electric cars - are they a real solution?
do you think that electric cars will have a real impact on the polution cause by car travel? will it not just displace the polution to the electricity generators who will have to produce more to cope with the extra demand?
(just thought I'd try and revive the group - seems to have been quite for a long time)
I'm not so sure about biofuel either. About 10 yrs ago I thought it was a good idea but then governmnets started subsidising farmers to plant boifuel crops. Ive seen places in south france where farmers switched to growing maize for fuel and then sucked the rivers dry trying to irrigate it. Local food production should be a bigger priority that bio fuel.
Brazil went 100% biofuel years ago. Zero % of Brazil's gas comes from oil. Their fuel is made from the waste products that come from refining sugar. Food growers besides sugar have other by-products they can use instead of sugar instead of throwing it out.
Of course the French screwed it up!
But look at the flip side of electric. Batteries. Where do they come from? What processes are they going through to be made? Where are they being made? How are they being made? How do you dispose of them? (Yes, I said "dispose").
Same with electric cells for solar. They are made in a lot cleaner way, but you still have to have a place and way to make them and dispose of them. But they do charge batteries. Wind can also charge batteries.
https://www.hybridcars.com/forums/hybrid-batteries-t162.html
You may also want to check this out. https://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/03/home-made-solar/
Boyd
This thread raises some interesting points. Seems to me that the concerns about batteries, no net gain from use of electricity, and biofuels are all valid.* Biofuels can displace oil and natural gas, but encourage deforestation and monoculture farming, neither of which is sustainable.* Electricity as a replacement for gas or diesel can make sense economically and environmentally if it is produced by a renewable energy with lower environmental cost such as hydro, wind, solar, tidal, etc.* Batteries wear out and are heavy and contain heavy metals and other substances that have significant life cycle costs and environmental costs.One of the major benefits of electric cars is that they don't produce CO2 or other air pollutants when they operate. So whether they are better for the air and as a strategy to reduce global warming, would seem to depend on whether the electricity and distribution system to charge the batteries produced as much C02, etc, as the gas or diesel car it replaced.It seems to me that they are especially appropriate for travel within large metro areas where governments can build the charging infrastructure to support them. Having owned a hybrid for awhile, I appreciate their power and response of an electric motor. In terms of energy efficiency, though, I suspect the range and performance of an electric car would be significantly better in areas without a lot of elevation change.
No, electric cars are not a real solution. Look at what it takes to make the battery for the car. We already have a failing power grid that can't support electric cars. What do you do if you need to charge your car and the power goes out, then you have an emergency you need to leave for? Another question I have about electric cars is how easy is it to hack into the car's computer?
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