There has always been a series of controversy over diesel and other fossil fuels, especially over the case of global warming. Diesel is an efficient and reliable fuel although weather it will have a future as a main fuel is still up to my research.
"Thanks to high fuel costs, tough-to-meet emissions targets and growing competition for scarce fossil fuel resources, the engine once championed for its efficiency and cost-effectiveness is finished." (Strong, D, 2008)
Diesel as a topic for the horizon is almost set in stone, almost every movie, book, game and other form of media has labelled diesel as an obsolete fossil fuel that leads to global warming with a growing shortage. This trend as a plot point in media is not going away fast and the horizon shows no change from the past to the present and into the horizon. Rather than trying to find information on what will happen to diesel itself as i already have a solid understanding from my previous posts, as the opinion of the subject will not change, i will instead look into the other refined uses of crude oil such as materials, plastics as well as alternative fuels and transports.
A key use of crude oil before it is refined into diesel is nylon for use in clothing due to its high resistance, nylon is often pictured as a futuristic clothing material as its moving away from organics
A lot of new clothing products that are soon to be produced using "smart materials" have a lot of independent features including the ability to pick up on the wearers heat and humidity levels and even heat up using electric wires to keep the wearer warm.
A simple electric sweater which is soon to become more common. (ashokkumar.110mb.com 2011)
Other than what would seem the intended use of clothing to keep warm, a lot of these new design for futuristic clothing feature a more specialised role, such as ones for diabetics which can detect the uses blood sugar level or even for people with heart problems.
These smart materials have been the stuff of science fiction for a long time and have been the centre piece of many films and games such as "the tuxedo" and the nano suit from "crysis" where the futuristic technology enhances the users strength and endurance. although this technology may soon be within reach1 in games and movies, this is taken to the next step in which its usually a characters armour or brain functions which are enhanced with energy shields or heads up displays.
(Various authors 2005-constant updates) Power Armor
(Various authors 2005-constant updates) Power Armor
An upcoming game that heavily features the use of smart materials in the players clothing (armour) is mass effect 3. This upcoming game features a lot of smart materials such as the ability to go invisible by curving light around the user or even absorbing the impact of projectile weapons by hardening or softening areas of the material. although this isn't reality, the technology is plausible and may be available at some point in the future.
A very popular topic from my previous research was which shows a growing trend on the horizon is dieselpunk. This topic i believe is soon to overtake and replace steampunk as the major "punk" genre and style and on the horizon its growing more and more popular..
Steampunk has been an incredibly popular topic in previous years due to its "cover all bases" style in which its up to interpretation for each person, With dieselpunk the soon to be successor of steampunk, the growing trend and popularity assures it as a popular theme amongst a wide base of people.
The vast majority of upcoming diesel books are like this (Mcdonald B 2012)
When looking for upcoming books on the horizon to see what was popular for diesel I found that the vast majority of the top results were all diesel engine repair and maintenance books. I believe this either shows that diesel engines will still be a viable method of travel in the horizon or that the publishers have nostalgia collectors in mind.
In the literal form of diesel, the diesel engine is changing, shows such as top gear show a growing trend for diesel and show a lot of concept cars for the near future. Lately pressure on diesel as being a large contributor to greenhouse gasses has loosened and more and more concept cars are focusing on diesel power again albeit only as "hybrids". (Leggett D, 2011) Diesel hybrids set for growth in Europe
Concept cars are used a lot in modern media and have always, ALWAYS been a popular trend for car fans as they are the definition of what's on the horizon, they are sneak peaks of small glimpses into the near future. this is a large feature in modern films and games where they feature concept cars and vehicles such as the transformers series. (Unknown author, 2011) Concept Cars
Due to the incredible popularity of the concept car designs in the films, the company chevrolet saw this and responded by turning the majority of the concept cars into limited edition car releases due for release in 2012.
(Bima E, author 2011) 2012 Chevrolet Camaro Transformers Special Edition
(Bima E, author 2011) 2012 Chevrolet Camaro Transformers Special Edition
"2012 Chevrolet Camaro Transformers Special Edition to celebrate the premiere of the third installment of the sci-fi francise, Transformers: Dark of the Moon. the limited edition Transformers Camaro Coupe will be available in the US, Canada, China, Europe, Japan, South America and the Middle East." (Bima E, 2010) Luxury car reviews,
Trains have progressed a lot further than diesel over the years and are converting more and more into becoming fully electric powered. This concept train is developed by Siemens for use with the London underground, however the company has tried to make a it a multiple use system for EU tracks as well.
"Siemens has developed the concept as the basis of a product family adaptable for use on different LU lines. The design includes what Siemens terms an ‘iconic’ front end that it hopes may one day become a London landmark." (Railway gazette 2011)
My research into the horizon of diesel has given me a good insight into the very finite future of diesel as a fuel but has also given me some good views into smart materials and their uses.
The examples you have given in this section are not ' horizon ' scanning, they're mainly concerned with films from the past.Take care to categorise accurately. The horizon is about what is ' just about to emerge' in the context of the media.
ReplyDeleteWatch your spelling - Horizon has only one "r".
ReplyDeleteFor those of you who have not yet done your Horizon scanning or your forecast:
Horizon scanning: For this you need to look at the next 6 to 12 months for BOTH of your topics(if you can identify media further ahead than this, all the better). Also you need to do a scan of anything else emerging that might effect your topic in the future. For example: The 2012 Olympics is an event on the Horizon that could have an influence on your topic. Another example to consider is the evolution of technology.
Forecast: In this section you are making a forecast for the future of what you think will be culturally relevant in the next 2 - 5 years. You must use the results from your present, past and Horizon research to DISCUSS and forecast future trends.