There is only one way to eliminate fossile fuels (outside of nuclear), and that is to starve 4 or 5 billion humans to death, mostly those in the 3rd and developing world countries.

At least admit you're OK with breaking a few eggs to make that elusive omlet.

 

Those EV are in the Tax Man's sights.
https://gizmodo.com/greg-abbott-signs-texas-electric-vehicle-tax-1850455335
Starting September 1, registering an EV in Texas will cost $400 upfront and $200 every subsequent year.

Electric personal vehicles are not a perfect solution to the ongoing problem of petroleum-powered cars. Swapping every gas-guzzler for an EV still would use up an extraordinary amount of resources, that are likely to be ill-gotten.

 

Those EV are in the Tax Man's sights.
https://gizmodo.com/greg-abbott-signs-texas-electric-vehicle-tax-1850455335
Starting September 1, registering an EV in Texas will cost $400 upfront and $200 every subsequent year.

Remember that the purchase of that rich man's EV was already subsidized by a poor man's taxes -- to the tune of several thousand dollars.

 

Funny: I see fossil fuel consumption growing, not shrinking:

View attachment 294589

Hi,

How do you get, "I see fossil fuel consumption growing, not shrinking", what are you looking at?

 

I will bet you my life savings that fossil fuels are here to stay for the rest of our lifetimes and beyond, *excepting* a wholesale conversion to nuclear power world-wide -- and even then I have serious doubts.

It is physically impossible to power the world's population on wind and solar, unless you also have a plan to dramatically reduce the population as well (and, yes, there are evil ones that do).

Hi,

A bet impossible for someone to collect on even if you lose.
Name a year that is practical, dollar amount, and what you expect.
You can keep using that crystal ball if you like

 

Hi,

How do you get, "I see fossil fuel consumption growing, not shrinking", what are you looking at?

Oil + coal + gas.

 

Sodium is a lot more common than lithium, it is also very flammable. So between the two sodium and lithium batteries which burns hotter when they catch on fire?

There is a vanishingly small amount of Lithium metal in a Lithium Ion cell. It's not really a consideration when it comes to fires. What is a problem is the exceedingly flammable electrolyte use in Li-Ion/LiPo cells. When th cell experiences thermal runaway and overheats, the electrolyte is boiled and ignited.

The energy still stored in the cell(s) means the fire can propagate and ignite areas not yet on fire. The preferred method for fighting a Lithium Ion battery fire is water, a lot of it. The reason there can be re-ignition after the fire appears to be out is the damage the initial fire does to other cells in the battery which ultimately causes another thermal runaway event.

Seeing as the proposed new cell is ion- and not metal-based it is most likely the same will be true for the Sodium chemistry batteries. So, the metals in the cells isn't really an issue.

As an aside, LiFePO4, at the cost of some energy density, does not use a flammable electrolyte and so is considerably safer and can't fail as a flamethrower the way conventional Lithium Ion chemistry cells do.

 

Oil + coal + gas.

Hi,

Oh ok, i was looking at 'oil' and i noticed it did not go up as fast as the others. That is a good sign i think.

 

Hi,

Oh ok, i was looking at 'oil' and i noticed it did not go up as fast as the others. That is a good sign i think.

Whatever. [Rolls eyes.]

 

Whatever. [Rolls eyes.]

@joeyd999

It seems to me, the basice choice is

a) we say that the world should just use"old sun" in the form of coal / gas / oil / shale , and not look at other ways
or
b) we say we move to using "new sun" in the form of solar / wind , and things like geo thermal / gravity ( tide ) / wave power

Once that decision has been made,
all further discussion is the engineering.

 

New battery technology announcements are dime a dozen. Some sound pretty interesting but will take decades from the day of those announcements before they pass all the stage gates and become a commercial product. There are even more than a handful projects that have advanced far enough to be in commercial development. Here's one of my favorites.
https://www.ilika.com/large-format-solid-state-batteries

The history of energy consumption shows that new sources don't replace old ones, they add to them. Each source grows in its respective niche where it's economically favorable. Wind and especially solar do seem to compete in certain niches and I think we'll see more and more solar farms despite the horrible environmental impact of their manufacture. I'm not convinced wind has much future. Maybe offshore.

Right now, all those EVs on the road are mostly coal-fired. That doesn't make a lot of sense today but it does create demand for new electricity production capacity and the hope is that will come from nuclear and solar. Some day. Maybe. In the meanwhile those EVs keep the demand down for gasoline and that makes driving cheaper for me. That dynamic will change as refineries shut down. The high-cost producers will be forced out of a contracting market and the gas price will become more volatile.

 

The Lithium is the sparkler that starts the thermal process with the lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) in the electrolyte creating a oxygen-rich cathode for the needed triad of combustion.
Any high density power source can be dangerous, steam engines exploded and people got hurt.

 

The Lithium is the sparkler that starts the thermal process with the lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) in the electrolyte creating a oxygen-rich cathode for the needed triad of combustion.
Any high density power source can be dangerous, steam engines exploded and people got hurt.
View attachment 294650

Yes, but to be clear a Lithium Ion battery fire is not a metal fire. This is the key point. For a metal fire you use a Class D extinguisher, for a Lithium Ion battery fire you use water.

 

Don’t worry, Maxwell Chikumbutso will solve humanity’s thirst for energy:

 

Where do I send my check?

 

Once that decision has been made,
all further discussion is the engineering.

Let's then just decide to power everything with unicorn farts.

"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. "

 

Yes, but to be clear a Lithium Ion battery fire is not a metal fire. This is the key point. For a metal fire you use a Class D extinguisher, for a Lithium Ion battery fire you use water.

+1

 

New battery technology announcements are dime a dozen. Some sound pretty interesting but will take decades from the day of those announcements before they pass all the stage gates and become a commercial product. There are even more than a handful projects that have advanced far enough to be in commercial development. Here's one of my favorites.
https://www.ilika.com/large-format-solid-state-batteries

The history of energy consumption shows that new sources don't replace old ones, they add to them. Each source grows in its respective niche where it's economically favorable. Wind and especially solar do seem to compete in certain niches and I think we'll see more and more solar farms despite the horrible environmental impact of their manufacture. I'm not convinced wind has much future. Maybe offshore.

Right now, all those EVs on the road are mostly coal-fired. That doesn't make a lot of sense today but it does create demand for new electricity production capacity and the hope is that will come from nuclear and solar. Some day. Maybe. In the meanwhile those EVs keep the demand down for gasoline and that makes driving cheaper for me. That dynamic will change as refineries shut down. The high-cost producers will be forced out of a contracting market and the gas price will become more volatile.

Ok. So you say we should keep on burning the stored sun light.
Thank you .

 

Let's then just decide to power everything with unicorn farts.

"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. "

So your saying we should keep on burning stored sun .
Ok. Thanks

 

So now we wait to find out is the electrolyte in sodium batteries is flammable.