Technological advancement as made the world to be a fully dynamic place where the sunrise marks the beginning of another tireless journey to invention, discoveries and innovations. As we are speaking, there are people who are working round the clock so as to come up with something that would change the world. Who is this person working round the clock and what is he/ she working on? Is his work going to bring a change in the transport sector? If so, how is the recovery going to be received, satisfy and fulfil its sole purpose? This are some of the questions we are aiming to address by the end of this discussion since there are a lot to talk about in technological advancement within the transport sector, especially on the application of electricity and magnetism in the transport sector? Have there been such innovations in the transport sector before? How have they helped in satisfaction of the needs? Is still there a room for more innovations with regards to electricity and magnetic use in the transport sector?
Regular advancements have been evidenced in the transport sector. These advancements have been brought about by a number of factors. First, the ever-growing world’s population brought about a strong need for a reliable system of transport which would meet the transport needs of the whole population (Hood, 2006).This marked the kickoff of inventions such as the long wheel-over rail trains. Before this invention, the only available comparison was the horse-pulled wagon. Notwithstanding, the scientists learnt that due to the slow nature of the steam engines, they should come with a system that is a bit quick and reliable. As per now, the gradual evolution has brought about the invention of the bullet trains and even more comfortable Maglev trains (Grant, 2008).
With the issue of ‘, necessity is the mother of inventions’ forming the basis for the argument, most of the inventions in the field of transport have been as a result of the existence of the necessity. A case with the invention of bikes. With every nation on the run of developing and coming up with the most outstanding, effective, efficient and modern transport system, the whole world has been set on a race for prosperity in the transport sector (Hood, 2006). In the current competitive world, an effective system is that which is cost effective, fast, eco-friendly, and low on fuel consumption. In addition, efficacy also remains a subject of how the system would help solve the problems of emissions and congestion (Hood, 2006).
However, these inventions have received quite a number of setbacks. First, most of the projects have failed the feasibility test and, therefore, scrapped off. For instance, the Rand Corporation and ET3 companies designed and proposed what would have been a best clone of train and plane but their project failed due to a number of considerations and criticisms (Sebastian, A. 2013). The second challenge is that most of these inventions are geared towards designing a vessel that is quite fast and affordable. The setback with this is that designing and maintaining a speedy vessel is way too expensive. In his proposal of Hyperloop design, Elon Musk, the designer had to face it tough when it came to building a superfast machine which won’t cost a lot. He had to stretch his mind so as to set up a viable and affordable speed boosting system (Sebastian, 2013).
Another withstanding issue is that of the side effects of electromagnetic. When building the Maglev, a number issues were presented for upon its criticism. Inasmuch as the use of electromagnetic technology to power the train would help achieve speed, as well as comfortability, a setback was identified. It was revealed that at high speeds, Maglev could generate a huge amount of electromagnetic fields (Grant, 2008). In the long run, this had a detrimental health effects on the passengers should the field penetrate to the overlying passengers compartment. The designers had a tough time scratching their minds in order to come up with a workable solution aimed at protecting the on-board passengers. An extra cost had to be incurred for installation of the shield. As much as electromagnetic technology was a good invention and incorporation in the sector of transport, it comes at a cost (Grant, 2008).
In the current world, one of the chief concern is protection of the environment. A number of studies are revealing that the problem of global warming is setting in a quite a higher rate! As we all know, global warming is a ghost whom when left to invade the earth, its adverse effects will haunt us forever (Grant, 2008). One of the chief causes of global warming is the gaseous emissions from the automobiles. The question remains; how then can we achieve a clean atmosphere when we use automobiles on a daily basis? In this case, the judgment has always been to the side of use of automobiles in spite of the emissions. However, this is just a matter of time. Scientists rumor it that very soon, the fossil fuels reservoirs will be depleted. So upon depletion of fossil fuel, which alternative will be sought? The definite answer is electricity and magnetics, in other words, electromagnetism (Grant, 2008).
Electricity and magnetism are quite justifiable as source of energy in the transport sector. Think of how many gallons of fuel are consumed daily by these automobiles. Of course, the figure is outrageous. Think of how many volumes of the gaseous emissions are produced by these automobiles daily while in operational. The figure is quite high. Not enough, the effects of these gases to the environment are well known; global warming, acidic rain, obstruction of the horizon, respiratory diseases among others. With the electricity adoption as the chief source of fuel for automobiles, it means that there will be no production of these ‘dirty gases’ that keep polluting the atmosphere now and then. Electricity is one of the cleanest sources of energy available because it doesn’t produce any residue upon consumption (Grant, 2008).
In addition to being clean, electricity can be generated from a number of alternative sources without fear of it being exhausted. While the world is worried of depletion of fossil fuel’s wells, electricity would be generated from a number of sources; dams, geothermal power stations, nuclear reaction plants, solar stations among other sources (Hood, 2006). Therefore, this is a viable and justifiable proof of how things will work out for good should electricity be adopted as the main source of fuel for automobiles. There has been a number of constructive revolutions such as discovery of solar powered cars as well as rechargeable automobiles. For more efficiency, the scientist went ahead to propose a replacement of the traditional batteries with the ultra-capacitors. Should the inventors think along this line, then we will be amazed what will come out of the use of electricity in powering of the automobiles (Hood, 2006).
In his proposal of Hyperloop, Elon talks of how he is going to design and overcome the issue of power exhaustion upon faster speeds. The proposed Hyperloop would be powered using the electricity. Elon says that he is going to create a power back up plan and then conserve it by installing an alternative option such as an induction motor to re-speed up the train after every 70 miles (Sebastian, A. 2013). From this proposal, we can see there is light at the end of the tunnel because it opens the mind how electricity use in the transport sector could be manipulated to suit different uses. Additionally, the concept of constructing a solar road is another invention geared towards full adoption of electricity use in the transport sector. These roads would tap and store enough electricity to light the whole track (Sebastian, 2013).
In conclusion, the transport sector can be ranked among those sectors where people are busy round the clock trying to come up with something that would change the phase of the sector. A lot of proposals have been brought on board with the aim of creating an alternative source of power (Hood, 2006). The truth of the matter is that we are running out of the fossil fuel and soon the world will wake to a shocking news of empty gas and petrol station. In the case of this, will it mark the end of use of fuel-powered automobiles in the transport sector? The answer is no. It is for this reason most of the scientists out there are in the laboratory working on a feasible alternative. However, most of the recently unveiled innovations hints towards adoption of electricity due to its cleanness, availability and non-exhaustive nature. But one setback of the use of electricity in transport is that it would be quite expensive. It is our sincere belief that the stakeholders will come up with a subsidy plan (Hood, 2006).
References
Hood, Christopher P. (2006). Shinkansen – From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan. Routledge.
I.S. Grant, W.R. Phillips, Manchester Physics (2008). Electromagnetism (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Sebastian, A. 2013, "Hyperloop: Hypothetical pipe dream, or the most important invention since the car?” ExtremeTech.com.
