Did you ever think that energy saving technology has been surpressed?

You decide for yourself after reading the information below:

What year do you think the new energy saving compact fluorescent light bulbs became available in the United States: 1998, 1993, 1990, 1987 or 1982 ?
These bulbs have been available since 1982! What? You never saw one until just a few years ago. We are not surprised. The first bulb was called the "SL-18" by Philips and today is known as one of the Philips' Earthlights. The bulb was 18 watts and gave off 75 watts of light. It lasted 10,000 hours and wasn't readily available in some stores until 1993. In 1982 we were told by a manufacturer of incandescent light bulbs that it cost six pennies to make a 60 watt bulb from raw material to supermarket shelf. It sold for 79 cents when on sale and it would burn out in 750 hours. Repeat business and wasting energy seems to still hold the lead.

In 1988, the most efficient car on the road was the Suzuki Sprint with 57 miles per gallon. The prototypes that existed that year were as follows:
- Peugeot ECO 2000; VW E80; and the Toyota AXV. All three would get 70 to 90 miles per gallon.
- Volvo LCP 2000 reached 100 miles per gallon.
- Renault Vesta was able to reach 124 miles per gallon.
These cars never came to market. They were labeled "crisis cars" and only if another oil crisis like the one in 1979 happened again would they be mass produced. Why should a "crisis" occur to make a more efficient car?
Update: Studies and reports have shown that if each house in a given state where to use the most efficient refrigerator and one energy saving bulb - one (1) Power Plant in that state could be made unnecessary.

The "New York Times" reported on August 16, 1988 the following story:
A new gallium arsenide photovoltaic cell for producing electricity was developed by Sandia National Laboratories in California. A similar version of this cell was used on the General Motors, Solar car that never came to market. The new cell converted 31% of the sun's light into electricity. A significant increase over the original solar cells that converted only 6% of the sun's light to an electrical current!

In regards to the number of years before these solar cells became available, it is belived by EHW that these new cells were not available to the general public for 15 years and over 5 years for the government to use them to power satellites. In 2001, some newer designs that convert up to 40% of light to electrical power are still not "readily" available to the general public.

- Perhaps because a solar electric cell reaching 40% becomes comparable to coal and oil fired electric plants and their similar efficiency?

- Also there is governmental policy being dominated by the large energy supply companies, who would have to find a new way of doing business if efficient solar systems became readily available.

Today, there is talk about cars that will use a Fuel Cell instead of gasoline engines. These cars will be available within a few years. If cars that use Fuel Cells are available before 2010, that will be a welcomed change. However, one can only wonder why these Fuel Cell cars are not already on the road. The reason for this "wonder" is the fact that NASA has been using Fuel Cells to power the Space Shuttle since 1981. Actually, NASA had Fuel Cell technology long before 1981. Hydrogen is obtained through the electrolosis of water.

So why such a long delay with this technology reaching the general public?
- Can the fact that hydrogen, the most abundant fuel known to mankind and that Fuel Cells use hydrogen, have anything to do with it?

- Perhaps there is a delay because hydrogen is not only the most abundant fuel, but is also non-polluting?

- Could the large companies involved with the development of a car fuel cell be spending too much time developing things their way? For the record,GM and Toyota each had separate technology agreements with ExxonMobil. GM signed on in 1995 and Toyota followed in 1998. Then in 2001 all three companies were collaborating to test fuel-processing technologies. But why? Hydrogen is the preferred non-polluting fuel for Fuel Cell vehicles and both GM along with Toyota agree that hydrogen is for the long term. However, for the short to medium term, they favor a hydrocarbon fuel (not completely pollutant free) that could be delivered through the world's existing fuel-supply infrastructure of pipelines, terminals, tank trucks and gasoline service stations. HOW CONVENIENT!

- Then there is the very real possibility that one Fuel Cell would power an entire energy efficient home putting electric, gas, and oil companies, in a scramble for a new way of doing business. -ehw