Posted on 01/23/2013 8:14:54 AM PST by libstripper
When Federal Aviation Administration officials grounded Boeing's fleet of 787 Dreamliner commercial jets last week due to unexplained battery fires, one of President Obama's favorite green energy technologies got another black eye.
Technologists and safety experts had long warned of problems with the lithium ion battery when in 2009 the president began betting billions of tax dollars that it should be the green power of choice for cars, trucks, and even aircraft.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Unfortunately, it will take a planeful of passengers going down before the administration reconsiders its greenie policies. And the reconsideration will only be to ask the question, “How can we avoid blame?”
Almost all “green” initiatives cause fires - Chevy Volt, Tesla, wind-generation machines, and now the Dreamliner. With all the smoke being blown up our - uh - noses, this is starting to smell.
Sad to have to tell you folks but “Green Energy” is just a cover for the commies/progressives to further plunder the US Treasury
Some aeronautical expert may need to fill in on this...
But I think the goal of Boeing, Airbus, etc...is to provide an aircraft with reduced operating costs....Airline industry will not purchase a “green” aircraft if the competitor’s operating costs are much lower.
I thought that by going electric/battery powered...this signficantly reduced fuel consumption which is one of the largest operating costs of a large aircraft...Some of the jet engine capacity was used to power the systems, hydraulics, which in turn reduced capacity/efficiency of the engine.
As much as I would like to pin this on Obama...the 787 was designed and being configured way before he came into office.
Boeing will figure this out...You can look at any recent aircraft intruduction/testing and notice that many of them were grounded for many other reasons...It usually takes two-three years of service before they shake everything out. In the long term, the battery issue will eventually be resolved.
Airbus 380 had cracks on the wings/tail...
Embraer had significant software and plumbing issues in the E170-180-190 jets that tooks several months to work out.
If I had any major complaint about the new 787 is that Boeing outsorced their production to various, independent companies overseas....This should have remained in-house...
Change out all the Batteries on Air Force One and see how that works out.
The older and well proven lead acid battery has a very poor power to weight ratio which is why there is a strong desire to replace it. It also suffers from a spillage problem caused by the liquid electrolyte.
This battery research has been going on since before 0bama was born.
The question will be how important those lithium batteries are to the Dreamliner’s operation. It may take a full redesign and scrapping of a large part of the ones already built.
Indeed they produce the same amount of smoke as he does.
While it may reflect inadequate testing of the delivered batteries (over reliance on vendor's quality system and assurances & not stringent enough acceptance testing) it will likely result in an unfair rap on the aircraft itself.
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