Lehuaann
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2008
Someone bought an electric car. He plugged it in, then wondered where the wires lead to. He started to following the wires. OMG! it lead to a coal fired power plant!
Yep, but it sure looks sexy
Someone bought an electric car. He plugged it in, then wondered where the wires lead to. He started to following the wires. OMG! it lead to a coal fired power plant!
It’s part of the reason I thought of the thread.
Also, the show r(E)volution was an interesting concept!
https://nypost.com/2021/11/12/50-years-of-predictions-that-the-climate-apocalypse-is-nigh/amp/
I remember all these dire predictions from 1970s that never have come true.
Don’t get me wrong; I love threads that evoke thoughtful discussions and I’m not one who thinks differences-of-opinions are automatically grounds for conflict or offence. All I’m saying is own it - if all you want is a yes or no answer, post a poll and say “no explanation needed”.Not my intention.
Someone bought an electric car. He plugged it in, then wondered where the wires lead to. He started to following the wires. OMG! it lead to a coal fired power plant!
Yep, but it sure looks sexy
Not necessarily. Lots of areas in Canada, for instance, have their electricity generated by hydro. It intuitively seems greener than fossil fuel. BUT the substantial areas of the country without appropriate access to water sources still burn coal, as do many, many places in the world. It simply isn’t a given that an EV is the better environmental choice in every circumstance.I mean, this is a tired old trope at this point isn't it? I hear it on talk radio a lot though, so it gets repeated endlessly. There's a one in five chance that someone's EV is powered by a coal fired plant in the U.S. 20% of our electricity generation comes from coal fired plants, 20% from nuclear, 20% from renewables and 40% from natural gas. I have an EV...and factoring in the increase in my power bill (my power plant is fueled by nat gas).....I'm saving roughly $350 a month on gas. So...good for my wallet, good for the planet.....and super convenient with my home charger. Couldn't be happier with the EV....never going back to an ICE car.
Not necessarily. Lots of areas in Canada, for instance, have their electricity generated by hydro. It intuitively seems greener than fossil fuel. BUT the substantial areas of the country without appropriate access to water sources still burn coal, as do many, many places in the world. It simply isn’t a given that an EV is the better environmental choice in every circumstance.
Do you not understand how much easier it is to capture emissions from one central point (a power plant) instead of tens of thousands of cars?Someone bought an electric car. He plugged it in, then wondered where the wires lead to. He started to following the wires. OMG! it lead to a coal fired power plant!
This point escapes so many.Do you not understand how much easier it is to capture emissions from one central point (a power plant) instead of tens of thousands of cars?
.never going back to an ICE car.
I mean, this is a tired old trope at this point isn't it? I hear it on talk radio a lot though, so it gets repeated endlessly. There's a one in five chance that someone's EV is powered by a coal fired plant in the U.S. 20% of our electricity generation comes from coal fired plants, 20% from nuclear, 20% from renewables and 40% from natural gas. I have an EV...and factoring in the increase in my power bill (my power plant is fueled by nat gas).....I'm saving roughly $350 a month on gas. So...good for my wallet, good for the planet.....and super convenient with my home charger. Couldn't be happier with the EV....never going back to an ICE car.
If sexy means convenient and economical....then yes, it's super sexy. . I get it...EVs won't work for people in every situation, and I'm new to the game...we've had ours for a little under two years, but I won't go back now....no way. Cheaper, easier, no maintenance....and yes, better for the planet. It's kind of a win-win-win-win.
The climate has always changed. Over the history of the planet, there have been periods of warming and cooling. We are not going to change it. Species go extinct and then others return. If not, there would be real dinosaurs in the ride at AK.
If I really cared about my environmental impact I would replace my gas powered lawn mower with an electric one. That is probably the simplest change people can make that has the largest positive environmental impact.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a new gas powered lawn mower produces the same amount of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides emissions air pollution in one hour of operation as 11 new cars each being driven for one hour.
The EPA also estimates that 17 million gallons of fuel is spilled every year refilling lawn mowers. That is more than the Exxon Valdez spill year after year after year after year.
Those small engines are horrible for the environment.
This point escapes so many.
I own two EV. I didn't buy either one because of the environment. I bought them for selfish reasons.
The first so I could ride for free in the I-85 HOT lanes in Metro Atlanta.
The second because I wanted a cool car.
If I really cared about my environmental impact I would replace my gas powered lawn mower with an electric one. That is probably the simplest change people can make that has the largest positive environmental impact.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a new gas powered lawn mower produces the same amount of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides emissions air pollution in one hour of operation as 11 new cars each being driven for one hour.
The EPA also estimates that 17 million gallons of fuel is spilled every year refilling lawn mowers. That is more than the Exxon Valdez spill year after year after year after year.
Those small engines are horrible for the environment.
Well after 2030 you won't have much choice since you won't be able to buy a gas powered car any longer.
Where exactly are you talking about? I have heard about the change in CA but the ban on the sale of ICE vehicles doesn't go into full effect until 2036 I believe. They sure better get hot on fixing all the current issues with EVs (they don't go far enough before needing a charge, not enough charging stations and it takes too long to charge them). I'm sure there will be a lot of arguments before this will happen.
Cost to charge:Curious to know what is the monthly increase to your power bill? $350 savings per month is a substantial amount of money, is that for one car? How far do you drive on the average month?
What about the landfills or junk yards that will receive these EVs after they have reached their life expectancy of ruffly 10 yrs? My understanding is that the cost to replace the battery in EVs is so high that people just purchase a new vehicle and dispose of their old vehicle and the batteries have a tendency to catch fire (that doesn't seem too good for the environment to me). Please correct me if I'm wrong on this as I'm still learning and trying very hard to make the correct choice for my next vehicle.
I agree with you to an extent, but I do believe human behavior can and does contribute to the health of our environment. I think we should all be doing what we can to keep our environment healthy. I'm thinking that my next vehicle will be a hybrid, the best of both worlds? We take an annual long distance driving trip so at this point I don't see an EV being the correct choice for us. Now if they could figure out a way to get those EVs to go a greater distance (maybe self-charging), install many-many more charging stations and figure out how to charge the cars faster than I would consider an EV but at this point time I don't believe the US is ready for an all EV nation. Also, the US can't do it all, we need the rest of the world to get on board.
This is something I will look into; I just did a quick google search for electric lawn tractors and they aren't nearly as cost prohibitive as buying an EV. Now the question becomes how readily available they are. I'm going to suggest this to DH, he probably won't like the idea because he doesn't like spending money he doesn't have to and our current tractor is fairly new, so we don't need a replacement at this time. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
I don't want to dig too much, but Canada has a lot smaller population than the US. I would think you need to have the population somewhat close to water source for hydro power to work out???? I'm really surprised at those numbers.. I didn't know the breakdown for Canada, but just a quick google search reveals that Canada is in far better shape the U.S. A whopping 60% of your power comes from hydro, 16% from nuclear, 9% from natural gas, 8% from coal, 6% from other renewables...and 1% from petroleum.