{"id":29945,"date":"2022-06-19T23:03:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-19T23:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=29945"},"modified":"2022-06-22T16:31:14","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T16:31:14","slug":"could-steam-powered-cars-decrease-the-co2-in-the-atmosphere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/could-steam-powered-cars-decrease-the-co2-in-the-atmosphere\/","title":{"rendered":"Could steam-powered cars decrease the CO2 in the atmosphere?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brian Stewart<\/a>, Wesleyan University<\/a><\/em> and Gary W. Yohe<\/a>, Wesleyan University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Curious Kids<\/a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you\u2019d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Could steam-powered cars decrease the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere? \u2013 Emma, age 16, Springville, Utah<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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With the growing severity and frequency of storms<\/a>, heat waves<\/a> and wildfires<\/a>, and the other dangers from climate change<\/a>, there are many reasons to be concerned about the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Scientists have shown that humanity\u2019s addiction to burning fossil fuels is causing this problem<\/a>, which means it\u2019s time to kick that habit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because transportation generates more than one-fourth<\/a> of the CO2 emitted by burning fossil fuels, slashing CO2 emissions requires phasing out vehicles powered by gasoline, diesel and natural gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steam powered many of the early automobiles<\/a> sold around 1900. Could the same technology play a role again?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018Stanley Steamer\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The steam-powered car became possible once gasoline and diesel oil replaced wood and coal for the powering of engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inventors Francis and Freelan Stanley<\/a>, twin brothers, became automaking pioneers after they improved photographic technology. In 1898 and 1899<\/a> they were selling more vehicles than any other early automaker, and their steam-powered \u201cRocket Racer\u201d set a speed record in 1906<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All along, cars powered by internal combustion engines \u2013 the kind most in use today \u2013 were competing with steam cars and winning the technology war. Starting in 1912<\/a>, electric starters made them safer and more convenient by replacing dangerous hand cranks<\/a>. By 1920, when its assembly lines started producing the Model T with an electric starter, Ford was selling hundreds of thousands of cars per year<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, early steam cars were heavy and expensive, and it took a long time to make enough steam to get them rolling. Doble Steam Motors, another early automaker<\/a>, eventually solved this last problem<\/a> and many others, but the cars remained pricey, and it was too late: The noisy and polluting but much cheaper internal combustion engine had won out. The Stanley Motor Carriage Co. ceased operating in 1924<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be clear, because the heat to boil water to make steam has to come from somewhere, these steam-powered vehicles burned fossil fuels to heat their water anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two<\/a>
Twins and automobile manufacturers Freelan and Francis Stanley go for a ride in an early Stanley Steamer in 1897. PhotoQuest\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A 1970s comeback<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Steam power had something of a comeback in the 1970s<\/a>, but not because of climate concerns. Back then, air pollution spewed by vehicles had become a serious problem filling cities with smog<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steam boilers can burn fuel more thoroughly than a standard internal combustion engine, leading to cleaner exhaust that is mostly water and carbon dioxide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, that was seen as an improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the cities battling pollution from automobile exhaust added steam-powered buses<\/a> to their fleets. This resurgence was short-lived because of the arrival of new technologies<\/a> that could curb pollution from internal combustion engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a>
This experimental steam-powered bus was rolled out in in 1972. Frank Lodge\/National Archives at College Park via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Steam\u2019s drawback and electricity\u2019s advantages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The biggest obstacle for steam-powered vehicles is that steam isn\u2019t a source of energy. Rather, it is a source of power for the wheels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While getting around in steam-powered vehicles might make the air cleaner<\/a> in the drivers\u2019 own communities, switching to steam-powered engines that continue to burn gasoline and diesel wouldn\u2019t reduce CO2 emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A different approach can potentially eliminate the need to burn fossil fuels for transportation: replacing gasoline tanks with batteries to provide the energy, along with swapping out internal combustion engines for electric motors to turn the wheels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reduction in carbon emissions will be far greater<\/a> if vehicles run on electricity generated by wind turbines, solar panels or other energy sources that don\u2019t emit carbon dioxide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Yellow<\/a>
School buses are beginning to run on electricity instead of fossil fuels. AP Photo\/Business Wire<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As it happens, some of the first cars ever made were electric<\/a>. Manufacturers stopped making those models because the need to recharge their batteries after short distances rendered those vehicles less convenient than those powered by fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Battery technology is so much better now that some electric vehicles can travel 400 miles<\/a> (640 kilometers) without needing to recharge. Instead of switching to steam as a source of power to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, we recommend electricity generated from renewable sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you\u2019d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com<\/a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And since curiosity has no age limit \u2013 adults, let us know what you\u2019re wondering, too. We won\u2019t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brian Stewart<\/a>, Professor of Physics, Wesleyan University<\/a><\/em> and Gary W. Yohe<\/a>, Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, Wesleyan University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brian Stewart, Wesleyan University and Gary W. Yohe, Wesleyan University Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you\u2019d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. Could steam-powered cars decrease the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere? \u2013 Emma, age 16, Springville, Utah With the growing severity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":29946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1862,3410],"tags":[6671,6275,2718,139,10253,6689,6786,2197],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29945"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29945"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29969,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29945\/revisions\/29969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}