There's a reason why California is constantly the source of announcements on non-emission vehicles: weather. Living in Canada one is constantly aware of weather, particularly when it's bad. There more days when the weather isn't sunny and warm than it is, but everytime fuel-alternative vehicles are announced they do it during warm and sunny summer days.

The main reason for this is the fault of these alternative fuels. They work fine during good weather, but try the middle of winter during a snowstorm when you need your car the most.

The two main types of alternatives are hydrogen and electric, with solar being a type of electric. The fault of solar is obvious; it isn't viable if you driving at night. Since it's not possible to always get power, it needs to be stored, which is why some turn to electric cars.

But the cleanliness of electric vehicles is an illusion. Aside from the difficultly of recharging, electric cars need fuel from some source and it's at the source that the pollution is made. Just about every other source comes at an environmental cost, including hydro. Solar cells help, but they are nowhere near efficient enough to provide the power needed, and they are useless when covered in snow. So while the car may appear clean, does everyone want a local nuclear power plant? 

Hydrogen has it's own problems. They may work fine on a sunny California summer afternoon, but they are no good for Canadian winters. The biggest problem is that Hydrogen cars produce water, and water freezes. Cars constantly dripping water on the roads in winter would result in constant ice on the roads. One hydrocar could be responsible for a hundred accidents. Granted, the water could be captured in a container but that still leaves the problem of dumping and the decreased fuel efficiently as the containter fills. Futhermore, because water is in the system, that could become ice and clog up the mechanism. And there's still the fuel cost needed to produce the hydrogen in the first place, so the cleanliness of hydrocars is also illusionary.

While many don't like the idea of fossel fuels, hybreds are currently the most practical. However, the most practical approch at this time appears to be bio-diesel hybreds. The fuel can be grown rather than pumped and the vehicles are useable during dark winter storms. But even this has it's weakness; there is only so much farmland available. Land used to grow fuel is land not used for food.

So there is no perfect solution; no leap into the future as many would like to believe. Every system has it's price. Some vehicles are practical in some areas but not all are good for all areas. It's quite possible that some of these technologies may be adopted in some areas, but it's still a long time before the roads host traffic to any substancial body of clean cars.

I've started a new podcast called The Would Be Writer. The first proto-episode is available at http://feeds.feedburner.com/WriterpatricksBlog. It's really to work out the technical details. I'm still trying to get it working properly in Podcast Pickle.

I really need to get back to working on this blog. The problem is that the computer I normally use doesn't have Internet access. Also, I tend to find myself commenting on posts in other blogs rather than writing on my own.

Anyways, just a few things I've thought about.

I'm sort of glad that Austin didn't win on "Grease:You're the One That I Want" because it allows him to do something better. Laura and Austin were my picks from the beginning, though they could easily have gone with either of the final two women. I think they're going to have a problem with Max; he doesn't seem as talented when compared with the rest of the cast. I somehow think people may have voted for him to sabatage the show. I think Derik could have won against Max and seemed more suited to the part. I understand that there are or were similar reality shows in England for Joseph and His Technicolour Dreamcoat and Sound Of Music.

Much of the time I find what's holding me back from writing is just not knowing if I'm doing it right. It's more than just putting words on paper.

I've been thinking about getting a new video card for my computer (the one I write on, not the one I use for Internet access). The old one is only 8Meg but it's an All-In-Wonder, you know, the kind that allows you to record TV and video. The one I'm looking at is a 128Meg All-In-Wonder. The problem is that it's only a PIII and the entire computer requires upgrading, so spending any money on it seems wasteful. Except in this case because I could move the card to a new computer should I get one, but I can't afford one until I sell a novel or two. And it would only really allow me to run more games. But it would have to wait for my tax return.

I've been using Windows Live Writer and it makes posting a little easier.

I seem to record more programs than I have time to watch. I still have a couple of things from last summer, at least I think that's when they're from. Some stuff I can watch while writing, but others take too much attention.