this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2023
38 points (97.5% liked)
Hacker News
4123 readers
1 users here now
This community serves to share top posts on Hacker News with the wider fediverse.
Rules
0. Keep it legal
- Keep it civil and SFW
- Keep it safe for members of marginalised groups
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Question: the electricity to power EV's still comes from fossil fuels for the most part. At least in the US. Is the net effect of getting rid of internal combustion engines significantly better for the environment, considering also the procuring of materials to make batteries and the waste batteries produce at the end of their life cycle?
A power plant has a much higher potential for better filtration systems for pollutants than an ICE automobile.
US renewable energy generation is projected to hit 45% by 2032 (up from 16% in 2022). The longer electric cars are on the road, the larger portion of power will be renewable.
If we increase renewable energy an additional 29% in 10 years, that will be a really impressive step in the right direction in what seems to me a short amount of time. Fingers crossed. (I wonder if the predicted increase factors in the fickle winds of politics which seemingly could derail anything positive with the stroke of a pen. It blows my mind that there are people so adamantly against the EPA and not having things like Love Canal and the Cuyahoga River catching on fire at least a dozen times.)
Yes, because the grid is rapidly decarbonizing, while old cars literally can’t. Remember that solar is currently the cheapest energy production infrastructure to build now, which means there’s a huge economic incentive to change to a more renewable energy grid.
Also I hate the “batteries cause waste” argument because it always conveniently ignores the fact that fossil fuel-based systems already cause similar, massive environmental destruction during mining and disposal.
I wasn't arguing. I'm all for doing everything we can to minimize the damage we have done and continue to do. But they do cause waste. And as I'm no chemical engineer, and the technology has not been around long enough on a big enough scale that I've come across much about the issue, I just don't know how bad that waste is, especially in comparison to waste produced by what we're doing now. Hence why I asked the question. Otherwise, your explanation is helpful and I thank you.
After batteries are used up in EV's they still have a usable lifespan in grid energy storage systems. Then after their useful life there, they can still be recycled.
The grid "not being able to handle EVs" is a farce.
Its actually more environmental friendly to use a diesel generator to load an EV, than using internal combustion engines. Their are just really inefficient.
EV's aren't going to save the planet. They're a step in the right direction but it's a long walk to sustainability.