Neil Young’s Linc Volt in principle a good idea
In principle, Neil Young had a very good idea. Basically you keep your beloved (old) car but make sure that the technology that moves it is more environmentally friendly. How to do that? By replacing its poison spewing engine by electric motors drawing their power from natural gas or hydrogen. For this reason, Young has started Linc Volt, a company doing just that, replacing the classic internal engine by the more efficient and green propulsion. Everything has started with Young’s favourite 1959 Lincoln, a vehicle clearly he does not want to do without.
The debate about car replacement cycles can be endless. New cars are more efficient, but we should also bear in mind that every single one of them requires enormous quantities of energy. I am not talking only about the finally assembly plant but include in car production the whole process from raw material extraction to completion of the assembly. So from this point of view, provided an existing car is road worthy and safe, the idea of converting it to a renovated electric version saves a lot of energy.
But as far as daily use is concerned, there is one condition. And this is no other than the fact that the natural gas or the hydrogen that move the electric motors both burden the environment, each in its own way. So we always come back to the same conclusion, clean energy production. If hydrogen is produced by burning oil, we replace many small chimneys with a single very large one, in the end obtaining no net benefit.
I am not saying of course that clean car development should stop. But unfortunately clean energy production is a prerequisite for everything else down the chain. So maybe after all buying a small used car is for now the best option and solar, wind or whatever provides zero pollution energy should be our first priority…
