Dale.Amon%CMU-RI-FAS@sri-unix.UUCP (08/14/84)
As a native Pittsburgher, used to seeing the bright glow of bessemers and pouring lighting up the night sky, I can absolutely assure you that heavy industry is a 24 hour a day effort, IF demand is up. If demand is low, even given energy costs, it is cheaper to run in daylight because I believe the night shift has higher pay. And tends to work less. I believe the battery technology is just about at the level required for the electric car. The Polyacetylene (and related materials) I mentioned earlier is FAR superior to lead acid. THe only real question is temperature characteristics. Output tends to drop of drastically with temperature, as anyone from these cold northern climes knows all to well. Researchers feel they can come up with polymers that will exhibit good temperature/output characteristics as well. The work was done at Penn State University, and has been published in a number of journals. It was also mentioned in the Britannica yearbook of science for either 1981 or 1982. What is also interesting is the material may also be a sort of polymer semiconductor, maybe even for solar cell use. Production of plastic films can be quite cheap. Think of a battery material made of something like saran wrap... -------------------------------- PS: Say hello to Ben for me, and tell him Jim Porto said hello. Jim was quite helpful to us here at Pgh L5. Dale Amon