[PLUG-TALK] Today's most accurate headline
Paul Heinlein
heinlein at madboa.com
Wed Dec 30 17:16:11 UTC 2020
On Mon, 28 Dec 2020, John Jason Jordan wrote:
> On Mon, 28 Dec 2020 19:39:18 -0800 (PST)
> Paul Heinlein <heinlein at madboa.com> dijo:
>
>> I also suspect that, like just about every human invention, they will
>> not be an unalloyed good. I'm still interested to know how unrecycled
>> batteries will impact the environment when disposed (in what could be
>> very large quantities over time). Also, unlike 20 gallons of gasoline,
>> which rarely becomes a weapon in its own right in a collision,
>> batteries have a potentially dangerous combination of mass and
>> chemicals:
>
> '20 gallons of gasoline ...' - you just proved my point. People are
> afraid of batteries because they have little experience with them.
> Gasoline is far more dangerous, not to mention the climate concerns,
> but we're used to it, so we think it is safer. Fear of the unknown can
> be a good thing; that's why evolution built it into us, but it's not
> always a good idea.
>
> [... other good responses snipped ...]
John,
My point, as Rich picked up, is that technological advancements are
rarely a moral choice; they are usually about risk. Compared to
internal combustion vehicles, EVs reduce risks associated with air
pollution and with some forms of petro-pollution, esp. groundwater.
That said, EVs are not risk-free.
There is a risk of greater environmental damage due to poor disposal
of very toxic batteries. Just because we can imagine a decent
recycling chain for spent EV batteries does not mean that one will be
engineered or that it will be economically viable.
There is a risk of central power failures. EVs still require power, so
to some extent we're moving production from the engine to a central
power plant. That central plant is very likely to be more efficient
than all those automotive engines, which is a win; reliance on central
power also increases the vulnerability of the transportation system
since a single plant failure can almost instantly bring about a "fuel"
shortage. I'm hopeful that distributed solar systems might alleviate
this risk, but for now EVs are dependent on the central power grid.
There is, as Rich pointed out, a risk to rural travelers. We can
imagine EV charging stations in the middle of nowhere, but, again, our
imagination does not mean it will happen.
There is a risk of competing charging standards. Right now, the CCS
and Chademo standards are not compatible. It's likely that the
industry will come to a single standard, or that national governments
around the globe will legislate that into being, but for now it's a
problem with no solution, only the workaround of building
dual-standard chargers.
I write none of this in praise of internal combustion engines, which
are filthy and inefficient. I'll be happy to see them gone. Technology
never offers a panacea, however, and we're better off naming and
addressing EV risks than we are ignoring them.
--
Paul Heinlein
heinlein at madboa.com
45°38' N, 122°6' W
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