Politech mailing list archives
FC: More on IT scooter, not hydrogen powered, and IT lobbying
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 10:18:21 -0500
[My contribution to the IT mystery is a conversation I had recently with a gentleman who works in Washington, DC. He was approached last fall to be a lobbyist for the mysterious IT Co. and had an interview in an area hotel. He told me he declined -- and is now kicking himself -- because he was not told enough about the company and because it would have required a relocation to New England. The fellow is currently a transportation lobbyist and was told that IT was a device that might need federal regulatory approval. The company was also anticipating opening offices, I recall, in Brussels and Tokyo as well. --Declan] ********** Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 18:05:52 -0500 (EST) From: Charles Platt <cp () panix com> To: <politech () politechbot com> Cc: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com> Subject: Re: FC: IT inventor responds to media coverage, by Mark Boal According to non-media sources whom I trust, the scooter is not hydrogen powered; its variant of the Stirling engine uses a heat differential between liquid nitrogen and ambient air. (Recall that a heat engine requires a heat differential, usually created by burning something.) Since liquid nitrogen is a very cheap industrial byproduct (cheaper than bottled water!) available in almost any large city, the idea is quite intriguing, although handling the stuff can be tricky. It boils at -196 Celsius (as I recall). If you have it in an unventilated storage area, the nitrogen boiloff can displace oxygen without anyone realizing it until people start keeling over. A cryogenics expert I spoke to, who works at Brookhaven Labs, says the asphyxiation danger should be taken seriously. Also, it is cold enough to liquefy oxygen, which may gradually accumulate in a storage vessel if the vessel is not properly sealed; and no one wants large quantities of liquid oxygen lying around. Plus of course you don't want to get something as cold as that on your skin. But, if the LN was available in the same style as gasoline (i.e. if you didn't have to stockpile it in bulk at home), these problems could be minimized. The problem I see is that you have to have an expensively insulated little dewar instead of a cheap gas tank, on your vehicle. A pity that the hacks at Inside aren't interested in such practical details. --CP ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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- FC: More on IT scooter, not hydrogen powered, and IT lobbying Declan McCullagh (Mar 08)