[Big Dave]

Bill Lear tried an organic soup he called "Learium" to replace water as his working fluid. Lear found out why water was the better fluid.

You could use an adsorption refrigeration system to cool your car but it would be huge. Adsorption refrigeration is about a third the efficiency of thr Rankine cycle used today.

There is nothing new under the sun. That's completely true in energy technology. Somebody has already tried it. What works is what is in use. What doesn't work is a museum curiosity.

Material and theoretical advances have triggered a few new ideas. Algal biofuels. Aneutronic fusion. Vanadium redox batteries. Not much else.