A few fail the many

Watched the movie "Who killed the electric car?" recently. It was a documentary and the fact that it was put on top of the blockbuster online queue drew a lot of criticism from the wife and my queueing prvileges have been revoked for even putting this movie on the list!

Being the pro-green dude that I have become, it was an extremely difficult documentary to watch. Even more difficult that the Al Gore documentary. If Al Gore's "An inconvenient truth" showed us where the world is headed and beseeched us to find solutions, this movie was a reality check.

The solutions are already there. We just won't let them out! The best part of the film was I got to see the Ovshinsky's (Stan and Iris) who between them hold 200 patents, came up with so many things that cross my world today be it solar cells, Nickel metal hydride batteries, fuel cells, Chalcogenide based Phase Change Memories (PCM's) etc. etc. It was my dream to meet them in person some day! The couple had actually come up with a cheap long lasting battery technology, that made the electric car, cost competitive against gasoline based cars.

Apparently, Chevron bought a major stake in their company and shelved the technology because it threatens the existance of the gasoline based car as we know it!

Why would I buy a Prius if there was an EV1 option? I do not know!!

This post is not about the electric EV1 or Prius or environmentalism or technology.

It is about how a few people who decide the fate of many invariably make decisions which do not comprehend the responsibility of that decision making. It is almost a disease with politicians today, that when it comes to making right decisions, they invariably do what is right (economically for them, in their minds, at that time, or for their interests) as opposed to doing the morally right thing (which would be the greatest good for the greater many, right by the planet, looking forward to the future).

I would also be the worlds greatest bigot if I expected politicians and leaders to do that when an average citizen of the world cannot do the same thing, more particularly, if I cannot do that!

Given a choice between spending extra to solar power our home and continuing with the power grid, we chose the power grid. Given a choice to sell the old car and buy a Prius, we chose to keep the old car as long as it runs and save money. The same thing happened with a lawn in the backyard vs. synthetic turf! So many similar choices where we could have made a difference to the world or aorund us where the economics of the situation trumps the dogooder options.

In a world where it is each man for himself, where states protect their vested interests by erecting dams to control river water flows, where humans murder fellow humans by the hundreds of thousands every year in the name of religion, resources, security, and many other such things which really have no boundaries if you look deep enough, there is no hope for the many to expect the chosen few to do right by them. There is not even much hope for the many to expect the other people described by "the many" do the right thing!

Why have I suddenly become so self absorbed, self deprecating, guilty, etc. etc. Well in a way, my internal justification for doing a lot of things in this life was that technology would make this world a better place. After watching this movie, it has become apparent that the only technology that will make it into the world and its people are those that do not threaten today's rich in anyway.

Now that is a depressing thought, isn't it?

ps. This does not mean I will curl up into a ball and go sleep in the dark. Far from it. Life goes on. One can always hope that Ratan Tata will make a solar powered vehicle that gives the "Nano" a run for its money, or the Chinese will realize that they could get out of oil dependence and pollution by going to small Electric Vehicles. Yes! We can keep dreaming. It could happen....

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Smartass Sundar

Driving back from work to home on one of the worst highways in the local area. Worst in the sense that the highway is in really bad condition. As soon as you merge in, the noise level increases tremendously due to the roughness of the surface and the numerous bumps.

As is customary, I just have the radio on and drive, zombie mode. The dude on the radio is going on and on about greenhouse gases, auto industry, environmentalists recommendations and suddenly something jumps out and wakes me up..

"we can significantly reduce greenhouse gases if everyone in America can inflate their vehicle tires to the correct pressure! under inflated tires cause not just more wear and tear and frequent tire disposal, but they also decrease gas mileage!"

the inventor in me went to overdrive!

What? Is that really that simple? Half the time I dont check my tire pressure. Is this the real reason for all the noise or is it the crappy highway. In this day and age when we have diapers which turn color on the outside, when the little one does a number on the inside, how come we dont have an automatic tire pressure indicator that goes red or green? Should I patent that and make millions? If it is that easy to improve gas mileage, there should be one already? and given free with every tire! Hell, it should be built into the tire and there would probably be a law that mandates all tires have built in pressure sensors that alarm when the tire needs to be inflated some more! So far we have not seen anything like it!

Smiling from ear to ear on hitting a possible jackpot and visualizing myself as the next tire sensor baron, I came home, logged on and went on the internet and checked for tire pressure indicator ... and the future tire sensor baron sank into the couch more like a tired senseless moron.

Looks like there is one out there (or god knows how many more). But they want 15 bucks for four sensors. Now, I am upset! Why shouldn't tire manufacturers who charge 75$ a tire add this under 5$ sensor to the tire? Why doesn't the state of California which is hit so hard with emissions, mandate that all tires come with sensors?

I am going to see if someone gives out these things for free. In the meantime, if any of you who read this blog, know of any other such indicator that is cheaper or free, let me know. For now, it is back to the gas station to check tire pressure...

ps. there is an automatic tire pressure indicator in my Toyota Sienna van. But this light is perpetually on!! I know my tires have the right pressure (every local mechanic has told me so, except the toyota service!).
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