asking Al Gore to run in 2008!
French mechanic invents device which cuts gas consumption by 30%
Posted March 2nd, 2007 by inquisitive222
I am an American living abroad in France and France Info radio has announced that a retired French mechanic has invented a spark plug converter kit that pushes the efficiency of gasoline burning in the cylinders up to 98%, and costs about $150 American to buy and install. The French city where he lives is having his kit put into all their vehicles and he is occupied all day every day installing his kit in his customers cars. I heard a number of his customers interviewed and all said that their gasoline consumption diminished by 30%.
Since the story was broadcast the one time, it has never appeared again. I believe the government here, which benefits tremendously from the gasoline taxes and the oil companies have deliberately smothered the story as they do not want gasoline consumption reduced. High consumption means big Euros for both entities. I have e-mailed the radio station, directly to the reporter responsible asking for more info and received no reply.
In addition, the mechanic is retired and just enjoys doing things to motors to make them more efficient. He considers himself too old to worry about patenting his invention or perhaps he believes cynically in the French maxim, "You may invent it, but someone else will make all the money from it!" I suspect if Total or French Shell can patent the device, that no one will ever hear of it again.
Therefore, as Al Gore has French friends and family it might be a good idea for him to put someone on chasing down this story, and IF the mechanic and the invention exist, Al Gore should get to him fast with a camera team and discuss the invention with the mechanic and bring the details of construction back to America, and patent it in the public domain. He could then offer America this 30% reduction in pollution from gasoline motorcars, and and diminish the onerous cost for transport to millions of American drivers. Democrats, under a Gore Presidency, could then introduce laws preventing the car companies from producing any more gas guzzling big cars and 4X4's and the government could pay the entire cost of the installation for any person at poverty level or below. It a "war level" priority was given to this task, every gasoline motor in America could be fitted with this device in 18 months and change our image in the world as irresponsible and frenetic polluters.
It an idea. Cheers
Be part of the Draft Gore '08 campaign!
What's his name? Where does
What's his name? Where does he live?
Just knowing that he is a French mechanic will not be enough to find him.
finding the mechanic
I have no name nor do I remember the city, but city officials interviewed in the story confirmed that they were converting their vehicles. However "France Info" is a national radio station and the story appeared within the last 90 days. If a French speaker from Gore's staff called the director of France Info and asked him to look into it, he would have the mechanics name and the city within 24 hours. A little guy like me, and a foreigner (even if I am naturalized French) they just ignore.
BUT.....if Chirac or Villepin have telephoned the director, on the part of the oil companies and the government and "politely asked" him to suppress that story, an impassable wall of silence will greet every inquiry. France is NOT a democracy or a free country. That's all I can tell you as I have searched my computer, top to bottom and my letter to France info was either not saved, or has disappeared from my records. Cheers
a healthy skepticism
I am more than willing to consider any new technology that will improve the efficiency of the internal combustion engine or any other significant part of our modern life.
However, there have been so many claims that just don't hold up under true controlled scientific testing, that I would advise caution. Let's see the independent test results before getting too excited. I hope it does work, but a lot of money has been spent on 'miracle' gas saving devices that only seem to enrich the sellers and don't produce proven results.
Well, it's worth a phone call, nevertheless.
Gore should look into this. If it's a hoax then he loses nothing. But if it's real it could be a big win.
Al Gore should not look into this
He could label himself as a tinfoil-hatter in about two nanoseconds.
What he is doing on a global basis to create an atmosphere of openness to the NEED for such developments, of the NEED to do away with corporate greed impeding such developments, is far more valuable. If, in fact, this were to be valid (and i would love to bet everything I have that it is not) then his efforts to create a world in which it CAN be our salvation are what really matter. He does not need to drop a dime, find the crying virgin, and rush off to say "now i am the grandest tiger in the jungle."* Nor should he even give a hint that he would have an inclination so to do.
* I tried to mix in another metaphor, but could not come up with one :)
Gore looking into things
Politics, as the French have taught me is about discretion. Someone that Gore trusts, but who is generally not associated with Gore, could make the inquiries, or the info could be sent to Ralph Nader anonymously. There are a million ways to do things that do not involve dropping your pants in front of a NY Times reporter. That you are vehemently opposed to finding out, and judge the info as false, before any investigation has provided any evidence pro or con, is interesting. It's "Bush" side thinking.
I am not vehemently opposed
I am not vehemently opposed to it being legitimate. If it is legitimate I don't expect it will stay "lost" in some French town. I AM opposed to overreacting to what sounds a lot like an "urban myth." As you say, others can find out. Al Gore does not need to lead the charge, not does he need to conduct a "stealth" campaign to find out. You are so far the only person who seems to know anything about it. Run down your sources, get some facts beyond "somebody knows someone who says..." before posting a blog insisting that it is Al Gore's responsibility. Try one of those million ways yourself. So far all I have seen is an unsubstantiated assertion of something that my education as a mechanical engineer and subsequent experience tells me is very unlikley. Your assertion that all scientists are in big business' pockets and thus not to be trusted pretty much pigeonholes you in my estimation.
"Grass" - a means of escape from reality, or a real means of escape for the planet.
investigating
As an artist, I have chosen to live in profound poverty, more or less, all my life. Here in France I live on 441 Euros a month plus free medical, etc. It takes 1000 Euros net to live at existence level. The last time I began to actively protest and investigate something, a "mistake" occurred in my unemployment and it didn't arrive. It took me a week of ferocious effort to get the tap turned on again. So, there is so much only that I can do, and then things begin to "happen." In addition, I am taking care of a member of my family who is recovering from a terrible accident last summer that almost killed her. So there is no money for phone calls or ability to travel. Mine is typical poor person's life.....which I don't regret.
I used to be a radio newscaster/reporter and I know what's required. I have done what I could with the means at my disposal. But, I have a life and obligations that severely limit my mobility and expenditures.
I am not insisting that Al Gore run down the story. I suggested that he or someone, in a better position to do so, should make the effort. A story broadcast on national radio is not a "I heard someone say that they heard someone" story. When I did news, we used to routinely monitor other radio stations and steal such stories for rebroadcasting, if they had them before we did.
If scientists are not in the pockets of those who fund their research, then whose pockets are they in? And for that matter, politicians? When YOU are nearly sixty, as I am, you will find that life teaches you that a certain number of generalities, despite a FEW exceptions, are quite reliable. Any further investigation into this matter is for someone comfortably well off with contacts in France. I have done my bit.
that's correct
You are correct, but if the oil companies get to the product and patent the device, it will never get a scientific testing, even though it is, in principle, being used already on dozens or hundreds of vehicles, including someowned by local government. It will simply disappear.
My father told me before he died of a battery that appeared in America before world war 2 called the "Red Top." He actually knew people who owned these batteries and the interesting thing about them was that whenever they ran down and left you in the lurch, all you had to do was take the battery out of the car and place it in full sunshine. In a few hours it recharged itself enough to easily start your car. For a mostly rural America, living miles from town, this was a great and welcome innovation. Suddenly, however the batteries ceased to be sold. My father heard from a mechanic in his town in Missouri that Delco Batteries had bought the company and the patent and stopped production.
I'm sure that many innovations in American Industrial history, have suffered the same fate.
Big business is the enemy of the consumer, not our friend, and it has always been..... in my experience and life.
there are so many urban myths
about miracle products, perpetual motion machines, etc. that prove to be about as valid as the image of the Virgin Mary in the grease stain on a cookie sheet that it is just not worth rushing off to validate them all. If there is legitimacy and more than one person knows about it, it will come out. More likely it will fade away like another UFO sighting.
There is this thing called science.
Most batteries, if not completely dead, will regain a little bit of potential if left alone for a while. Warming them will enhance that effect. I learned that in high school physics. I have demonstrated it myself more than once - and not with this "red top"
The design of the combustion chamber, nature and timing of the spark, mix of the fuel and air are the very foundation of the IC engine. Many, many engineers and scientists have spent entire careers trying to milk a little more efficiency out of the IC engine. I'm not saying there cannot be improvements; I am saying the likelihood of this guy having come up with the "miracle cure" is between slim and none. He may indeed have improved the spark somehow. He may be squeezing a little better combustion efficiency out of some engines. Most likely a good tuneup and new set of plugs would do the same thing.
There just is not a "save the world" easy answer out there. The human tendency to rush around looking for the fish and bread to be multiplied a thousandfold, or the water to be turned to wine, gets in the way of actually SOLVING problems.
This common human trait is why there are so many "miracle cures" available in third world countries to prey on the desperately ill, why so many people spend their last nickel on lottery tickets or slot machines, why there are so many fad diets.
Science. Facts. Reality. ugly, depressing words, I know. But life's tough, and then you die.
science
and then there is nano-technology and the world of the infinitely small in which science finds another reality entirely, where the "impossible" happens every day. Science depends on research to advance on things such as the efficiency of gasoline motors, etc. Research often comes from the Universities and the funds for this research from Big Business. No research will EVER be funded towards anything that reduces profits for Big Business, as in The Texas Oil Mafia. So, if no one competent is looking, the amateurs who are simply fascinated with the subject, will always arrive at the "Eureka Point" before the Scientists. And as you can buy any scientific opinion you want in this sad age, all scientific opinions.....to me, John Doe, are of less value than my horoscope. Also, as all these Scientists have university degrees from the best schools available in every land, again funded by Big Business contributions (and super indebted students!) I believe little of what "educated" people tell me. Each of us has our cynical fixations. Maturity is learning to mentally wander beyond those prejudices. The basic precept that elevates mankind to the Celestial is that anything we can imagine we can probably create or achieve. That is why we are God's greatest competitors.
Tinfoil hats protect against CIA broadcasts into my head
Hi dbciii !
Indeed, the likelihood that this mechanic has discovered a way to significantly improve the efficiency of the internal combustion engine are next to zero. If there is proof and it's real then let's see the facts. I would like to be proven wrong.
Of course the Big Oil companies are not to be trusted. Exxon paying "scientists" to create doubt about global warming is proof of that. But, sorry, I don't think there's a 'magic bullet' out there that would double our cars gas mileage with miracle spark plugs and that Big Oil is conspiring to hide them from us.