Reducing pollution from boats by switching to electric motors

Post by aitchnyu » Thu, Aug 08, 2019, 7:09 AM UTC

mehrdadn wrote: post #65

Robotbeat wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bicycle is not infinitely better. In fact, due to emissions from agriculture and livestock and inefficiency of conversion of food to mechanical work, if you have a heavily meat-based or fresh-fruit-Based diet (neither of which are common, I admit), the extra calories spent biking can actually have worse CO2 emissions than an electric car per mile.

Source for this?

Post by nradov » Thu, Aug 08, 2019, 7:49 AM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #17

I've always loved being on the water, but had a kind of instinctual revulsion at the gas usage, the fumes, the oil that leaks into the water, and the sheer noise from the engine -- like boating is about being with nature, but the gasoline aspect just ruins it for me. I tried sailing, but even then you need a backup motor and to get in/out of the oil-soaked harbor. (And sailing is a lot of work.) The idea of electric…

Post by jillesvangurp » Thu, Aug 08, 2019, 9:05 AM UTC

andyrebele wrote: post #77

ajross wrote: post #25

What this article is really saying is "Two stroke engines are outrageously nasty". Which we knew. They really are dozens of times worse for immediate pollutants (soot/particulates, hydrocarbons, NOx) than a routine car engine and catalytic converter. And they're significantly less efficient, so even their CO2 output is quite a bit higher than a gas engine of the same power. But they're a tiny market and no one has bo…

There are 15.7 million recreational power boats in the US alone (1 for every 10 households), 70% of those in the installed base are powered by outboard motors. This is not the car market, but it is not tiny.

Post by gingabriska » Thu, Aug 08, 2019, 10:40 AM UTC

dylan604 wrote: post #45

crazygringo wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, the buyer doesn't, but the factory does. Ceiling fans function with ball bearings that are oiled, same as bicycles function with chains that are oiled. Obviously oil doesn't get into the air, but contact with water is a different matter. I have zero knowledge about boat motors but had always assumed the oil leakage had something to do with lubricating movement of the propeller that also prevented sea water fr…

Yes, electric motors function without oil. They're mainly magnets and coils of wire and are mostly* friction-less. Boat engines are the same concept as your car. Air, fuel, spark, piston. In fact, the boat my family had when I was a kid had an inboard/outboard setup. The engine was a Chrysler V6. It was fascinating to me as a kid because when the cover was pulled off, the entire engine was exposed and very accessible…

Post by jabl » Thu, Aug 08, 2019, 12:06 PM UTC

liability wrote: post #71

analog31 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I understand it, there are increasing restrictions and calls to ban 2-stroke marine engines for smaller lakes, because the exhaust contains a fair amount of oil mist that settles on the water.

If nothing else, the noise is a nuisance on small lakes. I grew up next to a small community-governed lake on which all gas was banned. People have been using electric on that lake for ages, which is particularly feasible since it's a small lake (300 acres or so iirc). Electric for small stuff makes a ton of sense and has for a long time.