500 gallons of gasoline. Based on that math, eight grams of the stuff would power a car for about 300,000 miles.

There still are a few problems to solve, according to Stevens.

=93We can build the laser, but the biggest problem has turned out to be integrating it efficiently with the turbine and generator,=94 he said.

The company is working on a bladeless turbine that uses the steam to rotate discs.

LPS makes big claims, and critics have noted several problems with the theory. But the concept is intriguing. One additional question is whether the government--and car buyers--will be OK with millions of radioactive lasers on the road.

Patrick

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patrick.mckenzie84
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