The World in 2030

The World in 2030 195
ton of metal, engines have to be enormous. The key
to the Supercar is to make it 1) much lighter and 2)
much more aerodynamic, which would then allow it
to have 3) a much smaller, more efficient engine.
The lightness comes from getting rid of the steel. The
Supercar will be made of composite materials – carbon-fiber,
fiberglas, and plastic specially designed to
absorb far more crash energy per pound than metal.
You’ve watched these materials at work if you’ve ever
seen an Indy-500 driver hit a wall at 200 mph and
walk away. Race cars are made of carbon-fiber. This
material can be reclaimed and recycled, by the way,
and it doesn’t rust. 369
Power Generation and Distribution
One of the most serious areas of energy wastage in the world
is power generation and conversion. Most coal-fired power
stations are only about 30 per cent efficient (70 per cent of
the energy in the fuel burned is wasted) and much power is
lost during long-distance transmission over wires (how much
depends on the distance and the wires).
Huge improvements in the efficiency of power stations 370
are possible and are now being pursued vigorously. One idea
is to extract energy from the heated waste steam. Researchers
at the University of California (Berkeley) have discovered
how to produce electricity directly from heat using nano
molecules: