geek.com wrote:Charles Stevens is an inventor and CEO of Laser Power Systems. His idea is to replace the gasoline engine with an electricity generator that doesn’t require a battery. He is proposing the use of the rare earth mineral thorium in conjunction with a laser and mini turbines that easily produce enough electricity to power a vehicle.
Thorium is abundant and radioactive, but much safer to use than an element such as uranium. When thorium is heated it becomes extremely hot and causes heat surges allowing it to be coupled with mini turbines producing steam that can then be used to generate electricity. It also helps that it has a very large liquid range between melting and boiling point.
Sounds promising, but there's one big problem - when (not if) a thorium-powered taxi crashes, we're going to have to call in a hazmat team to clean up the mess...
Re: Could thorium be used to power cars?
Posted: 15 Aug 2011, 16:48
by Sojourn
Not to mention the lvl 50-60 areas that will be camp-farmed by the Chinese.
Re: Could thorium be used to power cars?
Posted: 15 Aug 2011, 20:07
by Ron2K
Been reading the Wikipedia entry on thorium, and apparently it's not as great a risk as other radioactive materials, though not without risk entirely...
Powdered thorium metal is pyrophoric and will often ignite spontaneously in air. Natural thorium decays very slowly compared to many other radioactive materials, and the alpha radiation emitted cannot penetrate human skin meaning owning and handling small amounts of thorium, such as a gas mantle, is considered safe. The decay of thorium does, however, create radon gas so caution should be exercised when thorium decays in closed spaces. Exposure to an aerosol of thorium can lead to increased risk of cancers of the lung, pancreas, and blood, as lungs and other internal organs can be penetrated by alpha radiation. Exposure to thorium internally leads to increased risk of liver diseases.
The element has no known biological role.
Re: Could thorium be used to power cars?
Posted: 15 Aug 2011, 20:12
by SykomantiS
Well, your own source pointed out that you can shield from its radio active effects using nothing more than foil...
Re: Could thorium be used to power cars?
Posted: 16 Aug 2011, 06:23
by hamin_aus
Thorium is not a rare earth mineral. it's usually a by-product of rare earth mineral extraction.
Your article is invalid.
Re: Could thorium be used to power cars?
Posted: 16 Aug 2011, 07:58
by Hman
I'd like to see this guy try and build this system of his. It would be awesome, but not as awesome as the sound of a high performance internal combustion engine.
