191–200 of 270 posts
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https://e360.yale.edu/features/chinas_reforestation_programs... Not only that, there are concerns around lack of biodiversity in the trees being planted: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160907125303.h...
It is a common concern with reforestation, it seems: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/this-is-load-of-...
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The trees planted in the Gobi in 2008 are already mostly dead because they couldn’t commit enough water resources to maintain the ones they carelessly selected. As a result, the Beijing dust storms that were gone since 2009 started coming back in 2015. Whenever the Chinese government does something, don’t assume it will be sustainable by default.
Source?
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What would you class as "natural" forests? I doubt theres a forest in Europe that hasn't been touched by man. Venice would have been very selective about the wood it would have cut for ships etc, you can't just cut any old wood. It needs to be knot free, be straight, or have just the right curvature. They weren't clear felling vast swathes, then replanting. I'm not even sure the was conscious planting at all.
The UN has a definition for "Intact Forest Landscapes". Little of those are left in Europe, the majority in Russia and Scandinavia. Western/Central Europe has only tiny slivers of any.
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Rape or murder are not natural instincts. In fact people have pretty good safeguards against killing others - seeing the oponent bleeding usually makes even a furious man cool off. And regarding limiting population growth, what solution could possible be there that would be acceptable in a liberal democracy (i.e. does not require authoritarian regime controlling your every move, or the biggest genocide in history of…
It is generally thought that increasing women's education level is the most effective route to reducing population growth... This is because educated women choose to have fewer kids later. Luckily this solution is not only effective but is also very much acceptable in a liberal democracy!
This points out a new opportunity. Why stop at China for electric busses (yes they are probably manufacturing them locally)? Cities are seeming increasingly more able to be proactive than countries. Encourage local cities to one by one electrify the bus network and this effect goes global. It’s obvious tangible action that citizens can demand and mayors can visibly deliver. Game for those playing at home, do a search…
Problem is cities want to super-customise their buses kicking the cost probably 3x
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Initial indicators seem to be that they're not ready for prime time. Albuquerque returned BYD buses because of problems with range not performing as advertised. https://www.abqjournal.com/1246094/abq-rejecting-all-byd-art... Battery-electrics still have major issues with range; buses cannot last a full day on a single charge, and midday charging takes too long. And if it gets cold or the route has hills, you're compl…
Hills are the primary use case for electric buses already (electric has much better torque), and have been for a very long time. The only thing is now instead of using overhead lines, batteries can be used instead.
A typical fairly modern city bus is geared to top out at low highway speed. Having the maximum amount of acceleration is possible for a vehicle that is pulling in and out of traffic all day which is why they are geared so low. Buses will happily roast the tires from a stop (an impressive sight, I highly recommend) if not electronically prevented from doing so peak power is basically available as fast as the transmission can shift down a gear or two.
Acceleration in practice is primarily limited by the cargo's propensity to complain and secondarily by the coefficient of friction between the tires and the ground. Regardless of EV vs ICE these limitations are going to result in electronic controls that prevent the driver from getting an instant response when the hammer the throttle it
Maybe on a long, hill climb near top speed you'd run out of power but that's a peak power limitation issue and EVs will have it too. Commercial people movers are only ever lacking for power when they are intentionally spec'd out that way.
The "muh torque" circle jerk really isn't an advantage of EVs except when you're intentionally making a lopsided comparison (Model S vs Civic). Besides, as much as I'd love to see a bus twist and lift up a front tire leaving a stop I assure you the average person does not want to be subject to that kind of acceleration so both the EV bus and the ICE bus are going to get an electronic nanny between the go pedal and the power source.
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Initial indicators seem to be that they're not ready for prime time. Albuquerque returned BYD buses because of problems with range not performing as advertised. https://www.abqjournal.com/1246094/abq-rejecting-all-byd-art... Battery-electrics still have major issues with range; buses cannot last a full day on a single charge, and midday charging takes too long. And if it gets cold or the route has hills, you're compl…
Evidence to the contrary: http://www.vdlbuscoach.com/News/News-Library/2018/Europa-s-g... I use these on a regular basis, for urban environments, electric busses combined with overhead superchargers at the end-of-line terminals work really well.
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It is generally thought that increasing women's education level is the most effective route to reducing population growth... This is because educated women choose to have fewer kids later. Luckily this solution is not only effective but is also very much acceptable in a liberal democracy!
It's a combination of education, access to birth control and low infant/mother mortality that does it. Especially the last one - it's shocking how big a killer childbirth is to women without modern medical procedures. Same thing for children: vaccines, hygiene and nutrition make it a rare tragedy instead of a normal part of life.
You left out strong social safety net, but that is key: children are literally people's old age and disability support mechanism when there isn't a sufficiently reliable public one.
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Hills are the primary use case for electric buses already (electric has much better torque), and have been for a very long time. The only thing is now instead of using overhead lines, batteries can be used instead.
The comparison of how much faster our electrified trolley busses here in hilly Seattle compared to traditional busses is pretty stark, the instant, linear torque is really hard to come close to equaling with a combustion engine. eBikes with mid-drive motors like the BBSHD also have this kind of torque, it can be really fun to ride them due to that. With electric motors, you choose between torque and top RPMs based on…
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Initial indicators seem to be that they're not ready for prime time. Albuquerque returned BYD buses because of problems with range not performing as advertised. https://www.abqjournal.com/1246094/abq-rejecting-all-byd-art... Battery-electrics still have major issues with range; buses cannot last a full day on a single charge, and midday charging takes too long. And if it gets cold or the route has hills, you're compl…
Hills are the primary use case for electric buses already (electric has much better torque), and have been for a very long time. The only thing is now instead of using overhead lines, batteries can be used instead.
Trolleybuses are great for hills because they are constantly drawing power from the grid. It’s why Seattle has committed to trolleybus expansion for its hilly network.