Critcon essay 27/04/2010

Car Emissions: Change and the Future

The oil just isn’t there – no technology can change that (Pickens 2010). In recent years there has been a growing interest and cause for concern on the topic of our worlds steadily dying natural resources. Oil, being one of the most utilized natural resources has been a much talked about topic for quite some time. Most of our lives as humans revolve around the use of oil in everything from traveling on aeroplanes to the appliances we use in the kitchen which were made by machines that use oil. The main topic and issue I will be covering in this essay is about the emissions caused by motorcars, including the concerns and approaches we will need to adopt, to improve the use and eventually replace the use of oil in the internal combustion engines, in cars around the world.

To start off let us look at the problems of petrol cars, namely the emissions. The combustion process that powers almost every automobile on the planet is combination of oxygen and hydrocarbons (i.e. gasoline, diesel, kerosene, etc.) along with a spark or a heat source. One would think that in theory this would be a fairly clean process, but the presence of nitrogen and sulfur atoms in the hydrocarbons leads to the air pollution that we hear so much about today (Fleming 2008). If you combine this pollutant, otherwise known as carbon dioxide, with millions and millions of cars around the world we have a large amount of pollution on our hands.

Exhaust fumes contain Carbon Dioxide and methane, which are gases that help create the greenhouse effect that contributes to global warming. So every time you step into your Range Rover or VW Golf you could say we are controlling climate, but is this the case? We live in an industrial society where fresh new technologies are making our live easier and easier. To get these technologies mass amounts of pollution must be evident through factories, emissions of goods, deforestation, landfills and so on, which is surely causing large amounts of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane which are green house gases that cause global warming. This is correct as carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have gone up by approximately 35 percent since the 1900s, rising from 280 parts per million by volume to 387 parts per million in 2009 [1]. Are humans and their industrial society the main source of the carbon dioxide leading to green house gases?

“Humans produce a small fraction, in the single digest, percentage wise of the CO2 that is produced in the atmosphere”- Prof John Christie [2]. If humans are not the main source then what is?

Anyone who thinks carbon dioxide is responsible for most of the warming of the 20th century has not looked at the basic numbers (Michaels 2007) [2]. Carbon dioxide is a natural gas produced by all living things but most prominently emitted through natural sources on our earth, and they come from 3 main sites. Animal and plant respiration (including decay), ocean-atmosphere exchange, in which the oceans absorb and release CO2 at the sea surface, and lastly volcanic eruptions, which release CO2 from rocks deep in the Earth’s crust. “If you take CO2 as a percentage of all the gases in the atmosphere, the oxygen, nitrogen the argon and so on, its 0.054%. It’s an incredibly small portion, and then of course you have to take that portion that supposedly humans are adding, which is the focus of all the concern and it gets even smaller”- Prof Tim Ball [2]. Once we take that percentage that humans are creating in terms of emissions caused by cars it is even smaller. More than half the energy-related emissions come from large sources such as power plants and factories, while about a third comes from transportation [3].

Humans have evolved with mechanisms designed to protect the developing infant. These mechanisms can be made to work in different ways for different classes of people. In some instances, like the mechanisms of the physical world, they are being made to operate in ways that are dangerous. In such ways, ‘the risk society’ is being actively created. The key point here about critical realist position is its recognition of reality, independent of discourse and language. (Dickens 2004)

It seems that the world is at a stage where media, corporations, politics and so on are all on this rampage to clear man-made CO2 emissions because of the harm that its doing to our environment, and yes it does do damage to the environment, but is that the bigger picture? Or is it that everybody has forgotten the fact that the one resource that we pretty much all rely on (oil) is unsustainable and will one day run out anyway. Automotive companies are investing million upon millions into going green ‘for a greener world’ but is it really worth it for that tiny percentage of pollution under the overall 0.054% CO2 that automotives are creating or are they investing in alternative ways of powering cars because sooner or later the option won’t be there.

Peak oil is upon us, the issue with it is not about running out of oil it is about running out of oil that is easy to get to, because when its not easy to get to then its far to expensive to extract. The energy demand of each country for petroleum is forever rising. Stemming off this energy demand are factors of population, agricultural effects and population limits which could cause severe issues around the world including a sharp increase in food prices and possible famine in the years ahead.

“We must plan for a world in which oil prices are likely to be both higher and more volatile and where oil price shocks have the potential to destabilize economic, political and social activity”- Sir Richard Branson [4].

This is a good point and a scary one at that. Do people even nearly realize what needs to happen to accommodate the scares ness of oil production that will come upon us? There are over six hundred million cars driving on our roads around the world today and it has taken almost one hundred and eight years to reach that figure since the first car built by Ransom Olds in 1905. According to many sources, they say that oil will run out in no longer than approximately fifty years. What actions will need to be taken in the development and transaction of those six hundred million cars at an annual production of 51,971,328 units (2009) [5]? Now if this demand for alternative powered vehicles is going to be met with current demand then car companies are going to need to develop and use the technology we have created to produce an automotive replacement that has the availability, and reliability as the more or less flawless internal combustion engine.

The wilderness, like the forests, was once a great hindrance to our civilization; now, it must be maintained at great expense because society cannot do without it (Hannigan 1995).

Now that CO2 emissions have to go what has been done thus far to tackle the issue. Most automotive companies are all on a trend to poor all there current and future investments in powering cars using alternative energy. It seems to be an incredibly innovative and interesting topic as it is the future, as we know it. Where does the automotive industry start, do they use Red Bull to power cars or do they search for power on neighboring planets. In 2006 BMW had almost struck gold with the development of the ‘Hydrogen 7’, which was built in a limited series, and sold to select customers around the world. The special thing about this car was the fact that it was capable of running on gasoline or hydrogen, which was an incredible innovation as hydrogen is available in almost infinite supply. The main issue with this car is that once your light flashes saying your hydrogen is running out, then where exactly do you go to top up. Since the beginning of the internal combustion engine in cars we have build an infrastructure of petroleum-based filling stations, which will take decades to convert to hydrogen, and that’s if hydrogen turns out to be the antidote to our problem.

What seems to be another contender for the replacement of oil is electricity. Car companies have begun the hybrid market, which seems to be progress but its still not quite there. The hybrid engine that these ‘hybrid’ cars use is a mixture of normal internal combustion engine and an electric motor. What happens is the electric motor powers the car until it runs out and then the petrol engine kicks in and at the same time recharges the electric motor. The most successful hybrid car is the Toyota Prius, which has been sold to all kinds of people including celebrities and politicians who want to be known as in support of ‘going green.’ This seems to not be a solution to the problem but a blindfold over what’s really going on.

Automotive companies like Citroen and Mitsubishi have produced cars such as the C1 ev’ie and the i-MiEV respectively, which are fully-fledged electric cars but they are not for your everyday needs, they are small because they need to be, to be solely powered by an electric motor as the batteries weigh large amounts. Electric cars are, at present, much more expensive to buy and lacks the performance and range of a petrol-powered car even though the electric car market is positively growing. There are many other sustainable sources that we could use to power cars such as biofuels, solar power, biodiesel, and steam but these sources are not nearly as progressed as the electric or hydrogen motor.

There is a multi billion $ car industry that is created around the car enthusiast. When the petrol is gone what will we use to power up that 500 bhp Ferrari or that classic Jaguar E-type that we love so much? Will cars take the sideline to tiny C1 ev’ie’s or lanky Prius’s. What will happen to motorsport like Formula 1 or the World Rally Championship? It seems to be a growing worry in the eyes of most performance based companies who are taking a positive approach over the issue. Recently at one of the worlds most glamorous automotive car shows, the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Ferrari and Porsche revealed there take on the global issue by revealing the Ferrari 599 HY-Kers concept and Porsche 918 Spyder respectively, they are both hybrids which isn’t the ultimate ideal but it is progress on a entirely new and untouched market. Standing out the most in the recent past is the introduction of the Tesla Roadster, which is the world’s first fully electric sports car to enter the public market. The issue with this, apart from having great reviews, is that it along with other electric cars the distance you can travel is nothing compared to petrol powered car especially with the Tesla’s range, which will decrease even more so when the performance is used. And what about what most car enthusiasts love most about cars, the sound of a petrol engine; the fire and the soul. What lengths will be taken to achieve a similar interest, possibly a Bose sound system playing you the sounds you want to hear.

The use of cars in the eyes of most people is taken for granted in the sense that we are using an unsustainable substance, oil. Not only is this substance on its way out, the majority of the working world is almost dependant on it. It seems to me that unless miracles happen, at some stage the internal combustion car will be nothing but a sad memory in the museum of the past. The time is coming alarmingly fast, we as humans must support the transaction that needs to happen and welcome it or else we will be left in the past along with our cars.



Words

2019/2132

Bibliography

Primary source:

Pickens, T. Boone. Jan 15 2010, http://www.hybridcars.com/news/pickens-stirs-terrorism-fears-push-natural-gas-vehicles-26439.html

Michaels, Patrick. 2007, Global warming swindle

Fleming, Kevin. 2008, How cars pollute the air, www.driversense.com

Hanigan, J. 1995. Environmental discourse. In: Environmental Sociology. New York: Routledge.

Dickens, P. 2004. Society and Nature: changing our environment, changing ourselves. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Branson, Sir Richard. Feb 18 2010, http://www.hybridcars.com/fuels/branson-report-warns-peak-oil-early-2015-27270.html

[1] Friederike Wagner, Bent Aaby and Henk Visscher (2002). "Rapid atmospheric CO2 changes associated with the 8,200-years-B.P. cooling event". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99 (19): 12011–4. doi:10.1073/pnas.182420699. PMID 12202744.

[2] The Global Warming Swindle, written and directed by Martin Durkin, 8 March 2007

[3] http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/fq/emissions.html

[5] http://www.worldometers.info/cars/

Secondary source:

Evo Car magazine

P.S. Check this out

I know i know i already finished this blog and the two weeks are up, but apparently the internet was down at vega and everyone got another day to finnish. So I'm gonna be sneaky and put this up!

Today my sister sms'd me from India, after looking at my blog, and told me about this wonderful product called Five Fingers.  I researched it and found out some seriously interesting and innovative things. 

Basically Vitale Bramani, the founder of the product, found a gap in the market for foot accessories. He pointed out that the typical human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised. Many experts believe the shoes we wear not only cast the foot in a protective form, but also weaken our foot and leg muscles, leaving them underdeveloped and more prone to injury. And while there are many occasions where traditional footwear is essential for protection, safety, and security, it is equally important to stimulate and exercise the foot in a more natural state on a regular basis. 

And this is his product. its increadible.

Stimulating the muscles in your feet and lower legs will not only make you stronger and healthier, it improves your balance, agility and proprioception. I really really really would like to get my hand on a pair of these, it almost the perfect happy medium between bare-feet and shoes. I would love to know what David (the rastafarian) would think of these including the fact that they even have a line made especially for vegans using vegan friendly materials. But the thing about these are at the end of the day if i walked into a corporate meeting or something along those lines, or tried to get into a club i would definitely not be taken seriously because this is not what western society tells us is right.

over and out

finished en klaar

This is what the last two weeks shoes have looked like!

So what have I learnt over these two weeks? How has my day-to-day timetable changed or differed. Have my views of the body in a social environment switched. It has come to my attention that social norms can vary so much and in a world with so many diverse people it is bound to continue. Cultures and class play big roles in society. Not wearing shoes has made me think about how people vary so much, and how different people’s comforts and decisions can interact with each other, and become what me know as social standards.

I met interesting people, had many interactions and engaged in something I would never normally do. The foot is something that I will now forever look at in a different judgment. The piece of glass that sneakily got into my foot has formed part of it and can be uncomfortable reminder of the last two weeks.

Western society tells us that we need smart shoes, easy shoes, sports shoes, shoes that are parts of dress codes like school shoes, we even have to wear shoes whilst we drive a car. It’s almost the case that we have forgotten the initial purpose of the shoe – which has evolved at first to protect the human foot and later, additionally, as an item of decoration in itself.

Interesting shoe over here - very giraffeish

pretty siff

Ouch!

Like a glorified stripper shoe

This is too much

Old school

Surely that fish would only live for like a couple meters

The weekends events

I have to apologize for my blog entries or should i say the lack there of in the last two days. but you see i have had a lot of things on my plate. Anyway Friday turned out to be quite a crazy day. I got a phone call from my mate saying his mate from college had been arrested for buying ganja in long street and that he had to bail him out. I went along for some assistance, obviously without shoes, and got told to wait on this bench because they had to do a whole bunch of papers, talk to the detective etc. etc......

Whilst sitting on the bench this man, and i think his partner walked straight past me and the first thing i noticed was that he was not wearing shoes. I think he had a friend who was also in the bin for the same reason but whatever, he was not wearing shoes. I tried to examine this person, he had a large walking stick a bag on his back and a hat that Im pretty sure was filled with dreadlocks. He had a sense of peace about him, like he didn't have a bad bone in him, he looked like he had the craziest stories.

I approached him with a smile a asked him why he didn't have any shoes. He looked and me with a smile a told me it was cultural. I explained the whole blog thing about how i wasn't wearing shoes and we spoke about it. His name was David and he was a practicing  rastafarian. David explained to me that he wasn't wearing shoes because he couldn't afford them but it was his way to express his culture. He told me that he was closer to the earth when he was barefoot and that meant something in his life. David said that it started out being a week which turned into a month and now he said he had not worn shoes in just over 13 months which is highly commendable in my view. We talked about the positives like how feet become hard on the bottom which is the bodies way of protecting against harmful surfaces, and we talked about the sharp things that we have been avoiding. His shoes had been replaced by his walking stick which he said is with him always. The concept of the walking stick comes form a respect to Haile Selassie (revered as the religious symbol for God incarnate among the Rastafari movement) where in the election campaign of 1972, People's National Party leader, Michael Manley used a prop, a walking stick given to him by Haile Selassie, which was called the "Rod of Correction", in a direct appeal to Rastafarian values.

I find it so interesting how his man does not wear shoes just like me but for such a unique reason, as a member of the Rastafarian religious movement he has distinctive codes of behavior and dress, including the wearing of dreadlocks, the smoking of cannabis, the rejection of Western medicine, and adherence to a diet that excludes pork, shellfish, and milk. Several years ago rastafarians often referred to as "most coarse" wore rough clothing and no shoes (Encyclopedia of slave and rebellion, Volume 1 By Junius P. Rodriguez). 

This is the guy , so interesting and so glad i got to talk to him

Look at my foot!

This isn't even trying

I remember a couple times when my mum, my sister and my girlfriend have asked if i think their feet look pretty after they've painted their toenails. It's always a nice touch when a girl makes her feet look pretty, it adds character i guess. In a sense you can completely customize your feet by the colours and patterns you display on your toes. Society has completely changed the function of what the foot means. People don't look at their feet as their foot, instead they look at how their feet differ from everyone else's. 

'Consumer capitalism knows when it has a good thing going. Why limit the cosmetics, diet and surgery industries to female markets if you can convince men that their looks need constant improvement too.'  (Susan Bordo)

Personally i can't see this happening to most males, but i do think there would be a possible industry in the gay community as a lot of gay men tend to have female characteristics that they adopt. It's interesting in seeing how some people will go through so much so that they are happy with the way their feet look. Pedicure's, foot massages and most recently cosmetic foot surgery. The cosmetic foot surgery has become popular due to people’s increasing desire to opt for open-toed sandals. Previously, foot surgery was performed in response to the painful problems. But, now, the cosmetic foot surgery is performed to make the foot look presentable.

like this......!

I have to say these look like a nice pair of kickers

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

So I was chilling in spar on one of my weekly shops. In aisle 3 having a look at Mrs Ball's Chutney, I turned around and this tiny high-heeled lady happened to stand back onto my foot. Let me tell you now, she got the biggest fright when I screamed like a 5 year old just above her ear. She jolted forward and then profusely apologized but this didn't stop the pain. I swear this lady had knives instead of heels. After lipping back home I had a look at the damage and what do you know it was a wound.

Check it out......

It was really sore!

I don't wanna say it because I've been going so strong, but this no-shoes business is wearing off.  But all you on lookers, don't stress because I'll fight the good fight. I was browsing around and found this and I tell you right now, if i had these i would have worn them cause they would have inflicted some damage on that ladies heels!.........

You can get past a shoe but nobody fucks with a crocodile mouth shoe.

Really......you can't