"Greening" The Disney Fleet

[BJones82]

And an older generation reactor style...

But Back to the Green buses... We have covered this in other threads.... Electric fleet would be "greener" on property but unless it was generated by solar, you are just moving the combustion elsewhere.

*1023*

Just a random question/thought but electric vehicles are much more efficient vs internal combustion.

http://elpaso.apogee.net/md/mfgeovr.asp

So with that in mind even if the power is still coming from fossil fuels to power the battery it would still take less energy to go the same distance and in that case would be better...

That being said I think natural gas is a likely move for Disney's buses until renewable energy is cheaper.

Edit: Sorry not less energy, less of the same fuel, if we use natural gas to create electricity it would most likely take less of it to power your car than the internal combustion engine does, I hate to say it but I think this stretch of human history where we rely on internal combustion of everything is nearing it's end, it has taken us as far as we can go most likely....

 

[BJones82]

Another big thing to keep in mind when talking about replacing 300 buses is the environmental cost of discarding them... Often sadly the greenest thing over all is to keep using your 10 year old car as opposed to buying a new car...

 

[ewensell3]

Just a random question/thought but electric vehicles are much more efficient vs internal combustion.

http://elpaso.apogee.net/md/mfgeovr.asp

So with that in mind even if the power is still coming from fossil fuels to power the battery it would still take less energy to go the same distance and in that case would be better...

That being said I think natural gas is a likely move for Disney's buses until renewable energy is cheaper.

No one will dispute electric motors are more efficient converting energy into motion, but the battery tech still isn't there yet. You lose at least 25% of your energy to charge a battery pack. In otherwords a 16kwh pack takes 20kwh to charge. Then there are losses due to self-discharge. Not to mention how fast the batteries wear out and the weight they add to a vehicle.

Don't get me wrong. I love the idea of electric vehicles, and they have advanced considerably in the past few years, but after following it for 15 years and reading the various promises of improved energy storage "coming soon", I have grown tired of waiting. Wake me up when they have a normal looking midsize car w/ 300 mile range on a 15 minute charge for less than $20k.

For Disney it needs to be a bus that can run all day before charging. Maybe swappable batteries. Maybe contactless "booster" chargers at each stop. And the whole system has to cost the same as capital+maintenance+fuel of the existing fleet.

In my opinion building out dedicated bus-only roads between parks would go further to "green" the existing fleet than changing energy sources would.

 

[wdizneew]

Disney has experimented with more efficient buses.

Hybrid buses didn't work because the amount of air conditioning needed to cool the inside of the bus was just too much for them. Hybrid buses work well in climates like California but not so well in the Florida summers.

Electric buses were also tested. The problem with them was the charging and downtime. These buses needed to be charged every few hours and there would need to be many charging stations set up throughout WDW. Considering that the current fleet of buses are needed all day long and many are often put on standby, just in case there is increased guest demand or broken down bus, electric buses were taken out of the picture.

Btw, the charging stations for the electric buses were so cool!

 

[1023]

Disney has experimented with more efficient buses.

Hybrid buses didn't work because the amount of air conditioning needed to cool the inside of the bus was just too much for them. Hybrid buses work well in climates like California but not so well in the Florida summers.

Electric buses were also tested. The problem with them was the charging and downtime. These buses needed to be charged every few hours and there would need to be many charging stations set up throughout WDW. Considering that the current fleet of buses are needed all day long and many are often put on standby, just in case there is increased guest demand or broken down bus, electric buses were taken out of the picture.

Btw, the charging stations for the electric buses were so cool!

The solution would be something like graphene Super capacitors pair with inductive charging. Every stop on the route can have an inductive charging station. The buss pulls into the stop, charges, moves to the next stop.

*1023*

 

[Daniel Johnson]

they need a huge fleet of autonomous cars... a couple thousand would fit the bill.

The thinking that Disney could run its transportation on anything other than a coal burning state is wishful thinking at this time in age. the sheer capacity and weight on the busses makes it difficult at best. give it a decade or so and those winds might change. just not today.

 

[englanddg]

they need a huge fleet of autonomous cars... a couple thousand would fit the bill.

The thinking that Disney could run its transportation on anything other than a coal burning state is wishful thinking at this time in age. the sheer capacity and weight on the busses makes it difficult at best. give it a decade or so and those winds might change. just not today.

Ah, autonomous cars.

The only way it will ever conceivably work (within the next few decades) is if the roadways are isolated from actual drivers. Massive investment, little benefit. Especially on the "green side" depending on the propulsion method.

You'd need more than a "couple thousand" as well. Disney has over 35k hotel rooms. During peak, there is no way two thousand 4 - 6 person autonomous vehicles will be able to service that load.

 

[Daniel Johnson]

Ah, autonomous cars.

The only way it will ever conceivably work (within the next few decades) is if the roadways are isolated from actual drivers. Massive investment, little benefit. Especially on the "green side" depending on the propulsion method.

You'd need more than a "couple thousand" as well. Disney has over 35k hotel rooms. During peak, there is no way two thousand 4 - 6 person autonomous vehicles will be able to service that load.

That is exactly what I was trying to convey in that post...
the idea of "green" transportation is much more than most realize when taken on by a large corporation. billions on billions would have to be spent. and the investment gains wouldn't be seen for years. gas/diesel is there best option at this time.

 

[The Tuna]

They should Just call Uncle Elon and see if he wants to make some Tesla buses to showcase his tech. The Mouse likes Sponsorship deals, and he is pushing his battery powered vehicles hard. With the new Solar array coming in they could utilize that to fill up the batteries in Tesla's Power Wall as well. Everyone wins.

 

[Nubs70]

I doubt a Tsunami would hit Vogtle. It's pretty darned for inland (like...the whole state of SC), and a storm surge would have to travel pretty far up the Savannah River to get to it.

That said, it is built only a few miles from an active fault line (an active fault line runs through downtown Augusta).

And would impact the Savannah River Complex first.