Transition Island Blog

Saturn’s orange moon Titan has hundreds of times more liquid hydrocarbons than all the known oil and natural gas reserves on Earth.

According to new data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, hydrocarbons rain from the sky, collecting in vast deposits that form lakes and dunes. ScienceDaily (21 February 2008)

So all we have to do is get there and mine it!

Off-planet refinery

Titan is like a big petrochemical plant. Although this is all happening at a much lower temperature than in a petroleum refinery, the basic processes going on there are very closely allied to what people do when they make fuel. [more]

Instead of water, vast quantities of organic chemicals rain down on the moon’s surface, pooling in huge reservoirs of liquid methane and ethane. Solid carbon-based molecules are also present in the dune region around the equator.

As well as the famous rings around Saturn, there are 19 satellites in orbit. These range in size from Titan, the second largest moon in the Solar System (Ganymede is the largest), to small asteroid-like objects.

Action:
Design project, anyone?

An engineer has promised that within a year he will start selling a car that runs on compressed air, producing no emissions at all in town.

The OneCAT will be a five-seater with a glass fibre body, weighing just 350kg and could cost just over £2,500. Its engine is less than a quarter the size of an equivalent diesel motor.

Driven by compressed air stored in carbon-fibre tanks built into the chassis, it can be re-filled with air from a compressor in just three minutes - much quicker than a battery car. Alternatively, it can be plugged into the mains for four hours and an on-board compressor will do the job.

The designers say on long journeys the car will do the equivalent of 120mpg.
In town, running on air, it will be cheaper than that.

Another eco-friendly feature is that when driven this car will be pollution-free!

This design is an intelligent step toward energy-saving transportation. It may also urge the big manufacturers to set economy and ecological targets.

Taken from the County Press, 1/2/08.

Joe Duckworth, chief executive of the County Council, hinted world-renowned urban designer and architect Sir Terry Farrell had been lined up as design champion for the Island.

In this role, he would be responsible for overseeing major developments on the Island, including the developments in East Cowes and the regeneration of Sandown Bay.

(more…)