Greta Thunberg and the climate

[JimC]

Not at all... But it DOES seem like a vastly over complex solution... AND... As an adjunct to an infernal combustion engine it's not the answer we're supposed to be seeking. no?
It's just a shame that I/C engines are becoming so efficient now so close to their demise.. (IMHO)

I hear you. I never meant it was the ‘answer’. I only used it to show what thinking outside the box can create.

I am a proponent of EVs. The IC engine will soon be confined to museums and garages/sheds of people like us. I don’t want to hear about battery capacity and size, lack of infrastructure and so on. In the early 1990s the cell phone battery was the size of a brick. Also, if you ventured outside of a metro area you would have no signal

 

[EstuaryBoy]

In the UK we still have 'no signal' areas! Surely an 'exchange' fuel/battery source has to be the answer? Can't be doing with all that queueing... Mind you, I'll be close to the grave by then :-(

 

[JimC]

In the UK we still have 'no signal' areas! Surely an 'exchange' fuel/battery source has to be the answer? Can't be doing with all that queueing... Mind you, I'll be close to the grave by then :-(

That’s with today’s technology. Tomorrow you will pull into a charging station/convenience store, plug in and be charged up in 10 minutes. No different than gassing up today.

Tesla superstations can fully charge up a 250 mile S model in 20 minutes today.

 

[EstuaryBoy]

It's a shame we junked the trams and trolley buses! But heavy haulage needs addressing too, no?

 

[JimC]

It's a shame we junked the trams and trolley buses! But heavy haulage needs addressing too, no?

For sure! Today’s freight train can move a ton of freight for a small fraction of fuel used to truck that same ton.

 

[lazyeye6]

Yes, but the cost to maintain the right-of-way is pretty steep.

 

[JimC]

Yes, but the cost to maintain the right-of-way is pretty steep.

Therein lies the problem for trains. The right-of-way for trucks is built and maintained by taxpayers, not so for trains.

 

[EstuaryBoy]

Sadly, here in the UK the rail network was pared back savagely and our roads are in constant need of widening/upgrading.... Latest folly: 'Smart' motorways..... Bloody lethal!

 

[JimC]

Sadly, here in the UK the rail network was pared back savagely and our roads are in constant need of widening/upgrading.... Latest folly: 'Smart' motorways..... Bloody lethal!

Same thing in the US. Especially passenger trains. Now we have 70 year old grandmothers jetting cross country to visit their grandchildren.