I don't think I ever wore a dress on a bike - but it wouldn't be much different from the skirts I did wear. Wife used to "pull my chain" about it! FUN-NEY GIRL.
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My day is complete
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
Yeah that would definitely help and I hadn't heard of that. It's just one of a 1000 things that I'm sure can and will be improved on in coming years.
I'm a little confused about the love affair with EV. The electrical power that charges them and makes them go has to come from somewhere. CA is already out of electrical power every summer. I don't see any new power plants.
Where does the energy come from?
Nuclear - no new plants in forever; big waste management problem.
Hydroelectric - need a dam and river; most viable locations already have dams and generators.
Coal - traditional and very dirty; pollution management very expensive; cheap & plentiful fuel.
Natural gas - the current go-to for power plants, subject to unnatural price hikes when demand increases.
Diesel - not financially viable for large scale power generation, pollution issues.
I don't see the EV solving any of these issues. Yes, it does move the location of the pollution from downtown to the power plant. Wouldn't a better solution be to implement / improve HS rail service into urban areas?
Now that covid has demonstrated that many, many jobs can be performed remotely, do we need large, downtown areas anymore? Time to start thinking outside the box...
OP
Brianj5600
TJ Expert
People around here are not know for being courteous to bicycles. I mostly rode mountain bikes, but did some road bikes. Cars would honk and buzz cyclists even when there was no oncoming cars. And then there are yahoos like this.
I'm gonna get you my pretty... and your little dog too!
Sorry, you are correct. I like solar, but you also have to deal with battery disposal and it only works part of the time. I think it is best for residential use. Wind is also good for residential usage, with the same issues - batteries and inconsistency. T. Boone Pickens got heavily into wind, putting up those huge towers all over Texas and Oklahoma, then figured out his pay-back time was never! By the time the initial expense is paid down, maintenance eats up all the revenue.
If I lived in a large city, had to go downtown to work, and there was no viable mass transit option I would consider solar PV panels on the roof with batteries and an inverter used to charge my tiny electric car. As I would never recover the implementation costs of the solar system or the high costs of EV, it would be solely to reduce the amount of junk I was putting in the air. If everyone in LA, Chicago, NY, Houston, Boston, etc did this, it would reduce the amount of pollution. We know that's not going to happen anytime soon.
You also have to consider, for example, that China has five steel mills inside the city limits of Beijing and we share the planet's atmosphere with them. If everyone doesn't play, it won't work.
I think you might be underestimating some areas... and renewable electricity generation is increasing at a rapid rate in the US. Some states are better off than others of course.
Washington state sources:
Of course this chart is also interesting, according to this, the only area California has increased electricity generation in the last 5 years is solar.
Ultimately, we do have options, but the states have to invest in them.
The best investment is nuclear power. Safe, reliable, and clean. The waste issue isn't difficult from an engineering perspective. The only challenge is political. Too many excitable hippies catch to vapors at the mention.
2nd is distributed solar. Panels are getting quite affordable. Batteries still suck, so the best option for most is tying in to the grid.
One solution that warrants development is biomass. The forests are tremendously overgrown and are going to burn. Either they'll
a) burn wild and create tons of smoke and damage towns,
b) have controlled burns that create tons of smoke,
c) harvest and burn to generate electricity with minimal smoke
2nd is distributed solar. Panels are getting quite affordable. Batteries still suck, so the best option for most is tying in to the grid.
One solution that warrants development is biomass. The forests are tremendously overgrown and are going to burn. Either they'll
a) burn wild and create tons of smoke and damage towns,
b) have controlled burns that create tons of smoke,
c) harvest and burn to generate electricity with minimal smoke
If things continue as they are, there very well could be a “research complex” built in the valley, hydrogen research is mentioned frequently.
Also, if funds allowed, I would buy a Tesla model S. I would then proceed to 0 - 100 the shit out it, laughing like a little girl every single time.
Also, if funds allowed, I would buy a Tesla model S. I would then proceed to 0 - 100 the shit out it, laughing like a little girl every single time.
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It doesn't matter...EVs will be a bust unless a new power source is developed. The weak link is a limited supply of lithium to make the batteries currently in use. That's why Tesla has invested so much in its own factories and procuring lithium supplies to support future production. With all the auto makers promising to go all EV within 20 years....there may not be enough to go around for the initial production of the vehicles. Then you need to have the additional supply available for the replacement batteries when the originals die.
WestCoastDan
TJ Addict
Here's my take on battery powered cars:
1- The mining of the lithium for the batteries is destructive to the enviornment. This is undeniable.
2- Raw materials from the mining process are transported to factories using trucks, trains, and ships that burn fossil fuels. This is undeniable.
3- Raw materials are then processed into finished goods (batteries) at plants that burn fossil fuels. This is undeniable.
4- Finished goods (batteries) are then transported to electric car plants via trucks, trains, & ships that burn fossil fuels. This is undeniable.
5- Plants that make electric cars burn fossil fuels, rely upon materials made from fossil fuels, and require transportation of their finished goods via trucks, trains, & ships that burn fossil fuels. This is undeniable.
6- Distributors (dealerships, etc) rely upon transporting these new electric vehicles to their final detinations using trucks, trains, & ships that again burn fossil fuels, so that they can be charged and recharged by consumers on electric grids that also burn fossil fuels. This is undeniable.
7- Electric cars do NOTHING to reduce the amount of fossil fuel consumption. This is undeniable.
8- If someone really wants to reduce the carbon footprint of their chosen transportaion device (car, motorcycle, bike, etc.) then they would never buy another new one (regardless of power source), they would repair and reuse what they already have. This is undeniable.
9- Rant over. This is undeniable.
1- The mining of the lithium for the batteries is destructive to the enviornment. This is undeniable.
2- Raw materials from the mining process are transported to factories using trucks, trains, and ships that burn fossil fuels. This is undeniable.
3- Raw materials are then processed into finished goods (batteries) at plants that burn fossil fuels. This is undeniable.
4- Finished goods (batteries) are then transported to electric car plants via trucks, trains, & ships that burn fossil fuels. This is undeniable.
5- Plants that make electric cars burn fossil fuels, rely upon materials made from fossil fuels, and require transportation of their finished goods via trucks, trains, & ships that burn fossil fuels. This is undeniable.
6- Distributors (dealerships, etc) rely upon transporting these new electric vehicles to their final detinations using trucks, trains, & ships that again burn fossil fuels, so that they can be charged and recharged by consumers on electric grids that also burn fossil fuels. This is undeniable.
7- Electric cars do NOTHING to reduce the amount of fossil fuel consumption. This is undeniable.
8- If someone really wants to reduce the carbon footprint of their chosen transportaion device (car, motorcycle, bike, etc.) then they would never buy another new one (regardless of power source), they would repair and reuse what they already have. This is undeniable.
9- Rant over. This is undeniable.
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I think the biggest challenge is storage, as said above.
Looks like better batteries are coming. If these are everything they are proposed to be it'll be a game changer. It's Goodenough...
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...-making-better-batteries-for-electrification/
"More recently, they have developed a niobium tungsten oxide material that makes a fast-charging anode. The way it all comes together means that the niobium creates tunnel structures within the anode, allowing the lithium to pass into the body of the material much more quickly. “This allows really fast charging with only a very small amount of volume expansion,” Ribas says. That means quick recharges, no safety issues and no lifetime-limiting mechanical degradation with each recharge."
Looks like better batteries are coming. If these are everything they are proposed to be it'll be a game changer. It's Goodenough...
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...-making-better-batteries-for-electrification/
"More recently, they have developed a niobium tungsten oxide material that makes a fast-charging anode. The way it all comes together means that the niobium creates tunnel structures within the anode, allowing the lithium to pass into the body of the material much more quickly. “This allows really fast charging with only a very small amount of volume expansion,” Ribas says. That means quick recharges, no safety issues and no lifetime-limiting mechanical degradation with each recharge."
Brianj5600
TJ Expert
Not really. What has happened is they have gotten much larger. Per cell they are cheaper than they have ever been.