IP: More on IT scooter, not hydrogen powered, and IT lobbying

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 10:18:21 -0500
> From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
>
> Reply-To: declan () well com
> X-URL: Politech is at http://www.politechbot.com/
> X-Author: Declan McCullagh is at http://www.mccullagh.org/
>
> [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
>
>
>
>
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