International News Climate Change 🌍

[Golden Dr Otto]

Driverless cars require well maintained roads, with clear highway lane and junction markings and clearly signposted .
None of those are coming to the UK anytime soon and most definitely not Oxfordshire .

Assuming the technology remains static

 

[Golden Dr Otto]

I think people are allowed to have theories and fears about how the future will look without a bibliography of sources behind their every opinion!!

Of course they are. It just means it’s hard to take too seriously and is basically just a whimsical thought.

I’ve shared some responses and hope they help you see the other side. For the record my agenda should be firmly entrenched in hydrocarbon not EV as it’s much harder to make profit from EV

 

[RyanioBirdio]

As confirmed on t'wireless today. Shocking shortfall in infrastructure expansion when compared to the number of new EV cars being bought.

Listen from 26 mins 35 sec

You and Yours - Power vouchers, bookshop revival and train fares - BBC Sounds

Strikes and overcrowded and expensive trains are driving passengers back onto the roads.

www.bbc.co.uk

My mum and I were talking about this a few years back. I told her that I had absolutely zero faith that the UK will invest in EV infrastructure at the necessary pace, even if sales garner it. I remain convinced that this will continue to be the case. I don’t doubt the potential of the technology in principle, but I absolutely do doubt the proactive investment and advance planning required to sustain it, let alone advance it, will be forthcoming on these shores. We do not plan at all on this island. We just sell stuff in the present and then leave other people to sort it out later. Other countries (particularly in Northern Europe) have a different mindset which creates a different culture. They tend to invest hard, fast and early - very proactive people in that part of the world. We’re largely the opposite.

Guess we’ll see, but it’s going to require a huge change of mentality on both a social and political level in the UK before there’s a chance of it flourishing, IMO.

 

[Golden Dr Otto]

My mum and I were talking about this a few years back. I told her that I had absolutely zero faith that the UK will invest in EV infrastructure at the necessary pace, even if sales garner it. I remain convinced that this will continue to be the case. I don’t doubt the potential of the technology in principle, but I absolutely do doubt the proactive investment and advance planning required to sustain it, let alone advance it, will be forthcoming on these shores. We do not plan at all on this island. We just sell stuff in the present and then leave other people to sort it out later. Other countries (particularly in Northern Europe) have a different mindset which creates a different culture. They tend to invest hard, fast and early - very proactive people in that part of the world. We’re largely the opposite.

Guess we’ll see, but it’s going to require a huge change of mentality on both a social and political level in the UK before there’s a chance of it flourishing, IMO.

Go read my post at top of page 20. It’s all on track regards infrastructure

 

[Sheik djibouti]

Did you know that there is currently nowhere in the UK (and indeed few places globally) that can recycle lithium-ion batteries of any type (be they small jobbies or huge EV ones). We currently have waste li-ion batteries accumulating and being stockpiled at an ever increasing rate and nobody really knows what to do with them. Every now and again and pile of them (or those concealed in general waste)will go pop, due to poor storage and containment and rainwater ingress, causing self-heating and combustion.

That said, BEIS have made millions available in grants as part of the Faraday Challenge to innovative companies that wish to trial li-on recycling technology to see if it will be commercially viable to use the outputs for EV battery remanufacture and recover the rare earths to reduce reliance on virgin ores And all the problems associated with that industry.

As always, necessity will be the mother of invention, but it will be years before any kind of commercially viable circularity can be achieved. In the meantime, we create another waste steam that nobody can really manage (short of bunging them all in an incinerator) which will occasionally catch fire if poorly managed or (more likely) intentionally abandoned due to cost of disposal.

We really do struggle to think these things through don't we?

 

[tonyw]

Did you know that there is currently nowhere in the UK (and indeed few places globally) that can recycle lithium-ion batteries of any type (be they small jobbies or huge EV ones). We currently have waste li-ion batteries accumulating and being stockpiled at an ever increasing rate and nobody really knows what to do with them. Every now and again and pile of them (or those concealed in general waste)will go pop, due to poor storage and containment and rainwater ingress, causing self-heating and combustion.

That said, BEIS have made millions available in grants as part of the Faraday Challenge to innovative companies that wish to trial li-on recycling technology to see if it will be commercially viable to use the outputs for EV battery remanufacture and recover the rare earths to reduce reliance on virgin ores And all the problems associated with that industry.

As always, necessity will be the mother of invention, but it will be years before any kind of commercially viable circularity can be achieved. In the meantime, we create another waste steam that nobody can really manage (short of bunging them all in an incinerator) which will occasionally catch fire if poorly managed or (more likely) intentionally abandoned due to cost of disposal.

We really do struggle to think these things through don't we?

Yeah, it's not just a UK problem - current Li-ion recycling technologies are intensive and chemically pretty nasty, so way too expensive in terms of labour, materials and environmental protections costs. Basically the only place in the world where it's economically viable to recycle Li-ion batteries at the moment is China.

We span a company out in this space early last year around a next gen technology, and people (federal government, companies and investors) have been positively throwing money at them - it's a problem that desperately needs a new technical solution.

 

[LowerSouth]

Worth a watch- the headline is not all it seems .
Also some interesting insights into why and the future.

 

[bashamwonderland]

Worth a watch- the headline is not all it seems .
Also some interesting insights into why and the future.

I watched this today - as always an admittedly biased but researched and solid opinion by HG

 

[Oxymoron]

ExxonMobil: Oil giant predicted climate change in 1970s - scientists

Researchers claim to put a number on what Exxon knew about temperature rise as early as the 1970s.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Essexyellows]

Europe leading the way................... the plod have moved in to clear the village.

Lützerath: German coal mine stand off amid Ukraine war energy crunch

Activists and police are facing off in Lützerath, where diggers plan to expand a giant coal mine.

www.bbc.co.uk

On the brightside - no more shipping it from China - just rip up the Artic, bloody cold desolate place...

Huge rare earth metals discovery in Arctic Sweden

Nearly all of the metals, used in mobile phones, electric cars and wind turbines, come from China.

www.bbc.co.uk

More people "need" more "stuff" creates more "profit" creates more "money"- rinse & repeat as the population expands exponentially.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

More people "need" more "stuff" creates more "profit" creates more "money"- rinse & repeat as the population expands exponentially.

Any system dependant on constant growth is born unsustainable.

 

[OUFCGav]

ExxonMobil: Oil giant predicted climate change in 1970s - scientists

Researchers claim to put a number on what Exxon knew about temperature rise as early as the 1970s.

www.bbc.co.uk

It is interesting that Exxon scientists actually predicted the effects far more precisely in the 70s (looking at effects happening from 90s onwards) than many contemporaneous climate science studies. They were well ahead of their time - shame it was all buried and all the money spent on denying climate change and fast cars.

 

[Essexyellows]

Any system dependant on constant growth is born unsustainable.

That`s the capitalist economy model for you.

More people - more demand - give everyone more - make more - profit more.

Back to climate change, most global greenhouse gases are created by food production, energy production and transport.

WFH, shopping locally, buying seasonal food, being careful with domestic consumption and not breeding puts me in God like status with Greta.

 

[QR]

It is interesting that Exxon scientists actually predicted the effects far more precisely in the 70s (looking at effects happening from 90s onwards) than many contemporaneous climate science studies. They were well ahead of their time - shame it was all buried and all the money spent on denying climate change and fast cars.

It's all laid bare in this documentary. Truely weapons grade gaslighting.

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0cgqlvk

 

[QR]

Just read this and I serously don't know why there is an expectation Local Authorities (half of whom appear to be going bust due to significant cuts in government funding and increasing demands for services in particular social care) should build EV chargers. The oil industry builds petrol stations to sell its wears who not so with electricity sector? Anyone?

More than two-thirds of UK councils have yet to install any kerbside EV chargers, with just over six years to go until the Government’s ban on the sale of new pure-combustion cars comes into effect. An investigation conducted by Vauxhall as part of its new 'Electric Streets of Britain' campaign found that 69% of councils do not have an on-street charge point and that 71.6% lack a published strategy for on-street residential charging. Of the councils that responded to the investigation, 45% stated they had no plans to install residential on-street chargers this year. Data published by Zapmap and the Department for Transport on 26 July 2023 revealed that, as of 1 July, just 34% of the UK’s 44,020 public charge points were designated as on-street chargers. A Government spokesperson said: “The number of public charge points rose by 38% over the last year – a rate that puts us well on the way to [the target of] 300,000 by 2030 - and we continue to work with industry and local authorities to accelerate this.”

 

[Golden Dr Otto]

I’ll take this one given I’m in the industry.

The oil and gas sector already has EV, and is massively investing in building new ultra charging stations with better technology. It’s taken time to get off the ground , to establish what works and what doesn’t, and also be commensurate WITH CONSUMERS APPETITE TO INVEST IN ELECTRIC, but the next 18-24 months you’ll see a massive explosion of EV charging sites across the UK and Europe particularly on motorways and travel corridors with less emphasis on inner city. You’ll also see improvements in petrol stations with high quality convenience store offerings to support the wait time for charging (which is reducing)

 

[bashamwonderland]

A tantalising look into the future.

I can imagine it now. £30,000 electric car, on a 5 year salary sacrifice/finance scheme. Sat charging for 25 minutes at a motorway service station if I'm lucky (longer if I'm on the M25).

I've just bought a £5.50 coffee and a £1.20 Snickers from the high quality convenience store. I couldn't get into the Shell executive lounge to wait, because I didn't buy it as a £500 extra on my car / from Shell

Finally my 25 minutes is up and I walk back to the car to finish the journey. The charger says "error - connectivity issue".

I move my car to a new charging bay and start the process all over again.

 

[SteMerritt]

A tantalising look into the future...

... I've just bought a £5.50 coffee and a £1.20 Snickers

That's the present isn't it? By the time your dystopian future occurs you'll be looking at that £5.50 being for the Snickers.

 

[QR]

A tantalising look into the future.

I can imagine it now. £30,000 electric car, on a 5 year salary sacrifice/finance scheme. Sat charging for 25 minutes at a motorway service station if I'm lucky (longer if I'm on the M25).

I've just bought a £5.50 coffee and a £1.20 Snickers from the high quality convenience store. I couldn't get into the Shell executive lounge to wait, because I didn't buy it as a £500 extra on my car / from Shell

Finally my 25 minutes is up and I walk back to the car to finish the journey. The charger says "error - connectivity issue".

I move my car to a new charging bay and start the process all over again.

And woe betide you forget your number!

 

[Golden Dr Otto]

A tantalising look into the future.

I can imagine it now. £30,000 electric car, on a 5 year salary sacrifice/finance scheme. Sat charging for 25 minutes at a motorway service station if I'm lucky (longer if I'm on the M25).

I've just bought a £5.50 coffee and a £1.20 Snickers from the high quality convenience store. I couldn't get into the Shell executive lounge to wait, because I didn't buy it as a £500 extra on my car / from Shell

Finally my 25 minutes is up and I walk back to the car to finish the journey. The charger says "error - connectivity issue".

I move my car to a new charging bay and start the process all over again.

I’m excited for you. You’re going to be pleasantly surprised.