I have a friend who is a car nut, who goes by the name of "Tintoy" on the Internet. One day we decided to buy "green" cars. Tintoy found a dealer who would sell him a "hybrid" with great incentive - his first 100 gallons of gasoline were included with the price of the car! I chose a "Sparrow," a little three wheeled electric car. I felt I deserved an incentive as well, so I surfed the Internet a bit and found that it takes the energy in about 100 gallons of gasoline to create 1000 watts (1 kW) of solar (PV) panels. Perfect. I bought 1 kW worth of PV and had it installed on my house.

Six months after we had bought our cars, I happened to see Tintoy in a gas station, filling his tank.

Me: Hello, Tintoy! Is this part of your free 100 gallons of gas?

Tintoy: No, I have driven 4,500 miles with my free 100 gallons of gas, and I am paying for my first tank! 45 MPG! How are you doing with your car?

Me: Well, you know that first 100 gallons of gas you got with your car? I set aside the same amount of energy to power my car, and still have it all.

Tintoy looks startled, then confused. The driver behind him toots his horn, so Tintoy just waves and drives away.

Three months later I saw Tintoy at the same gas station.

Tintoy: Howdy! Good to see you again. Hey, I want to ask you, what did you mean last time when you said you "still had all your energy"? Something is running your car. Aren't you using it up?

Me: Well, I have driven about 4,500 miles. I am using energy and I am getting the equivalent of 45 MPG, just like you today. Let's check our "mileage" the next time we meet! You may be surprised.

Months went by, and just before Labor Day I spotted Tintoy at the gas station once again. I pulled up silently next to Tintoy's "hybrid" as he filled it with gas.

Me: Hello, Tintoy I'll bet you are glad you have that "hybrid" now, with gas prices going up!

Tintoy: Absolutely! I am buying gas MUCH less often than they are (he gestures to the other drivers pumping gas) and I have learned how to drive my care carefully to get even better mileage! Almost 65 MPG!

Me: That is great news, Tintoy. However, I have a surprise for you. I have driven my Sparrow 7,000 miles, and I am now getting the equivalent of 70 MPG. I also still have all the 100 gallons of "gas" energy I started with when I bought my car.

Tintoy: You don't expect me to believe that, do you? That is impossible! That would mean you car has used no energy at all, and that your car also gets better and better mileage!

Me: Yes, exactly. I have the original energy I started with, and every time I drive another 100 miles, my "gas mileage" goes up by one mile per gallon.

At that moment, a young girl got out of the minivan next to us and came over to where we were standing. She pointed to the Sparrow and asked me, "Is that your car - and is it electric?"

Me: Yes!

Tintoy: Mine is electric too!

The girl stood there listening to the conversation.

Me: Like I said, Tintoy, I am now getting the equivalent of 70 MPG, and I have all the energy I started with. The reason is --- I used the first 100 gallons worth of energy to acquire solar panels, and they are providing the power to run my car. Unlike the gas you are buying, they are not "used up" after driving my car.

The young girl smiled brightly. "That means you can drive forever on the energy they make, right?"

You could also invest the money in an account that generated interest, for example, and only spend the interest you earned. That's like what I did with my first 100 gallons of "gas" energy when I bought PV. After you "spend" your gasoline, it is gone for good, and you just have to keep buying more. I only spend the "interest" "energy panels create, so I always have the energy I started with, and I keep getting more indefinitely.

Tintoy: (looking hopelessly confused). So you put your energy in an "energy bank" somewhere? And you are getting "energy interest" and driving your Sparrow with it? Come on!

Me: Sort of. Well, yes. My Solar Panels are the "energy bank" and the energy they produce is the "interest."

Tintoy: Well, I have to go. It sounds like you are getting something for nothing. Besides, my next care will have fuel cells, and it will get 120 MPG. It is impossible to get more energy out of gasoline than that!

Me: And by that time I will be getting the equivalent of 200 MPG. You see, you can't get more energy out of gas than it has if you burn it to drive you car! But if you use that energy to make solar panels, you can then use them to produce many times more energy than what you stared with! The secret is to not burn the gas to move the car!!

Tintoy does not say anything. It is clear he does not believe a word of it.

As I walked back to the Sparrow, I thought back to the young girl who was able to grasp the concept so easily. Her mind had not yet been programmed that there was only one choice, that the only way vehicles could be powered was by directly consuming petroleum.

I realized that our generation may not ever "get it - that we would just keep writing energy "checks" until the account ran dry, because we failed to see the leverage in using the petroleum, or petroleum equivalent, to create energy collectors and concentrators like wind turbines and PV instead of burning it directly.

I thought back to the young girl; I thought about my "green" car. My generation might not get it, but maybe her would. She was off to a good start!

I started my Sparrow and sped silently, cleanly down the road, getting 70 MPG and better, thinking about the future and smiling.

David Butcher is an electric car enthusiast in the San Francisco's South Bay area.

[Editor's note: Lest we get too idealistic, let's remember that those batteries in the Sparrow will need to be replaced from time to time, and that the Sparrow can't do everything a gasoline or hybrid car can do…Thanks, David, for sharing your vision.]