271–280 of 345 posts
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Diesel fuel is taxed lower primarily because it’s historically been the fuel for trucks. Using Diesel engines in cars is a comparatively new development.
And why would anyone want to subsidize fossil fuel road transport when we have electric trains?
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Stop touting "Germany buys electricity from France because they don't have nuclear power". France always exported electricity because they cannot power their nuclear power plants up and down as easy as others can their coal plants. In hot summers and cold winters France relies on Germany electricity to stabilize their net because nuclear power then becomes a problem.
Forgive if I'm wrong, but isn't nuclear power always used for base load? Why would France have excess nuclear energy at all?
However over 90% of France’s generating capacity is from nuclear power, so during low demand times there is a lot of excess. They do actually shutdown some reactors during weekends, but it’s better if they can sell the electricity cheaply to their neighbours, who can then avoid running some of their gas or coal plants - so it’s a win-win for everyone.
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In many cases I see cycling ruin life if you enjoy driving or walking ;). I do find places that i've seen be bike friendly in Europe do a much better job at this. But cyclists in Toronto can be pretty awful. Likewise can pedestrians and cars. Whichever way I travel, the other two are annoying me or causing me grief somehow.
When you say cyclists in Toronto can be awful, what do you mean? Are they mean to you, or do they not follow the rules of the road, or something else? When I cycle I fear being killed by a motorist; when I drive I fear killing a cyclist. It's important to clarify whether cyclists are putting you in danger or if they are stressing you out. Both suck, but one sucks a lot more.
You are quite right in terms of where the danger lies though. It's on the driver more than any other to be the most careful with their actions.
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In many cases I see cycling ruin life if you enjoy driving or walking ;). I do find places that i've seen be bike friendly in Europe do a much better job at this. But cyclists in Toronto can be pretty awful. Likewise can pedestrians and cars. Whichever way I travel, the other two are annoying me or causing me grief somehow.
Don't really know Toronto, but bikes are pretty annoying for pedestrians here in Germany as well.
European law has been very tilted towards Diesel engines for a long time. As the recent VW debacle proved - oversight was quite lax compared to the US diesel regs. This laxness was the result of the influence of BMW, Mercedes and VW and the outcome of years of corporate lobbying. It’s a good first step, but they have further to go. Despite the rhetoric, Germany has also been very restrictive with Tesla, viewing it as…
A big part of the problem here is the the EU was focusing on CO2 rather than NOx and that diesels are actually really good in the CO2 department.
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But it's not a tax break. You pay more taxes on diesel than on other things, except gas. Are all other things subsidized because they don't have the gas tax?
You’re being deliberately obtuse. It’s the same thing as gas: fuel, to power a car. It just happens to be a slightly different mix of hydrocarbons. It’s sold from the same machine, at the same place for the same purpose. And it’s taxed the same way in pretty much all European countries, Germany is the odd outlier. Different kinds of petrol are taxed the same way, too. The same mix of hydrocarbons that is diesel fuel…
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>demand is negatively correlated with sunshine No, it's not. Most electricity is used during the day, since that is when the cooking and washing is done. German companies prefer working during days too, although the larger factories will have a shift system. (see eg the plot here: https://www.electricitymap.org/?page=country&solar=false&rem... )
sunshine!=day If it's sunny outside, people go outside. If it's raining, you stay inside and watch TV.
I am so confused by government policy here in the UK. Right now I'm looking at a 5 year old used Diesel car with £0 road tax and 70+ MPG for about 10k GBP. My current Petrol engine costs £130/annum road tax, and only gets 30-40 MPG, I can also buy petrol cars with road tax of £240-500/annum (based on emissions) But if I buy the Diesel, it could be banned or worthless in a few years, because of these types of policies…
It would be incredibly irresponsible now that the dangers of NoX are known.
FYI, I live in London and am seriously affected by NoX, I’ve had bronchitis several times in the past few years.
London exceeded annual NoX limits within just a few weeks of the new year.
Luckily the tide is turning, public opinion is increasingly growing against diesel, and the govt is finally enacting extra diesel fees and considering bans.
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Forgive if I'm wrong, but isn't nuclear power always used for base load? Why would France have excess nuclear energy at all?
Typically you want to keep nuclear plants running at full power all the time, as most of the costs are fixed or sunk, independent of the electricity output. Most countries use nuclear power just to generate a small fraction of their electricity, so can do this without issue. However over 90% of France’s generating capacity is from nuclear power, so during low demand times there is a lot of excess. They do actually sh…
I knew France used nuclear power, but I didn't realize they relied on it so heavily. Yes, in this case they'd get more excess since they're running above base load.
Eastern Europe will be flooded with those cars now. http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-dirty-diesel-cars-en-route-for...
I wonder which ways the prevailing winds blow? (Do they follow the jetstream?) Salt Lake City, Denver, and Los Angeles all suffer significant air pollution from neighboring states and cities- air pollution is a regional, not local, problem. In other words- they ship the cars off, but the pollution could blow right back to them!