On Wed, 17 Mar 2004, Kim Brennan wrote:

> http://ghlin2.greenhills.net/~apatter/doble.html
>
> The 1920's Doble steamers got 10-14 mpg on fuel oil

10-14 mpg isn't all that great, though.  A Ford Model T would get 20 mpg.

> Here's a url for conversion of a VW engine to a steam engine
> http://www.firedragon.com/~kap/Barrett/VWConversion.html

Cool link, thanks.  THat site claims 18 mpg for their engine, which still
isn't very good even assuming the horsepower output is similar to the
original VW engine.  Beetles can approach 30 mpg, I've heard.

> Almost all electric plants today are steam engines, the water is boiled
> by coal, natural gas or uranium.

Yup, but that's out of necessity.  Losses to the environment aside, the
laws of thermodynamics strictly limit the efficiency you can get out of a
system like that, because there are practical limits to how hot you can
get the "hot side" and how cold you can get the "cold side."

David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Volkswagen Diesel Westfalia
'86 Volvo 240DL wagon