Yes. Human sacrifices.

Such is the way of "progress".

History rhymes.

"We had to destroy the village in order to save it.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/feat...be-recycled-so-they-re-piling-up-in-landfills

That's quite an article there. Pretty amazing how we might back ourselves into a corner.
However, once a problem is acknowledged usually someone comes up with a way to mitigate it. This is not true for everything but for most things it is.
There are a number of unsolved problems around the world but a lot of other ones have been solved. It depends i think on how severe the problem is and what resources are available for it to be solved.
Also, i think people have to actually care.

 

My apologies, just trying to see what people are expecting to use to drive as a fuel,
so for cars / vans etc, your saying use nuclear,
which Im guessing means Hydrogen / batteries.
Thank you

Electric vehicles have a number of huge advantages that will drive their ultimate acceptance. A primary disadvantage is that they consume electricity. If our infrastructure were to beef up by adding a number of new nukes, then we could truly abandon most fossil fuels for powering transportation.

 

As to the history part, that's not what i have seen, for the most part that is.
For example, who uses carbon zinc batteries anymore. Yes, some people still do because they think they are getting a break on cost, but alkalines took over for the most part.
For another example, who uses NiCd's in power tools or anything else for that matter. Yes, some products still have them but only when necessary. NiMH along with Li-ion have taken over that market for the most part.

Those are not primary energy sources. Yes, technologies come and go. Energy sources not so much. There are plenty of woodburning furnaces, for instance. About the only energy source I can think of that's less used today than a hundred years ago might be whale oil.

 

When wind mills first started, 18 years ago in my corner of the World where I live, the energy (watt-hours) supplied to our local utility was about 2%.
This past March, a very windy month, it reached an astonishing 64%. So yes, wind power is very viable.

Having said this, I also agree with the posters commenting that without an expansion of nuclear power and rational use of fossil fuels, it is absolutely preposterous to assume that a full-electric vehicle fleet will be achieved in the near future. Renewables are fickle, they can’t support the base load. And I know about batteries and other energy storage mechanisms. But they are only good for short periods of time, one day or less. Here we have periods of dead calm wind lasting a couple of weeks.
It is already bad enough to have blackouts, to add to the misery being stranded.

 

Those are not primary energy sources.

It surprised me that many otherwise technically intelligent folk seem not to know the difference between primary energy sources and energy storage systems.

I've also learned to laugh at the "hydrogen economy" proponents.

 

However, once a problem is acknowledged usually someone comes up with a way to mitigate it.

And then we're all winners, right?

Classic example of the Broken Window Fallacy.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/22/america-green-energy-obstacles-fossils

If the US is to eliminate planet-heating emissions by 2050 it will need to increase the capacity of its current 700,000 circuit-mile network of poles and wires by threefold, researchers have estimated, in order to electrify key components of everyday life and shift intermittent wind and solar energy to areas where the sun isn’t shining or wind isn’t blowing.

The nascent stages of this gargantuan effort, the scale of which hasn’t been seen since the US built out its highway system in the 1950s, is already facing opposition from various conservation groups, locals and fossil fuel interests from New England to the Arizona desert.

“Transmission is contentious because it’s long, it’s linear, so it affects a lot of people,” said Jessica Wilkinson, North America renewable energy team lead at the Nature Conservancy. “We are seeing local concerns being raised and they are growing as these projects increase in size. It’s all new to people.”

For developers of renewable energy projects, however, the lack of transmission capacity is a major headache. Even as clean energy projects have gathered pace, turbocharged by last year’s $370bn in climate spending via the Inflation Reduction Act, they face frustrating waits to be connected to a fragmented, congested electricity grid.

Not in my backyard.

 

The NIMBY syndrome will derail all attempts to become carbon-free by 2050.
This is a classic “we’ll worry when we get there” case.

 

Those are not primary energy sources. Yes, technologies come and go. Energy sources not so much. There are plenty of woodburning furnaces, for instance. About the only energy source I can think of that's less used today than a hundred years ago might be whale oil.

Hi,

I wasn't talking about primary energy sources. I was talking about technology, old vs new.
In particular, batteries, because that has become a major concern over maybe the last 20 years with the advent of cell phones and EV's.

 

It surprised me that many otherwise technically intelligent folk seem not to know the difference between primary energy sources and energy storage systems.

I've also learned to laugh at the "hydrogen economy" proponents.

+1
https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/hydrogen-as-fuel.70001/post-486231

 

And then we're all winners, right?

Classic example of the Broken Window Fallacy.

Hi,

Wow you really ran with this one

How about the Flip Flop Syndrome. There are flip sides to every argument.
If you take the pro side, you believe that progress will be made.
If you take the con side, you believe what South Park likes to call, "Being a cynical A.H.", which also means you have a negative attitude.

Nothing is perfect, all we can do is try.
I know what you are talking about, but we can't control everything.
I can quote some things that have pretty nasty consequences too, even Nuclear energy as we have seen several times in the past now.

What i am seeing here now is maybe it's another example of "It takes all kinds", which simply means the negative thinkers and the positive thinkers tend to balance things out sometimes. The positive thinkers develop new stuff, the negative thinkers keep it in check (to some degree).

In the end though, as individuals, we have to realize that we cant change everything, and some things we change, for better or worse, may actually be worse anyway. What i mean there is that if someone invents A and there is an undesirable side effect, then someone else realizes that side effect and prevents A from proliferating, THAT prevention may in fact turn out to be worse than A. The question is, can we predict the future.

 

Hi,

Wow you really ran with this one

How about the Flip Flop Syndrome. There are flip sides to every argument.
If you take the pro side, you believe that progress will be made.
If you take the con side, you believe what South Park likes to call, "Being a cynical A.H.", which also means you have a negative attitude.

Nothing is perfect, all we can do is try.
I know what you are talking about, but we can't control everything.
I can quote some things that have pretty nasty consequences too, even Nuclear energy as we have seen several times in the past now.

What i am seeing here now is maybe it's another example of "It takes all kinds", which simply means the negative thinkers and the positive thinkers tend to balance things out sometimes. The positive thinkers develop new stuff, the negative thinkers keep it in check (to some degree).

In the end though, as individuals, we have to realize that we cant change everything, and some things we change, for better or worse, may actually be worse anyway. What i mean there is that if someone invents A and there is an undesirable side effect, then someone else realizes that side effect and prevents A from proliferating, THAT prevention may in fact turn out to be worse than A. The question is, can we predict the future.

I am all for your choice to drive an electric car and eat bugs and manufactured mystery meat.

It's when the guns come out to force my choice that I have a problem.

 

This is no way to run a national power grid.

 

This battery offers a range of 621 miles, mass production expected in 2024
The lithium-manganese-iron-phosphate battery has a cycle life of 4000 times.

​

Gotion High Tech has announced its new L600 lithium-manganese-iron-phosphate (LMFP) Astroinno battery that can provide class-leading efficiency figures. The announcement comes shortly after the firm obtained a procurement letter from Volkswagen and became a designated supplier of batteries for the automaker's overseas markets.

 

I am all for your choice to drive an electric car and eat bugs and manufactured mystery meat.

It's when the guns come out to force my choice that I have a problem.

As a brit, amercans do seem to have a lot of guns,

 

Electric vehicles have a number of huge advantages that will drive their ultimate acceptance. A primary disadvantage is that they consume electricity. If our infrastructure were to beef up by adding a number of new nukes, then we could truly abandon most fossil fuels for powering transportation.

Hi,

Yes i agree that there are advantages with EV's.
The number one for me is NO MORE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE!
So many problems with those things especially since they got so God dang complicated with the emission controls and ECU and you name it just to keep it 'legal'. It's nuts really. Once we get rid of those things we can concentrate more on safety. Once the battery pack prices come down maybe the EV's will be more affordable and charging stations more widespread and maintained better.

 

This battery offers a range of 621 miles, mass production expected in 2024
The lithium-manganese-iron-phosphate battery has a cycle life of 4000 times.

View attachment 294919​

Very nice, hope it catches on.

 

As a brit, amercans do seem to have a lot of guns,

Come to my house. I'll show you a dozen of them.

 

Come to my house. I'll show you a dozen of them.

WOW
Sorry very British comment here . And off topic , but why so many guns at home .
Amazing.