2008-10-10 Renewable Synthetic Fuels for Transport
Gordon Taylor & Richard Pearson
I met Dr Richard Pearson when I attended a talk he gave on biofuels and synthetic liquid fuels for road transport. In this he mentioned with approval the paper 'The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?'. I therefore proposed that we collaborate - to which he agreed.
Dr Pearson obtained a First Class degree in Mechanical Engineering and M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in modelling gas dynamics in internal combustion engines - the latter in 1994. He joined Lotus Engineering in 1998 and worked on alternative fuels and energy systems. As well as making sports cars, Lotus engineers vehicles for other makers around the world. With colleagues, he modified a Lotus sports car to run on any mixture of gasoline (petrol), ethanol and methanol.
'The CAST Proposal for Compatible Affordable Sustainable Transportation' is a joint study, developed over about four months. It was inspired by the VEnzin Vision proposed by DONG Energy of Denmark. Dr Pearson and I visited Mr Charles Nielsen, Head of R&D for DONG Energy on 2008-06-30 and presented our initial ideas. He was strongly in favour, so we continued with the study. Denmark is hosting the Climate Change Summit (COP 15) in Copenhagen in November 2009, so it was originally written for a Danish audience. Copies have been sent to the Danish Minister of Climate and Energy, the Director General of the Danish Energy Agency, Mr Charles Neilsen, Head of R&D for DONG Energy, and Professor Mogens Mogensen of the Risoe Research Centre of the Danish Technical University. In the U.K., copies have also been sent to Mr Ed Miliband, the Minister of Energy and Climate, and Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, Chairman of the Committee on Climate Change.
Gordon Taylor & Richard Pearson
I met Dr Richard Pearson when I attended a talk he gave on biofuels and synthetic liquid fuels for road transport. In this he mentioned with approval the paper 'The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?'. I therefore proposed that we collaborate - to which he agreed.
Recent articles
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