Electric Cars Destroying the Environment - Shock!

[stooH]

As if we didn't already know this already it seems that the mainstream media are finally starting to notice that digging up hundreds of square miles of 3rd World (apologies if the wrong terminology) land and polluting the water supplies there just so that w@nkers (apologies if the wrong terminology) in Prii can boast that they have zero emissions (eat my beans!) is perhaps not the right way to go about things.

Surely anything which has a finite supply and causes huge direct damage to the environment is no better than oil!

Bring on the Hydrogen Fuel Cells. (do they need any special catalysts?) :confused:

[/RANT]

[cruiser647]

It's about time the media woke up to this travesty.

Still, others believe the presence of lithium, and the cash bonanza it will bring is a very good thing for Bolivia, and the environmental price is a relatively small one

Same thing about any mining set-up.

Same thing about oil. Aberdeen/Saudi/Texas wouldn't exist in their present forms if it wasn't for oil.

You just have to look at some of the huge open cast coal/diamond/gold mines and the areas they feck up.

However, we should have learnt from that and either these bods need better mining technology OR find an alternative power source - Hydrogen for instance. Might take a big area/refinery and a lot of power to 'produce' it, but you are not digging up vast tracts of pristine desert/rain forest/high yield fields and/or displacing people.

[steelwind101]

Personally i think that all new energies such as Hydrogen should be subject new rules! A peoples fuel not taxed or used as a tool by the goverment. The UK should see in ensure it is a global producer of this fuel, not consuming it at the mercy of other nations.

A new opportunity opens, drivers unite, secure a future for the car in the UK!

And please dont sell it off after a years to forgien investors!

[blackjack]

As if we didn't already know this already it seems that the mainstream media are finally starting to notice that digging up hundreds of square miles of 3rd World (apologies if the wrong terminology) land and polluting the water supplies there just so that w@nkers (apologies if the wrong terminology) in Prii can boast that they have zero emissions (eat my beans!) is perhaps not the right way to go about things.

Surely anything which has a finite supply and causes huge direct damage to the environment is no better than oil!

Bring on the Hydrogen Fuel Cells. (do they need any special catalysts?) :confused:

[/RANT]

This is not news; electric cars use all sorts of nasties in their power cells that will pollute whatever part of the world they are made in. Because however they produce no nasty emissions when they are being used in polluted cities their use is encouraged by governments seeking to increase air quality in their own cities while not giving two hoots about the air quality in whatever part of the world they were made in.

While modern engines are less polluting than older engines (sit behind an A-Series powered Mini in traffic to know what I mean about this). However, the heavier the car the harder the engine has to work to pull it along. Most modern cars are heavier than their predecessors. I'd argue therefore that as much as engine development is important for the environment we should also look at ways of making modern cars lighter than they are today.

[theduisbergkid]

While modern engines are less polluting than older engines (sit behind an A-Series powered Mini in traffic to know what I mean about this). However, the heavier the car the harder the engine has to work to pull it along. Most modern cars are heavier than their predecessors. I'd argue therefore that as much as engine development is important for the environment we should also look at ways of making modern cars lighter than they are today.

I've been saying this for some time. I think we need to get back to light, simple, efficient, lower cost cars. Weight reduction improves every aspect of driving, and more to the point, generally makes it more fun too.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - less is more.