>Supposedly if the tank is connected to the vehicle's engine, it's
> >technically legal to bring 8 pesos/litre [$3/gallon] fuel across the
> >border from Mexico. =EF=BF=BDIf the tank isn't connected, customs wil se= ize
> >the diesel and maybe even the vehicle. =EF=BF=BDEven if it is connected,
> >customs may give you a hard time. =EF=BF=BDSupposedly a driver can earn = $100 a
> >trip running diesel in border areas but each border crossing takes an
> >hour or so . . .
> >It's a whole lot more cost effective to just electrify the #@!%&*!
> >tractors and fields.
> >A 1/2 mile long wire 10 =EF=BF=BD- 20 feet above the ground only needs t= o be
> >on one end of a quarter square. =EF=BF=BDA fast discharge battery can be
> >relatively small as the tractor only needs to go one mile for the
> >round trip back to the wire. =EF=BF=BDAn on board ICE or battery trailer= could
> >be used to relocate the tractor any distance.
> >As agriculture become more automated there won't be any reason for
> >anyone to be in the tractor so no one will get bored as the tractor
> >lingers for a minute or so charging up at the wire.
> What sort of battery charges in a minute or two?
One with lots of small cells. The smaller the cells, the faster the> >technically legal to bring 8 pesos/litre [$3/gallon] fuel across the
> >border from Mexico. =EF=BF=BDIf the tank isn't connected, customs wil se= ize
> >the diesel and maybe even the vehicle. =EF=BF=BDEven if it is connected,
> >customs may give you a hard time. =EF=BF=BDSupposedly a driver can earn = $100 a
> >trip running diesel in border areas but each border crossing takes an
> >hour or so . . .
> >It's a whole lot more cost effective to just electrify the #@!%&*!
> >tractors and fields.
> >A 1/2 mile long wire 10 =EF=BF=BD- 20 feet above the ground only needs t= o be
> >on one end of a quarter square. =EF=BF=BDA fast discharge battery can be
> >relatively small as the tractor only needs to go one mile for the
> >round trip back to the wire. =EF=BF=BDAn on board ICE or battery trailer= could
> >be used to relocate the tractor any distance.
> >As agriculture become more automated there won't be any reason for
> >anyone to be in the tractor so no one will get bored as the tractor
> >lingers for a minute or so charging up at the wire.
> What sort of battery charges in a minute or two?
charging time.
And where would all
> that power come from, in the middle of a corn field?
The grid: Coal fired plants, nukes, PV, dish Stirling, geo thermal,> that power come from, in the middle of a corn field?
wind . . . whatever they got that will put out some juice. Polar
bears, tropical frogs and hurricanes are not the issue.
Do the math: say, 50 horsepower-hours:
Plug in hybrids can go 40 miles between charges. A tractor mayrequire 20X higher hp than a Volt but a tractor only needs to go 1
mile between charges.
=EF=BF=BDHow much power to recharge in two minutes?
If a 400 hp articulated tractor moves 10 mph it's only running 6minutes between charges and will require 3X 400 hp or ~ 1 MW -- 1/6th
the juice drawn by an electric locomotive.
In 4 years diesel will be $15 / gallon and electrification will amount
to hundreds of dollars/hour in savings, much more money than necessary
to hire someone willing to sit at the end of the field for a few
minutes reading a magazine charging up between furrows.
=EF=BF=BDWhat would the voltage have to be to keep the
> =EF=BF=BDwire losses reasonable?
It's only a half mile so a fat high current low voltage wire might be> =EF=BF=BDwire losses reasonable?
desirable for safety reasons.
=EF=BF=BDHow much do the batteries weigh?
Regardless of the size, from the articulated tractor sucking down 22gallons of diesel/hour [$110/hr and spiraling] to a 15 hp garden
tractor, the battery + electric motor system will always have a higher
specific power than any IC engine + fuel tank system.
The reason is a tractor just doesn't need to go very far to work a
field.
=EF=BF=BDHow much do the batteries cost?
Same as the batteries in plug in hybrids which require an even largerbattery / hp.
Ideas are cheap, as long as you ignore reality.
In as little as 8 years a lot of the big wells will give out ratherquickly leaving the world with 2/3rds of current production according
to a recent _London Times_ interview with a former BushCo aid. On top
of that China seems to have a permanent double digit growth rate
while, according to Soros, the U. S. will be in a decades long
recession so the size of China's economy will surpass America's in as
little as 6 years. This will leave the great majority of Americans to
try to get by on a couple percent of the oil we consume today.
So here are 3 plausible scenarios:
1. electrify the fields & tractors, or,
2. return to plowing fields with oxen, or,
3. starve.
If you cannot come up with any ideas, cheap or otherwise, for a
plausible 4th scenario then I say we electrify the fields.
Bret Cahill
"Every idea is the product of a single mind."
-- Bishop Richard Cumberland