A Revolution In Auto Tech?

I just came across an article about an insane dude who can soup up a car to do zero to sixty mph (this being Amerika and all) in five seconds while getting sixty miles to the gallon. With massively reduced emissions. Fueled with used deep-frier grease. Really.

Reading through the article at Fast Company I keep tripping in and out of reality, thinking that maybe the whole thing is a dream. Though I've always thought the good and right path is to not own a car at all, this man could revolutionise what it means to have a private vehicle. And he just might help save the planet along the way.

Will the suicidal car industry let him? I doubt it. It's quite clear that the technologies for cleaner, more efficient vehicles have been around since the dawn of the automobile. And that efficient mass transit is cheaper, faster and more environmentally friendly still. But since those long-ago days when American auto companies bought up and bankrupt the rail systems, nothing has changed for the better. And nothing is likely to.

Johnathan Goodwin may be a mechanical genius but it will take more than that to "derail" the auto industry. Personally, I'm waiting for the utter collapse of industrial society.

Though not with any joy.

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