Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the to often forgotten technology
THE BICYCLE.

It is a technology that is too often forgotten about, or not even considered. In countries that have embraced the bicycle users report that travel into the city by bicycle, including parking is faster than in a car. Bicycles are good for health, and do not produce any air pollution when used, or emit greenhouse gas emisions.

“… why aren’t there daily media releases from, oh, Bob Brown on the topic, instead of dozens on nuclear power whose risks are miniscule by comparison ?”

As previously noted, it isn’t Bob Brown’s portfolio and his responsibilities are already great, as the leader of a small party that runs on a shoestring budget.

But in terms of cold hard reality, minor parties become a little bit tired of holding press conferences/policy launches and writing media releases that no journo will bother with. For the public and the media the issue you raise is a big yawn. Sad but true.

As to the issue of alternative energies for cars, we should bear in mind that typically only about 3% of the energy used transports the passenger- the other 97% transports the weight of the vehicle. Light weight vehicles, like carbon composite fibre vehicles, will hopefully make alternative energy sources much more viable.

Perhaps I am being overly harsh in picking specifically on the Greens. But here is an envronmental issue that is killing thousands of people and making thousands more sick, and it’s happening right in our own backyards – indeed, statistically, it will certainly happen to people we know personally (though attributing specific deaths to it is unlikely). Why aren’t we all shouting from the rooftops and demanding stronger action on it?

It was the gist of your first sentence in your OP to which I objected.
The rest, as above, I would wholeheartedly endorse.

The only benefit of putting them on cars would be that it charges up the car while you’re driving, extending the range. But the amount of power you’d gain is so small the range extension would be very marginal, not justifying the extra cost and weight.

Yes, this means I am extremely skeptical of their research project.

Electric cars are a definite possibility. Solar cars no.

J_p_z: you might be interested in Personal Rapid Transit.

?????

Not in Melbourne, matey! Anyhoo, I knew whatcha meant, I was just having a go. Robot chariots is a nice idea, but I’d only back it once they’ve perfected the wise-cracking robot bartender. First things first.

Either that, or chariots drawn by robots, which I confess would look a whole lot cooler.

Why necessarily think of solar-powered cars in terms of personal car ownership? Why not think of them on, say, a slot-car model? At least in the cities. Say a fleet of small, individual public cars in an inner city area, all available for rental or free for the day’s use on an availability basis, all plugged via a citywide slot or groove system into a solar powered electric grid. If you want to own your own car, use it for trips out into the country, man! But in the city, grab yourself one of those neat little free cars lined up down on your corner like shopping carts at a supermarket, sign in for the day, plug into the SolarGrid, and go, go, go…!

A solar car that can generate its own power, combined with the ability to plug it into the grid when the sun’s not out, combined with direct-to-grid generation from a roof panel in the home looks good to me. This is based on my recieved understanding that transmitting power is more efficient and less polluting than storing it. Is that right?